Early Giving is Underway for Give to the Max 2024
The countdown to Give to the Max Day has begun! Your support helps Green Cities Accord expand the urban tree canopy across the Twin Cities. Through our Twin Cities Climate Resiliency Initiative, we are funding the planting of thousands of new trees in neighborhoods that need them the most. Our urban tree carbon offset projects protect trees, sequester carbon and generate funding for trees, creating healthier, more livable communities.
Please consider making a donation to Green Cities Accord this Give to the Max Day! Join Minnesota’s annual giving celebration and make a difference in the fight against climate change. Every contribution counts toward a greener, more resilient future.
Celebrating 10 Years of Green Cities Accord
This fall, Green Cities Accord celebrated a major milestone—a decade of making the Twin Cities greener. As Green Minneapolis, we transformed parking lots into The Commons park and restored historic Peavey Plaza. Now, as Green Cities Accord, we are dedicated to increasing funding to expand the urban tree canopy across the Twin Cities. Since 2022, we have secured $1.1 million for urban tree planting and enrolled over 50,000 trees in our urban tree carbon offset program, ensuring that newly planted trees are legally protected for the next 25 years, and generating funding for new tree planting and maintenance.
This year, the City of St. Paul joined our urban tree carbon offset program, and we began selling offsets to organizations committed to supporting local environmental equity. Proceeds from these sales are reinvested into planting and maintaining more trees. Additionally, this fall we launched a five-year initiative to restore Theodore Wirth Regional Park’s urban forest through tree planting and ongoing maintenance efforts in partnership with The Loppet Foundation.
Thank you for supporting our mission. Together, we are growing a more environmentally equitable, climate-resilient Twin Cities!
Public Utilities Commission Approves CenterPoint Energy’s Natural Gas Innovation Plan Featuring Green Cities Accord’s Carbon Offsets
Green Cities Accord is excited to announce that our urban tree carbon offsets have been included in Minnesota’s first-ever Natural Gas Innovation Act Plan, developed by CenterPoint Energy and approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission.
This groundbreaking plan integrates our Twin Cities Climate Resiliency Initiative into a pilot project designed to address greenhouse gas emissions. Through this collaboration, CenterPoint Energy will purchase carbon offsets generated by urban tree planting projects, with proceeds used by our tree planting partners to fund more tree planting across the Twin Cities. This collaboration underscores the vital role urban tree canopy plays in advancing climate solutions, contributing to both local climate resilience and Minnesota’s cleaner energy goals.
Sven-Saw® Embraces REI Co-op’s Climate Goals with Green Cities Accord Carbon Offsets
Sven-Saw is making significant strides in sustainability by purchasing carbon offsets from Green Cities Accord to achieve net-zero carbon emissions!
As a small, family-owned company from Duluth, Minnesota, Sven-Saw has always been dedicated to creating durable and environmentally conscious products. With support from their key retail partner, REI, they’ve implemented innovative solutions to reduce their carbon footprint.
City of Saint Paul Urban Tree Carbon Offset Project Verified, First Offsets Purchased
Green Cities Accord’s first urban tree carbon offset project with the City of St. Paul has achieved third-party verification. The first set of carbon offsets — totaling 2,976 metric tons of carbon dioxide — has been issued to Green Cities Accord by City Forest Credits, a leading nonprofit carbon registry and certification organization.
The first sale of carbon offsets from the project has also been completed. INFRA, the Independent Natural Food Retailers Association, purchased 152 offsets to apply towards carbon emissions generated by its members’ travel to their recent annual conference, held at the Saint Paul RiverCentre. This purchase offsets 152 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
“We at INFRA are proud to support growing Saint Paul’s urban forest through the purchase of carbon offsets to mitigate the environmental impact of our recent conference,” said INFRA Business Programs Manager Rachel Comeaux. “Through Green Cities Accord, we were able to purchase high-quality, third party-verified carbon offsets that will directly benefit the local community while also contributing to the broader fight against climate change.”
Invest in Greener Cities with High-Quality Carbon Offsets from Green Cities Accord
Urban trees are a proven nature-based technology in the fight against climate change, serving as living infrastructure that cools neighborhoods, absorbs carbon dioxide, captures stormwater and filters air pollutants, all while enhancing public health and quality of life.
At Green Cities Accord, we are dedicated to growing climate resilient communities by investing in urban tree canopy infrastructure. As the operator of the largest urban tree carbon offset program in the U.S., we offer ex-ante removal offsets called Carbon+ Credits, certified by the carbon registry City Forest Credits. The revenue generated from the sale of our Carbon+ Credits is reinvested into planting additional trees in our communities, creating a perpetual funding cycle to grow urban tree canopy, fostering sustainable and more livable cities.
