Climate and Natural Systems
Climate change is one of the greatest threats to our region's future. Extreme climate events threaten our built environment and natural systems as well as the quality of life and livelihoods of people, particularly Black and American Indian residents, communities of color, and people living with disabilities.
We support climate action by conducting research studies, building models about climate impacts, publishing interactive tools with local, relevant data, and engaging the communities most impacted by climate change. Our climate research, often carried out in collaboration with other departments, includes:
Related information
Regional Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory summarizes the sources of emissions by sectors and sub-sectors for the Twin Cities region. Trends of emissions between 2005 and 2022 are currently available; an update to add 2023 data is expected in August 2026.
Many human activities emit carbon dioxide, as well as even more powerful greenhouse gases like methane, nitrous oxide, and others. Each of these gases exist naturally in the environment, but human-built systems for energy, transportation, agriculture, and waste management are responsible for releasing climate-altering quantities of these gases.
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS PAGE COMING IN MAY 2026
Growing Shade Interactive
The Growing Shade Interactive presents data on the amount of tree cover in the cities, townships, and neighborhoods of the Twin Cities region in 2021. An update to 2023 data is expected in 2026.
Trees provide shade to cool us and habitat for wildlife, improve air quality and mental health, and help create healthy and resilient places. Lack of shade trees creates hotter neighborhoods and can increase premature deaths because of heat. Growing Shade describes the connections between tree cover and issues like climate change, conservation, environmental justice, and public health.
Community Leaders' Environmental Justice Policy Recommendations
Qualitative research is invaluable in policy development because it offers a nuanced understanding of underlying motivations, perceptions, and behaviors of individuals and communities.
In 2024, community development researchers and staff engaged community groups to develop innovative policy recommendations to inform the regional development guide, Imagine 2050. The Community Leader Collaboration recommendations are summarized in a series of reports, including one focused on environmental justice.
Climate Vulnerability Tools
Minnesota’s warming temperatures and increasingly severe flood events will trend upwards in the coming decades. Metropolitan Council staff and partners have developed a series of tools and digital stories about regional climate hazards related to localized flooding and extreme heat to better inform regional and local long-range plans.