Utah Climate Action Network Nationally Recognized for Innovative Partnerships

Vicki Bennett, Sustainability Director (middle) accepts the Innovative Partnership Certificate for the Utah Climate Action Network.

Last week the Climate Leadership Conference recognized eighteen businesses and organizations for their significant efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.

The Utah Climate Action Network (UCAN) received an Innovative Partnership Certificate for bringing the public and private sectors together to find solutions for climate issues.

UCAN is a partnership between government, research institutions, non-profits/foundations, faith-based groups, the private sector, and individuals providing a hyper-local program and platform for organizations to connect on climate-related activities. There are 27 Utah organizations that form this unique network.

It’s a unique alliance that is managed and run by the local non-profit and co-convener Utah Clean Energy.

SLCgreen helped launch the Network in 2016 to bring increased dialogue on climate change solutions to more sectors of our community.

Why?

Because climate change is affecting Salt Lake City here and now— whether that’s from decreasing snow pack, warmer winters, hotter summers, pine beetle infestation in our forests, algal blooms in our lakes, more forest fires, or worsening air quality.

Of course– all of those impacts are why Salt Lake City is working hard to, first and foremost, reduce our greenhouse emissions. (These plans are described in Climate Positive 2040, which lays out details for emissions reductions both from our municipal operations as well as the entire SLC community.)

But we need to do more. We need partners and collaborators to truly move the needle.

That’s where the Utah Climate Action Network comes in.

“Salt Lake City believes our community as a whole, along with the entire region, can be enhanced socially, environmentally and economically through coordinated climate action,” said SLCgreen Director Vicki Bennett upon accepting the award.

The Network is also dedicated to building awareness of the economic and social benefits of reducing emissions.

“As one of the 10 sunniest states in the country, we can capitalize on our solar resources and forge a new energy economy,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski.

It’s been a busy two years, but we are excited to keep the momentum going and are honored that this collaboration was recognized by the Climate Leadership Conference. 

Here’s a quick recap of the most recent UCAN activities:

• Last October, the Network put on Utah Climate Week that consisted of participant led events, speaker panels, Q&A sessions, movie screenings, and communication campaigns held across the state.
• Then in November 2017, UCAN partnered with Utah Clean Energy and ecoAmerica to create and launch Path to Positive Utah, with the goal of promoting collaboration and eroding social taboos associated with discussing climate change. UCAN believes that climate conversations do not need to be politically divisive and can instead be an opportunity to talk about how to improve life across the state.

Josh Craft of Utah Clean Energy discusses Path to Positive Utah.

• In 2018, UCAN began hosting a 4-part climate communication workshop series focused on how members can become effective messengers. We were thrilled to have Skeptical Science creator John Cook and Weber State professor Daniel Bedford as the guest speakers at the March workshop. They discussed how to properly debunk common climate myths.

To learn more about the Network and how your organization can become involved, visit www.utahclimateactionnetwork.com and follow @UTClimateAction on Twitter or @UtahClimateActionNetwork on Facebook.