Mayor Lightfoot Announces Historic Investment In Tree Equity

$46 million out of the $188 million in environmental justice and climate action budget will go to planting and maintaining 75,000 trees over 5 years

 Mayor Lightfoot Announces Historic Investment
In Tree Equity

$46 million out of the $188 million in environmental
justice and climate action budget will go to planting
and maintaining 75,000 trees over 5 years

Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot highlighted a historic expansion
and reorientation of the city’s tree-planting operations,
funded by $46 million in city funding. As part of the
Mayor’s new tree equity strategy, the city will plant 75,000
trees across the city over the next 5 years. This represents
a doubling in tree planting over the previous year. The
tree equity strategy will prioritize the planting of trees in
historically marginalized and underserved communities,
equitably conveying ecosystem benefits to communities
disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. This
effort will help meet the City’s commitment to the Paris
Climate Agreement, environmental justice, and equity.

“Our new tree planting strategy is part of our effort
to fight the climate crisis,” said Mayor Lightfoot. “Delivering
on bold, equitable climate goals is critical for our
city to continue to thrive. These investments will directly
benefit our residents in neighborhoods disproportionately
impacted by the effects of climate change and help address
decades of disinvestment.”

While the citywide tree canopy coverage in Chicago is
16%, this can vary greatly between neighborhoods, ranging
from under 10% to 46%. Tree canopy coverage can have
a direct impact on neighborhood air quality, temperature,
flooding, and public health. Central to the city’s new
approach will be planting trees where they are most needed
for health and equity outcomes.

“We expect this historic investment to reap historic
outcomes. Taking an equity-centered and data-driven
approach, we can identify where trees can have the greatest
impact and work directly with residents and community
groups in those areas to plant and maintain trees,” said
Angela Tovar, Chief Sustainability Officer for the City of
Chicago. “We are committed to building a safer, stronger,
and more just Chicago for all.”

The Chicago Department of Public Health led the creation
of a new ‘community site selection tool’ that brings
together data on tree canopy, air quality, land surface
temperatures, economic hardship, and other factors, with
support from the Bloomberg Philanthropies Partnership
for Healthy Cities. The city will use the tool to work with
local nonprofits and community groups to identify priority
communities and locations to plant trees. This, combined
with the increase in funding for tree planting over the next
five years, will help increase the number of trees in neighborhoods throughout the city and reduce the impacts of
climate change on these communities. Bloomberg Associates,
a pro bono municipal consulting service, has provided
strategic advice on the development and rollout of the tree
equity strategy.

“Mayor Lightfoot’s investment will make a significant
positive impact on the health of Chicago’s urban forest,”
said Lydia Scott, director of the Chicago Region Trees
Initiative. “We look forward to continuing our partnership
with the city to provide an increased and more equitably
distributed tree canopy for its neighborhoods.”

The tree equity investment is one key component of
Mayor Lightfoot’s “all-in” approach to fighting the climate
crisis and part of $188 million in new funding to build resilience
in neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by
the effects of the climate crisis. The neighborhood-specific
climate interventions will build a safer, stronger, and more
just City for all and covers a broad range of environmental
issues, from land remediation to tree planting. Each climate
and environmental initiative was developed through
a lens of racial equity, centering historically marginalized
and underserved environmental justice communities.

“Cities are on the front lines of climate change, experiencing
the direct impacts of extreme weather but also able
to deploy the solutions needed to reduce carbon emissions
and protect residents,” said Adam Freed, Principal for
Sustainability at Bloomberg Associates. “Mayor Lightfoot’s
historic investment in climate solutions, core commitment
to equity, and use of data to target investments make it a
national model for smart, impact-driven climate action.”

Other key investments include:
$25.75 million to create 20 new green and resilient
schoolyards at public schools in the City’s most floodprone
areas. This initiative builds upon the highly successful
green alley program and allocates resources to communities
experiencing disproportionate amounts of flooding
related to climate change.

$41 million to retrofit 500 low-income homes and units,
create neighborhood resilience hubs, install solar power on
5 public libraries, and utilize existing roofs on industrial
facilities to install community solar. These energy projects
build climate resilience, lower utility bills for low-income
residents, create high-paying jobs, and accelerate our just
transition to a renewable energy economy.

$75 million in a holistic package of community-level
climate projects that target some of the highest priority
and most challenging environmental issues. These projects will improve organics diversion, remediate large swathes of contaminated land, decarbonize City fleets and buildings, clean our waterways, fund strategic neighborhood climate resilience projects, and invest in a historic trail network

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