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Green Minneapolis' Climate Resiliency Initiative’s goal is to plant and maintain 5 million trees across the 7-county metro area over the next 20 years, increasing the Twin Cities tree canopy by ~30%, sequestering millions of tons of carbon and mitigating the most severe impacts of climate change on Twin Cities residents. A key funding mechanism for this initiative is the sale of carbon offset credits with proceeds reinvested in additional tree planting and maintenance. This initiative is the first carbon offset project in Minnesota to directly benefit the environment of urban residents thru the expansion of our urban tree canopy.
CURRENT STATUS
In July, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) and Green Minneapolis signed an agreement to work together on a pilot urban tree canopy project that will issue carbon offset credits. This pilot project is under way and is expected to receive certification in 2022 from City Forest Credits, the carbon registry that we have partnered with for this initiative. Once project certification has been completed, carbon credits will be issued for sale on the open market, with proceeds funding more tree planting and maintenance by the MPRB across the City of Minneapolis. Planning is under way with the MPRB for annual carbon offset projects, and discussions are being held with other cities and counties in the Metro Area looking for a new way of funding urban tree planting & maintenance.
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