Media Advisory
Wednesday, April 7, 2021
Contact: Alicia Zatcoff
Alicia.Zatcoff@RichmondGov.com

City seeking community input for RVAgreen 2050 climate action and resilience roadmap

Richmond, VA — Starting today, residents can participate in the development of RVAgreen 2050, the City of Richmond’s equity-centered climate action and resilience planning initiative. The Sustainability Office offers many ways for residents to provide feedback on the draft content here.

The objectives of the plan are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030, achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and help the community adapt to Richmond’s climate impacts of extreme heat, precipitation, and flooding.

This community-wide initiative to develop and implement a roadmap of actions is using an innovative planning approach that centers community members on the frontlines of local climate impacts and works at the intersection of equity, mitigation, and climate resilience. RVAgreen 2050 also coordinates with other city planning processes, including Richmond 300, RVAH20, and Richmond Connects.

The city’s Office of Sustainability has created the RVAgreen 2050 Racial Equity & Environmental Justice Roundtable, a group of frontline community members with diverse lived experiences and paid for their time, and topical Working Groups composed of community stakeholders and city staff. These groups have begun to draft content for the first RVAgreen 2050 roadmap, which aims to achieve a 45% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and help the community adapt to Richmond’s climate impacts.

The city is now seeking community input and ideas on RVAgreen 2050 draft Vision, Objectives and Strategies.

From April 7 to April 30, community members can provide their input at their convenience via any of the following options:

Provide your thoughts online anytime: Review the full draft content and provide comments here. Two versions of our online survey (a 30-minute and 10-minute option) are live until April 30.

Attend an RVAgreen 2050 event in April: The Office of Sustainability is hosting weekly RVAgreen Gab virtual, informal discussions featuring community partners from each of the RVAgreen 2050 pathways:

• Thursday, April 8, 5 p.m.: Transportation & Mobility - featuring partners from GRTC, the City of Richmond, and Bike Walk RVA
• Thursday, April 15, 5 p.m.: Buildings & Energy - featuring partners from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and VCU Health Systems
• Thursday, April 22, 5 p.m.: Environment & Community - featuring partners from Science Museum of Virginia, Groundwork RVA, and City of Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities
• Thursday, April 29, 5 p.m.: Waste Reduction & Recovery - featuring partners from Keep Virginia Beautiful and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network

Visit the Office of Sustainability during virtual “office hours.” Sign up for a time slot to talk to Office of Sustainability staff about your ideas for RVAgreen 2050.

Bring RVAgreen 2050 to your community meeting:  Email rvagreen@richmondgov.com to ask a member of the Office of Sustainability to attend your virtual community meeting to present on RVAgreen 2050, the opportunities to provide input, and answer your questions.

Help spread the word: Use the images and content in the RVAgreen 2050 Community Engagement Toolkit at rvagreen2050.com/engagement-toolkit to help the Office of Sustainability gather as much community input as possible on the draft content by April 30, 2021.

For more information about RVAgreen 2050, please visit rvagreen2050.com.