The New Hampshire Climate Action Planning Process
The NH Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) was awarded a Climate Pollution Reduction planning grant under the U.S Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program.
The goals of the CPRG were to:
- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions while supporting the creation of good jobs and lowering energy costs for families.
- Empower community-driven solutions in neighborhoods overburdened by pollution and the impacts of climate change by directly seeking input from those communities.
- Deliver cleaner air by reducing harmful air pollution in places where people live, work, play, and go to school.
Under this grant, NHDES has been developing a set of climate action plans for reducing emissions across the state. The CPRG grant requires three key deliverables: development of the PCAP by March 1, 2024; development of a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) by August 2025; and submittal of a Status Report by August 2027.
Explore the New Hampshire PCAP
The CCAP is still under development, and updates on this project can be found on the NHDES CCAP webpage. The CCAP will identify opportunities to reduce GHG emissions across seven key economic sectors in New Hampshire: Transportation, Buildings, Electricity Generation & Use, Industry, Agriculture, Natural & Working Lands, and Waste & Materials Management.
Partnership with New Hampshire Listens
New Hampshire Listens worked on behalf of the NHDES to design and facilitate community engagement opportunities—an essential component of NH's Priority and Comprehensive Climate Action Plans.
Engagement Process
The EPA made clear that meaningful community engagement is essential for this climate action planning process and for accessing funding for implementation grants that follow (i.e., support for local ideas, policies, and programs to reduce pollution and build more equitable and resilient communities).
Accordingly, the New Hampshire CPRG process relied on extensive stakeholder engagement, facilitated by New Hampshire Listens. The purpose of the engagement was to identify new opportunities, community priorities, and develop specific goals and outcomes.
Between 2023 and 2026, New Hampshire Listens and NHDES provided many engagement opportunities to hear from the Granite Staters and key stakeholders. The findings of these engagement efforts were used to:
- Inform the development of a list of draft measures for the Priority and Comprehensive Climate Action Plans
- Inform the NHDES team of existing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction efforts and opportunities across New Hampshire
- Develop a series of resources to support ongoing GHG emissions reduction work being conducted by key stakeholders across the state.
Engagement Outcomes
From November 2023 to August 2026, we hosted over 70 engagement opportunities to connect with stakeholders and community members around the state, and learn about greenhouse gas reduction success stories, opportunities, barriers, and needs. This includes public update sessions, community conversations, sector-specific technical input sessions, statewide surveys, public comment periods, conferences, and more.
157 municipalities across New Hampshire were represented by participants in our PCAP and CCAP engagement activities. This represents 67% of the state.
Over 280 unique stakeholder groups were represented by participants across our engagement activities, including municipalities, regional planning commissions, state agencies, businesses, advocacy groups, trade associations, and more.
Key Project Outcomes
Success Stories
Through these engagement initiatives, New Hampshire Listens and NHDES heard many stories from across the state of projects, programs, and initiatives that successfully demonstrate greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategies.
Policy Research Outcomes
- Existing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Projects & Program Analysis
- Existing Funding Resources Analysis
- Greenhouse Gas-Related New Hampshire State Legislation Analysis
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Plans & Measures Analysis
Explore the Archives
The information provided on this site is intended to support meaningful engagement throughout the development of New Hampshire's Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP). The materials posted here do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of NHDES or any other state agency. The work of NHDES and other participating entities on the CCAP will be focused on completing the elements required by EPA under NHDES' CPRG grant agreement. Learn more about the CPRG process here.
