Make Your Councillor a Climate Change Champion

Climate change is a global problem that requires local solutions

This primer will help answer three key questions for making your councillor a climate change champion and get you on track to having political leaders who are engaged on climate issues in your community.

1. How do I engage elected officials?

Communities that take the time to engage with a political champion and council may be better positioned to move forward on implementing climate solutions by having buy-in at every level and having clear direction on municipal actions. Here are some tips that might help you make your town councillor a climate champion:

• Engage them as early as possible. Once you have a clear idea of how you’d like to take climate action in your community, engage your councillor right away. They can provide helpful insight and identify key questions, considerations, and possible challenges early on, which can help you make more informed decisions and transparently communicate expectations with community members. It might also take a long time to reach them—they’re busy people!
• Make sure you’re targeting the correct level of government. Municipal governments only have control over certain policy issues, the rest fall under the provincial or federal government. Make sure you are asking your councillor to take action on something they can change, like land use, municipal bylaws, or public transportation.
• Refine your messaging. You can be more persuasive if you frame your ask by providing an inspiring message, a compelling rationale, and leveraging your councillor’s priorities and interests. Also try using familiar, concise language, and highlighting the widespread benefits of your plan. And remember to always be respectful.
• Build a coalition of supporters. The more people who you can demonstrate are supportive of your plan, the more likely your councillor is to agree to take part. They will want to know that their constituents and colleagues will be receptive if approached about climate change. This means building public support in the community, as well as mobilizing the people who influence your councillor like advisors and community leaders.

Additional resources:
David Suzuki Foundation’s rules for working with governments
Municipal Climate Action Hub’s strategy recommendations for community energy planning

2. What can councillors do to support climate action in my community?

Start with a very clear ask that your councillor can champion. It doesn’t have to be big—even just a small change or minor program can be a good start. Give them small wins that they can feel good about, without making them feel overwhelmed about the daunting prospect of solving climate change. Here are some quick starts and easy wins that you can work with your councillor on:

• Make changes within the local government: install solar panels on government buildings, implement sustainable landscaping practices in town gardens, or encourage weekly work-from-home days to minimize government employee commuting.
• Support local businesses by working with them to cut costs through reducing energy, water and resource use.
• Identify the members of the community who are most vulnerable to fuel poverty, and the impacts of extreme weather like flooding, excessive heat, or freezing temperatures.
• Launch an idling reduction campaign in the community
• Work in partnership with counties and neighbouring municipalities to share services and increase purchasing power for climate change programming.

Additional resources:

• BC Climate Action Toolkit: Quick Starts in Small and Rural Communities
• UK Local Government Association: A councillor’s workbook on acting on climate change:

3. How do I keep momentum going?

So you’ve identified your political champion and you’ve successfully worked together on a project to take climate action. What’s next, and how do you keep your councillor involved? Thankfully, the more our councillors do to win public support, the better their chances are of getting re-elected. Now is the time to show them the results and what more can be done.

• Monitor and evaluate the impacts of your project. Work with your councillor to demonstrate impact and show how your project has benefited your community and helped mitigate climate change. Communicate these results to community members, other elected officials, and community leaders to get more buy-in and public support for further climate initiatives.
• Create a local action planning committee. Gather a small group of community members, business owners, officials and public servants who will take the lead on further climate change initiatives in partnership with your municipality.
• Engage your councillor regularly and keep them involved and updated on progress.
• Involve other communities. Look for inspiration (or competition) elsewhere to keep your councillor interested in learning what other activities you could undertake in your community to demonstrate leadership on climate action. You could also promote the work your community is doing in neighbouring municipalities to build partnerships and encourage further action on climate change.

Additional resources:

• BC Climate Action Toolkit: Quick Starts for Elected Officials
• Partners for Climate Protection: A Guide to Local Action Planning: