Mountain Towns & Ski Industry Leaders Make Bold Commitments At Inaugural MT2030 Summit

The Mountain Towns 2030 (MT2030) Net Zero Summit in Park City, UT concluded last week with mountain communities, non-profit organizations and ski industry leaders making bold commitments. The inaugural summit was represented by over 30 mountain towns & counties, 15 governmental organizations, 30 non-profits, and 40 businesses. 

Mountain Town 2030 (MT2030) is a coalition of mountain towns that have committed to ambitious carbon reduction goals by 2030. The inaugural Net Zero Summit was the kick-off event for MT2030 and was held on October 2-4, 2019 in Park City, Utah. This 3-day conference for invited city and local governments to learn from inspirational speakers and panelists, share best practices in focused workshops, and create commitments to aggressive goals that will amplify our collective voice to compel our national and global leaders to commit to “zero.” MT2030 will host its second annual conference in Summit County, Breckenridge & Frisco, Colorado in 2020. 

Over 35 organizations signed a pledge to lead community conversations about setting courageous and action-based climate goals that make significant impacts by 2030; to engage other leaders in our community, region, and state in aligning climate action; and to actively share and collaborate with other communities on implementing best practices and creating new solutions.

The Town of Park City & Vail Resorts continue to lead with their net zero by 2030 goals and during the summit, Ski Butlers committed to going net zero by 2030. Other commitments included electrifying public transit, engaging local utilities to transition to 100% clean energy, securing capital to finance carbon reduction projects, preserving open space, and holding local grassroots meetings about setting a net zero goal. 

MT2030 was the first time that leaders from the four largest ski resort operators, Alterra Mountain Company, Boyne Resorts, POWDR, and Vail Resorts, publicly discussed climate issues and agreed to collaborate more closely and share best practices. All four ski resort operators have committed to the pledge. 

Park City Community Foundation, the fiscal sponsor for MT2030, announced the launch of the new Park City Climate Fund, which engages community members in implementing local, high-impact climate solutions that also have the potential to be effective in similar communities. Applications for the fund opened during MT2030 and over $150,000 in climate action grants are expected to be issued in early 2020.

ICLEI USA, an organization that serves local governments across the United States to pursue deep reductions in carbon pollution and tangible improvements in sustainability, announced a partnership with MT2030 to fund a Greenhouse Gas inventory cohort. ICLEI USA will provide training and technical assistance for communities that have not yet completed a carbon inventory, resulting in the identification of high-impact opportunities to reduce emissions.  All attending cities will receive this support free for the first year. 

MT2030 is also excited to partner with Summit County, Breckenridge, and Frisco, Colorado to host MT2030 in 2020. 

“We could not be more proud of the success of MT2030,” said Park City Mayor Andy Beerman. “We believe that mountain towns can have a global impact on climate change and this week we saw the excitement, energy, and passion to lead and to be a part of the solution. The bold commitments, impressive attendance, and collaboration between the four major ski resorts was inspiring.”

During the summit, speakers and panelists covered a variety of topics on climate, including; the state of the climate crisis, financing clean energy, working and partnering with local utilities, effective climate communications, carbon tracking, the 100 most viable global climate solutions and more. 

Keynote speakers include renowned conservationist and United Nations Messenger of Peace Jane Goodall, and environmentalist Paul Hawken from Project Drawdown. The speaker lineup also included Utah State University Professor Robert Davies, Rocky Mountain Power CEO Gary Hoogeveen, Park City Mayor Andy Beerman, Congressman Ben McAdams, and John Curtis and Utah State Representative Steve Handy, clean energy impact investors, leaders from non-profit organizations and many more.