Case summary

• Cincinnati’s target is to achieve 100% community-wide carbon neutrality by 2050

• With Transition Elements, Cincinnati’s structures its climate data into clear, quantified target— ensuring measurable progress and accountability.

• The city’s public-facing dashboard has fostered broader stakeholder engagement, driving collaboration toward a sustainable future.

The framework for a cost-effective transition

Cincinnati isn’t usually top-of-mind when the topic is climate leadership, but Ohio’s third-most populous city is proving that a strategic and data-driven plan can fast-track US cities to achieve ambitious goals.

In 2023, Cincinnati launched the Green Cincinnati Plan, outlining an action-driven strategy with eight focus areas to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The aim is to cut 50% of CO2e emissions by 2030 — a path already 39.8% done.

Cincinnati knows exactly the number of buildings that need to be powered by renewables or how many people should forgo vehicles running on fossil fuels in favor of sustainable mobility solutions. With ClimateView’s Transition Elements Framework, the government of Cincinnati and its residents have access to granular localized data to inform and justify the most cost-effective transition; that is, where dollars would be better spent for the amount of CO2e reduced.

"The software is so much more user-friendly than any of the models we have used in the past. There’s an accessibility component to ClimateView that we've never had. We have real-time ability to measure the impact of a potential solution, develop a chart, and share it in a presentation."

Oliver Kroner,
Director of the Office of Environment &
Sustainability, City of Cincinnati

Key solutions at the center

The detailed insights from the ClimateView platform help Cincinnati track progress and take targeted action. This ensures both continued climate progress and public awareness of the most impactful solutions

People oftentimes point to recycling as their primary act of living sustainably. Recycling certainly makes an impact, but Kroner points out that "when you look at the data, much of the emissions actually come from organic waste." The same logic has been applied to every solution, including electrification, heat pumps and public transit — a few of the key topics, according to Kroner.

The community was heavily involved in the process. The city partnered with students from the University of Cincinnati to develop content and enable data input into the ClimateView platform that helped define key strategies for each focus area.

"We have a very supportive community. We want to show the math behind it, where we are making progress and where we are stuck. Data is fundamental to this work, and storytelling really helps to bring people’s emotional investment into it."

Oliver Kroner,
Director of the Office of Environment &
Sustainability, City of Cincinnati

Cities as the drivers of change

ClimateView enables cities and regions to design structured transition plans, refine targets, and develop strategies that accelerate sustainable progress and improve residents’ quality of life.

The Office of Environment & Sustainability Director, Oliver Kroner, has been with the City of Cincinnati for nine years. During this period, he believes the United States, in particular, came to a key realization: cities are not only home to communities primarily impacted by the climate crisis, but they are also the primary drivers of climate solutions. "We can find a way to move together by being more transparent with our strategies," he says.

Next step: ClearPath 2.0

Cincinnati has worked with ClimateView since 2021 and has used its framework and platform extensively. During Spring 2025, it will be one of the first cities transitioning to ClearPath 2.0, an offering catered specifically to the United States and its subnational governments as a result of ClimateView’s

ClearPath 2.0 is the next generation of ICLEI USA's existing ClearPath platform. Outside of the United States, ClimateView's platform and offerings will continue to be available to cities and partners.

To learn more about ClearPath 2.0 and how it supports U.S. cities in climate planning, contact

Stay tuned for our upcoming website launch.