At the Environmental Quality Board meeting on Sept. 17, state climate staff said they will publish a full draft of Minnesota’s updated Climate Action Framework this fall and asked Minnesotans for final public comment on modeling, equity and resilience goals. Katie Knudson, climate director at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, presented the update and described the process, modeling work and outreach to tribal and local governments.

The update matters because Minnesota’s statutory targets for greenhouse gas reductions — a 50% cut by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050 — require statewide planning and coordination across agencies, local governments, tribes, businesses and communities. Knudson told the board the framework update will identify policy packages and investments that would move the state closer to those targets and show tradeoffs and costs through new emissions and economic modeling.

Knudson summarized the framework’s three-part vision: “carbon neutrality, resilience and equity,” noting those pillars guide agency work across sectors. She said the 2022 framework informed more than 40 climate actions enacted in 2023, including a 100% clean energy goal and a $100,000,000 resilient communities grant program that has reached more than 150 communities. Federal laws such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act also shifted funding and program opportunities that the update accounts for.

A key addition this year is greenhouse-gas modeling and scenario analysis funded by the state legislature and federal sources. Knudson described three modeled pathways: a current-policy baseline, a net-zero-by-2050 ‘‘least-cost’’ pathway and a ‘‘potential policy’’ pathway that assembles higher‑ambition state-level actions to test what would be needed to reach targets. The modeling examines outcomes before and after anticipated federal regulatory changes and includes economic impact estimates.

Knudson said the state organized sector-based conversations, solicited public comment and coordinated with tribes and local governments during the yearlong update. “We put out a draft action steps document in June, we received over 200 public comments, some extensive, and we held sector and tribal discussions,” she told the board. Knudson and other presenters emphasized that the fall draft will be the next formal opportunity for the public to provide specific feedback.

Board members asked where engagement met resistance and where there was buy‑in. Knudson and other commissioners said there is broad public expectation that the state should lead on climate, coupled with specific concerns and tradeoffs that participants raised in public and tribal conversations. Commissioner Kessler and other board members emphasized the need to translate statewide goals into local implementation options, and transportation representatives noted that reducing vehicle miles traveled will be central to meeting emission reductions in that sector.

Knudson said the framework teams are paying particular attention to equity: identifying populations that face disproportionate climate risk, designing safeguards so climate investments do not increase burdens on those communities, and directing benefits toward overburdened places.

Next steps: the Climate Action Framework full draft will be released this fall for public review and comment. Knudson indicated the interagency steering team and agency goal teams will continue work on implementation details and that staff will return to the board after the draft is finalized to report on final recommendations and implementation priorities.

The board discussion and the public‑engagement timeline mean Minnesotans will have one more formal window to comment before the framework is finalized.