City Honored with ‘Best in the Midwest’ Award by Climate Action Museum

The City of Ann Arbor has been awarded the prestigious “Best in the Midwest” honor by the Climate Action Museum during its 2025 Climate Hero Awards ceremony held on Earth Day in Chicago. This award recognizes innovative Midwestern decarbonization practices not yet adopted in Chicago or Illinois, the home of the Climate Action Museum. 

Ann Arbor was recognized for its A2ZERO Carbon Neutrality Plan and associated work, aiming for a just transition to community-wide carbon neutrality by the year 2030. Key projects include current work to stand up the Sustainable Energy Utility, transforming the Bryant Community Center into a net-zero energy facility and climate action learning lab, the A2ZERO Ambassador program, removing barriers to home decarbonization, and so much more.

This is not the first time Ann Arbor has been recognized for outstanding climate work — the city's efforts have also earned it “gold status” from the Michigan Green Communities program for the third consecutive year. 

“Ann Arbor’s residents, our staff and Council are excited and committed to accomplishing transformative climate action,” said Mayor Christopher Taylor. “This award is an honor and encourages us to keep moving forward.” 

This award comes just in time for the end of Earth Month and the announcement of A2ZERO Week, a week-long celebration of sustainability and community June 1–7 in Ann Arbor. The full schedule of events can be found at osi.a2gov.org/a2zeroweek.

To learn more about A2ZERO, climate action in Ann Arbor, ways to get involved, the above-mentioned programs and more, visit a2gov.org/sustainability.

# # # # #

Media Contact: 

Dr. Missy Stults, Director of Sustainability and Innovations, mstults@a2gov.org