10 Things Sections Can Do
Activating Climate Action in ACC Sections — a Top Ten Things* practical guide · October 1, 2026
The Alpine Club of Canada is dedicated to protecting mountain ecosystems and fostering responsible mountain culture. By helping ACC sections align their initiatives with the UIAA Four Pillars of Climate Action (Commit, Mitigate, Adapt, Educate/Advocate), we connect the ACC's core conservation values with a globally recognized climate action framework for mountain sports. This Top Ten Things* guide maps out different routes section leaders can use to turn these big-picture ideas into immediate, low-barrier regional actions.
In June 2026, ACC section leaders from across Canada gathered at the 2026 Section Forum climate action workshop to map out climate actions now and into the future. Drawing on the ACC Strategic Plan (2025–2028), the UIAA framework, and climate actions already in progress across the sections, this resource turns our workshop momentum into ten practical, intentional ideas your section can adopt right now.
Every section has different "on the ground" considerations — so mix and match, select all or some, fine-tune, or create new takes on these themes. Do whatever works for your section. There is plenty of room to grow!
Pillar 1: Commitment and Integration
Before we can change our habits, we must change our organizational defaults.
1. Engrain It Into Everything (Systemic Thinking)
Don't treat climate action as a standalone. Weave it into the fabric of your existing operations. For example, consider adding a mandatory "Environmental and Climate Considerations" field to your standard trip posting templates. Include Leave No Trace (LNT) principles and climate awareness in your standard leadership and volunteer onboarding.
Whatever you select or design for your section, the goal is for climate-conscious thinking to become your section's default setting rather than an extra step.
2. Create Space at the Table (Governance)
Build climate awareness directly into your section's leadership structure. For example, dedicate a permanent seat on your executive to an Environmental Considerations role, or make "Climate Action Projects" a standing agenda item for every meeting.
When climate-informed action has a permanent home at the table, it stops being a seasonal afterthought and actively shapes your long-term operational decisions.
Pillar 2: Mitigation
Directly reducing our collective carbon footprint and environmental impact.
3. Climate-Informed Carpooling (Carbon Reduction)
Transportation to the trailhead remains a major contributor to our recreational carbon footprint. Consider moving beyond casual carpooling by building formal ride-sharing into your trip-planning infrastructure:
- Set up a dedicated digital sign-up sheet for every trip posting.
- Establish fair, pre-calculated gas-share rates.
- Incentivize volunteer drivers — perhaps with priority trip registration.
4. Embrace the Repair Culture (Circular Economy)
By squeezing a few more seasons out of your gear, you directly reduce your consumption footprint and lower the demand for newly manufactured equipment. Wear your duct-tape gear patches with pride and model sustainable consumer habits for newer members.
Host section gear swaps, repair nights, and skill-sharing workshops to teach members how to safely maintain and fix their own tents, technical apparel, and hardware.
Pillar 3: Adaptation
Adjusting our trip planning, beta, and safety margins to a rapidly changing mountain environment.
5. Update Trip Beta for Shifting Baselines (Risk and Safety)
Climate change is rapidly altering our mountain landscapes through melting permafrost, receding glaciers, and erratic weather. Train trip leaders to actively document and share updated route beta.
Consider adding a "Climate and Objective Hazard" assessment to your standard pre-trip screening to evaluate changing rockfall risks, structural route degradation, and volatile shoulder-season conditions.
6. Climate-Focused Stewardship (Ecological Resilience)
Connect traditional conservation directly to climate resilience. When organizing local trail, crag, or cliff cleanups, help participants understand why things like erosion control and protecting local biodiversity hot spots are also climate actions. For example, destabilized slopes are particularly vulnerable to intense, climate-driven rainfall events.
Framing a cleanup as an active effort to protect a vulnerable ecosystem helps your members see the direct link between local stewardship and climate resilience.
Pillar 4: Education and Advocacy
Using our collective voice and personal stories to inspire broader systemic change.
7. Tell First-Hand Stories (Cultural Witnessing)
As mountaineers, hikers, climbers, and skiers, we witness rapid environmental changes that the general public rarely sees. Share photos, write blog posts, and speak openly about the visible transformations happening on your section's favourite routes.
Personal, heartfelt stories about disappearing glaciers or changing landscapes build emotional connections that cold statistics never will.
8. Amplify Voices Through Community Education (Micro-Advocacy)
Use your section's digital platforms and community reach to elevate climate discussions. Host guest speakers, local scientists, or Indigenous Elders on environmental topics during your regular social nights.
Make your section's environmental stance — and its commitment to frameworks and partners such as the UIAA framework, Protect Our Winters (POW), or the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) — clearly visible on your website homepage to normalize climate advocacy within mountain culture.
9. Partner for Multiplied Impact (Network Scaling)
You don't need to invent climate programs from scratch. If your section executive lacks specialized environmental expertise, seek out and partner with established local environmental or conservation organizations. Offer your volunteer network to support their projects, collaborate on educational events, and share resources to multiply your regional impact.
An ACC-Specific Opportunity
Leverage dedicated national resources to scale up local impact.
10. Apply for the ACC Environment Grant (Leverage Existing Capital)
Break the "no-budget" barrier by tapping into existing national office funds that sections currently underuse. Sections, along with individual ACC members, receive priority in the granting process — yet the ACC Environment Grant rarely sees section-focused or section-sanctioned applications.
For example, in 2025 the ACC Vancouver Island Section (ACCVI) used this grant to run a fully funded three-day BioBlitz biodiversity snapshot at Hišimy̓awiƛ [Hi-SHIM-ya-wit], their hut at 5040 Peak (download the BioBlitz report). Your section could do the same — or create another project just as compelling!
The Next Step for Your Section Executive
To turn this guide into immediate action without stretching your budget, pick one item from this list to formally put before your section executive at your very next meeting.
*There's More Than Ten Things!
Of course there's more! Many ACC sections that have already taken up climate action initiatives could easily add to this list. Mountain clubs around the world are rising to the challenge: in 2025, the UIAA Climate Change Task Force gathered over 150 examples from member federations in mountains everywhere. Download the UIAA Pillar Primer for more inspiration and ideas.