Irvington residents demonstrate dedication to climate planning advocacy through volunteer action, with as many as 60 community members organizing first as the Climate Protection Task Force and then the Green Policy Task Force (GPTF), which is now rebranded as the Irvington Green Team. 

Irvington drafted a Climate Protection Task Force Report in 2008 and created an Environmental Action Plan and Climate Pledge in 2012. In 2021, the Village was certified as a Bronze Climate Smart Community. In2023, the Village hired a part-time Sustainability Director who, together with volunteers, created a Government Operations Climate Action Plan (GOCAP), adopted June of 2024, measuring greenhouse emissions from government buildings, fleet and commutes and proposing measures to reduce those emissions 50% by 2030. The report analyzed changes in this region’s climate, including increased rainfall. In 2024, Irvington released a community greenhouse gas inventory and achieved Silver certification as a Climate Smart Community (CSC) from New York State. As a Clean Energy Community, Irvington has completed 26 tasks earning 13,200 points which resulted in more than $600,000 in grants to be applied to further greenhouse gas emissions reduction measures. 

Irvington has been a designated Tree City since 1985, meeting standards set by the Arbor Day Foundation such as having a Tree Preservation Commission and establishing Tree Care Ordinances, with tree care guidance, and a tree planting program and budget. A Tree Inventory Report was created in 2009 and, in 2024, Irvington's Climate Smart Communities task force developed Local Forestry Documentation, including a tree canopy and street tree inventory. 

The Greater Irvington Land Trust (GILT) is an organization founded in 2006 with a mission to preserve and advocate for open space and parkland in Irvington, and its surrounding communities. GILT’s advocacy efforts have played a key role in protecting Village-owned natural areas and open space, including the Irvington Woods Park (IWP).

The IWP is a 251-acre ecological preserve that comprises nearly 14% of the Village of Irvington. As one of the largest intact forest ecosystems in southern Westchester County, it plays a vital role in regional water filtration, stormwater buffering, and climate regulation. Strategically located at one of the village’s highest elevations and draining into the Hudson River watershed, the park supports seven distinct forest stand types and contains wetlands and rare old-growth specimens—some over 300 years old—verified through research conducted with Harvard Forest. The Recreation and Parks Department funds the Irvington Changing Forest Research Program, led by CJ Reilly, the Village Naturalist and Director of Education for the Irvington Woods and O’Hara Nature Center.

In 2020, the Village of Irvington received a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Urban and Community Forestry Grant to complete a Tree Inventory and Community Forestry Management Plan for IWP.  The report found the following values:

• 63,750 trees

• $73.3M structural value

• $2.68M in carbon storage

• $60.8K carbon sequestration

• $47.5K avoided runoff

• $83.7K pollution removal

Since this 2020 report, the IWP has been awarded multiple grants worth close to a million dollars for urban and community forest stewardship. More information and updates can be found in the Tree Stewardship section of IrvingtonGreen.org. 

After years of analysis and lobbying from the Irvington Woods Committee, the Village enacted a deer management plan to reduce overpopulation of deer and the subsequent overgrazing of native plants and trees which significantly reduces regeneration of our natural assets and impacts erosion and stormwater runoff. 

Irvington released a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan in 2005, which was updated in 2014 and is in process to be updated in 2026. The Village passed a Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance in 2007, adopted a Stormwater Management Plan in 2009, a Floodplain Management Plan in 2011 and, in 2021 (with the help of our Building Inspector, a certified floodplain manager), the Village passed a Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, approved by FEMA, that is set to be updated in 2026. Irvington has updated its Capital Improvements Plan annually, since it was passed in 2022. The Irvington Reservoir Dam Engineering Assessment was completed in 2024. Residents and the public may access key information, including Irvington’s Government Operations Climate Action Plan, on both the Irvington Green website and the Village website. In 2025, the Village Chief of Police reviewed the County Severe Weather Con Ops Template in advance of hurricane season.

The Village has ordinances pertaining to tree care, wetlands protection, stormwater management, gas leaf blowers, swimming pool discharge, night sky lighting, fireworks, beekeeping, chickens, construction debris, soil removal (excavation and landfill) and erosion control, recycling and disposal of paint, yard waste, and solid waste.