Burlington City Council Endorses Climate Action Update Report
Please see the below media release from the City of Burlington.Burlington, Ont. — June 28, 2019 — On June 17, 2019, City of Burlington staff presented the CW-07-19 - Take Action Burlington - An Update on Our Local Environment to Council. Council endorsed this Update Report, which provides an overview on the state of Burlington’s environment and highlights local sustainability efforts and actions that can be taken.To view the appendices to the report, please click the links: CW-07-19 Appendix A - Take Action Burlington / CW-07-19 - Appendix B - SDC Recommendations / CW-07-19 - Appendix C - Staff update on SOER V.The new report has four themes; land, air, water and waste. Each theme is broken down into climate change connections, what the city is doing and what residents can do to help the environment. Climate change connections are included in the report to help residents understand that how we live and move around have an impact on climate change (mitigation) and the effects of climate change will impact our everyday lives (adaption).
"Staff continue to work on initiatives to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. Two upcoming reports this month include measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from city operations, including a path to meet our 2040 target; and proposed updates to stormwater design guidelines to adapt to a changing climate. Stayed tuned for fall workshops for community members to assist in developing a Climate Action Plan." — Allan Magi, Executive Director of the Capital Works Deparment
Burlington has been experiencing more extreme events including the ice storm in 2013, the flood in 2014, high Lake Ontario levels in 2017 and 2019 and increased windstorms. Such events have impacted Burlington residents and businesses financially. The Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation has also reported impacts of flooding on mental health. On April 23, 2019, Burlington’s City Council unanimously passed a motion to declare a climate emergency ‘for the purposes of deepening our commitment to protecting the economy, environment and community from climate change.”MY TAKE:Staff has done excellent work updating and consolidating the state of the environment report. We all need to work together to reach our goal of a net carbon neutral city. The City of Burlington is taking action where it matters and are targeting city operations be net carbon neutral by 2040. I ask private businesses and citizens to take action too: at home, at work and in their transportation choices. This staff report is not the beginning for us, but another important step on a journey the city has been on for some time regarding climate action. Our health, livelihoods and futures are directly linked to the environment. Real change requires all of us working in tandem.Links and Resources: