Climate Resilient Burlington Plan Approved by Burlington City Council

At our July 12 City Council meeting, we unanimously approved the staff report giving an update on the Climate Resilient Burlington Plan.MY TAKE:This is a great piece of work by staff. It has gone through our sustainability stakeholder group. I’m hearing a lot more in the community asking what our plans are for climate change and I’m glad to be able to say we’re bringing it all together and mapping out the future. People are concerned over if Burlington is prepared for what’s coming, for emergencies and to mitigate negative impacts on our environment. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we’ve also done a lot of work up to this point. This provides a good summary of where we’ve been and where we’re going. It dovetails well with our emergency planning as well.For more details, the staff report and a digital copy of the Climate Resilient Burlington Plan July 2022 Update, please scroll down.*Please see below a news release issued by the City of Burlington.Burlington, Ont. — July 13, 2022 — Burlington City Council has approved Climate Resilient Burlington: A Plan for Adapting to Our Warmer, Wetter and Wilder Weather. This plan identifies Burlington’s risks and vulnerabilities from climate change and is directly related to 2018-2022 Burlington’s Plan: From Vision to Focus.About the Climate Resilient Burlington planThe purpose of the Climate Resilient Burlington (CRB) plan is to identify actions to manage the highest risks of warmer, wetter and wilder weather. While the CRB plan considers Burlington’s climate projections to the years 2051-2080 under a high emissions scenario, the plan outlines 32 actions under five themes focusing on building resilience and preparing for a changing climate over the next 10 years. Although this is Burlington’s first climate adaptation plan, work is not starting from scratch, but rather building on initiatives already underway.The CRB plan was developed with City staff and community stakeholders representing 12 City departments and 17 community organizations. The community was also engaged throughout the process through a number of measures including a dedicated project page, a public project launch and surveys.CRB Themes and Goals

• Theme 1: Resilient Built and Natural Infrastructure
  • Goal: Manage infrastructure to prepare for future climate conditions and carbon neutral goals
  • Goal: Enhance resilience of infrastructure exposed to high flood risk
  • Goal: Invest in proactive measures to prepare for increased extreme events to avoid post-storm reactive costs
• Theme 2: Thriving Natural Environment
  • Goal: Reduce damage to trees while increasing the value of the services they provide
  • Goal: Value, conserve and enhance the multiple services that natural areas provide
• Theme 3: Extreme Heat and Health
  • Goal: Provide City services to support the community during extreme heat events
• Theme 4: Disaster Resilience
  • Goal: Build capacity in the community to prepare for and respond to more extreme events and long-term climate stresses
  • Goal: Encourage climate adaptation actions from citizens and businesses
• Theme 5: Strong and Resilient Economy
  • Goal: Support agricultural community in preparing for climate change
  • Goal: Support and develop resilient local supply chains to help withstand impacts associated with extreme climate events outside of Burlington

Projects with links to climate actions underwayThere are several climate actions already underway through various City departments and projects. Each item listed has a direct link to reducing risk, reducing emissions or preparing for climate change effects.

• Alert Burlington – Community Notification System
• Cooling and Warming Centres in partnership with Burlington Public Library
• Home Flood Protection Assessment Program
• Plumbing Permit Fee Grant Program
• Stormwater infrastructure improvements such as larger creek culverts and creek channel improvements
• Burlington Stormwater Management Design Guidelines
• Urban Forest Master Plan
• Municipal Natural Assets Initiative – Grindstone Creek Watershed Project
• Spencer Smith Park and Beachway stabilization and wave breaks
• Asset Management Plan
• Climate Action Plan (focusing on reducing community emissions)
• Corporate Energy and Emissions Management Plan
• City View Park pavilion and solar installation
• Anti-idling campaign and bylaw
• Expansion of the City’s electric vehicle charging stations
• Electric Mobility Strategy
• Corporate Green Fleet Strategy
• Integrated Mobility Plan (focusing on active and public transportation)
• Rural Active Transportation Strategy
• Cycling Plan, a component of the Integrated Mobility Plan, which includes projects such as the Plains Road bikeway improvements
• Major Transit Station Areas (MTSA)
• Other projects

"This plan is a grassroots level plan with input from the public, staff and many community partners and stakeholders and encompasses real actionable items that will direct staff’s work and encourage residents to take action to prepare for the impacts of climate change. Climate Resilient Burlington builds on the many projects we have to reduce the increasing risk of a changing climate. Notwithstanding our best efforts to reduce our GHG emissions in the future, climate change is here and this plan lays out a plan for the city and residents to prepare for this warmer, wetter wilder future." -- Allan Magi, Executive Director of Environment, Infrastructure & Community Services, City of Burlington

Links and Resources:

• Climate Resilient Burlington, Get involved page: getinvolvedburlington.ca/crb
• Staff report: Report to Council, July 12, 2022
• Climate Resilient Burlington Plan July 2022 Update
• burlington.ca/environment
• burlington.ca/climatechange