Burlington’s City Council unanimously passed a motion to declare a climate emergency at the April 23, 2019 City Council meeting, brought forward by Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan.
Numerous cities around the world have recently declared climate emergencies in response to findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that we have only 12 years to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees, beyond which any further increase would significantly worsen the risk to hundreds of millions of people of extreme heat, drought, floods and poverty. London (UK), Los Angeles, Vancouver, Halifax, Kingston and Hamilton have each declared climate emergencies recently.
The City of Burlington has already felt the effects of climate change over the past several years. Climate change is currently ranked as the third highest risk on the City’s Enterprise Risk Register, which measures overall risk to the City.
The City is currently updating many of its plans in relation to climate change including the Community Energy Plan (transitioning to the Climate Action Plan), Corporate Energy Management Plan, Storm Water Design Standards and Urban Forest Management Plan. The City has also set the important goal for city operations to be net carbon neutral by 2040 and work towards being a net carbon neutral community.
The climate emergency declaration would increase the city’s ambition on climate change initiatives, including in the community, and provide staff and residents with clarity of purpose regarding Council’s view of the importance of climate change.
Action items from the declaration include:
- That the City of Burlington declare a climate emergency for the purposes of deepening our commitment to protecting our economy, environment and community from climate change; and
- That Council and staff immediately increase the priority of the fight against climate change and apply a climate lens to the plans and actions of the City of Burlington including the Council strategic workplan and future budgets; and
- That staff are directed to bring a report to the June 3, 2019 Committee of the Whole meeting that outlines actions taken to date and includes a critical path for the development of the first City of Burlington Climate Action Plan that will:
- address the operations of the corporation of the municipality as well as the functioning of the entire community; and
- include a plan for a thorough and complete consultation with stakeholders and the community; and
- increase action and ambition for the City’s climate change-related activities; and
- include performance metrics to track progress and timelines for achieving key deliverables/major milestones, and a strategy to report back publicly on progress.
- Direct the City Manager to bring back the Burlington Climate Action Plan to Council no later than December 2019 for approval.
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Quotes
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward
“Our health, livelihoods and futures are directly linked to the environment. Flooding, storms, water quality and air quality affect everything and everyone in our community. Real change requires all of us to work together. If our goals are to build a prosperous, healthy and green city for the long-term, we need to take serious, tangible action. Passing this declaration is another step in ensuring that we are doing everything we can to stop climate change — this companion motion includes timelines for action, as well as reporting back on initiatives that are already underway at the City of Burlington.”
Councillor Rory Nisan
“By declaring a climate emergency, Burlington City Council is recognizing the magnitude of the challenge we face in combatting climate change. But it is only one step. Through the declaration we have requested a comprehensive climate action plan by the end of the year and that plan is where we will begin to make real, practical change for Burlington.”
Links and Resources
Community Energy Plan
Corporate Energy Management
Stormwater
Urban Forest
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