Learn about how the City of Burlington is taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the effects of climate change in our community.
Our Climate Action Plan identifies a low-carbon energy pathway for the community. Incorporating community member and stakeholder engagement, it builds on our Climate Emergency Declaration to set a strong direction for the City and our community to mitigate GHG emissions and reduce energy consumption. It includes a vision for the future and outlines seven areas to guide efforts:
View our Climate Action Plan project page, which includes key project dates, document libraries, how to get involved and more.
Staff Reports and Presentation |
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Climate Resilient Burlington: A Plan for Adapting to Our Warmer, Wetter and Wilder Weather is a City initiative that helps:
Visit the Climate Resilient Burlington project page to learn more about the initiative, including the launch event and project timelines.
Climate Change Impacts Story Map |
View our interactive Climate Change Impacts Story Map with more information on Burlington-specific climate change impacts with:
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Staff reports and presentations |
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Existing programs and information |
Existing local programs or information that can help you prepare and adapt to warmer, wetter and wilder weather include:
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The Take Action Burlington - An Update on Our Local Environment report provides an overview of the state of Burlington's environment, highlighting local sustainability efforts, climate change connections and actions that can be taken under the categories of land, air, water and waste.
You can also view our Take Action Burlington online story map for an interactive journey through the report.
Our Strategic Plan identifies the following commitments:
From Vision to Focus |
These commitments are further supported in our 2018-2022 Burlington's Plan: From Vision to Focus, including:
We aim to ensure implementation plans are in progress and/or completed for our:
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City actions |
Our City actions include:
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The decisions we make every day, such as how we live and move around have an impact on emissions that contribute to poor air quality and climate change. The effects of climate change, such as more intense storms and flooding will also impact our everyday lives. Initiatives to reduce air emissions can also help reduce GHGs that contribute to climate change, and vice versa.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that human influence on the climate system is clear. The atmospheric concentration of key GHGs (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) is unprecedented in the last 800,000 years, with our fossil fuel-driven economies and an increase in population to blame.
What is the difference between weather and climate change? |
Weather is the day-to-day changes in conditions, such as temperature and rainfall. Climate change is a long-term shift, measured by changes in temperature, precipitation, winds and other indicators. Climate change can involve both changes in average conditions and changes in variability, including changes in extreme conditions. A balanced amount of GHGs keeps our planet habitable. However, since industrialization, GHGs have steadily increased and are impacting our climate. |
Smog and air quality |
Smog is used to describe a mixture of pollutants, primarily made up of:
These contaminants are released into the environment when we burn fossil fuels to run vehicles, buildings and industries through the evaporation of fuels and oil-based plants, and as a result of natural processes. Smog can negatively impact human health and ecological health. Learn more about air quality in Halton Region and air quality in Ontario. |