West Grey council has received the final draft of a Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP), including strategies on achieving net zero by 2050.
During a meeting on Feb. 7, council received a delegation from Climate Change Project Officers Adlar Gross and Pavils Hawkins from Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), a international non-governmental organization which promotes sustainable development.
The delegation of the final draft of the CCAP is the last phase of a five phase plan which began by the end 2021.
The purpose of the CCAP is to provide a long-term strategy to realize a sustainable, low-emission, and energy efficient future, by reducing corporate greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2030 relative to the levels experienced in 2019.
“The buildings and fleet sectors were the largest contributors to energy consumption, costs and emissions. The primary drivers of these emissions were diesel use for trucks and other off-road construction equipment, as well as natural gas for building heating,” says Gross.
The strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions included in the report achieves an 86 per cent reduction by the net-zero 2050 goal.
Such strategies to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the municipality include developing a green fleet plan for West Grey’s vehicles, develop new energy efficient buildings, switch to LED streetlights, increase the energy efficiency of water and wastewater facilities, and promoting a culture of conservation.
“This kind of aligns with what many other municipalities are doing, as well as at the federal level, and the international consensus is we need to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050,” says Gross.
To fully achieve this goal, Gross says measures like renewable energy production and nature-based solutions will be needed.
“I think it is a good plan, we are obviously in the early stages, and this is something that is going to be ongoing for a number of years,” says Coun. Doug Hutchinson.