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Climate Change and COVID-19
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City of Vaughan has declared a climate emergency
See the full text of the City’s declaration
The City joins a growing list of cities worldwide (including 31 Canadian municipalities) who have deepened their commitment to climate action by declaring a climate emergency.
Partners for Climate Protection
Green Directions Vaughan, the City's Community Sustainability and Environmental Master Plan states that the City will promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by identifying and working with partners to evaluate the community's greenhouse gas emissions.
The City of Vaughan is a proud member of the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program. The PCP framework is widely used throughout Canada to audit GHG emissions, identify how GHG emissions can be reduced and demonstrate measurable results for GHG emission reductions. It is a performance-based milestone model, which allows for flexibility regarding goals, timelines and targets.
The PCP Program is a partnership between the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and ICLEI, Local Governments for Sustainability. The City of Vaughan was the 206th Canadian municipality to join the PCP Framework.
The PCP program addresses emissions that result from corporate and community activities:
Corporate emissions result from actions taken by the City to provide services to its citizens. Emissions from buildings, vehicle fleets, streetlights, water/sewage and waste are quantified by the PCP program.
Community emissions result from the activities of citizens throughout the community. Emissions from Residential, Institutional, Commercial, Industrial, Transportation, and Solid Waste sectors are identified by the PCP program.
The City of Vaughan has already made progress on several of the PCP program milestones:
Milestone One: Create a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and forecast.
Milestone Two: Set an emissions reduction target.
Milestone Three: Develop a local action plan.
Milestone Four: Implementing the local action plan.
Community Climate Action Plan For Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Municipal governments are taking action on climate change, and rightly so: communities are the places we live, work, and play; and the effects of climate change will be most acutely felt at the local level. Taking action through the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program, the City of Vaughan conducted a comprehensive audit of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Vaughan.
Community GHG Emissions by Sector Community GHG Emissions by Source
When it comes to climate protection, all parts of the community - residential, commercial and institutional, industrial, solid waste and other sectors - have tremendous potential to reduce greenhouse gases. Turning to the community to help drive this effort, the City of Vaughan, in partnership with a multi-disciplinary team at Lura Consulting, initiated the next phase in its proactive approach to climate protection through the creation of a Community Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Read the Community Climate Action Plan below.
Creating the Community Climate Action Plan
From September 2013 to January 2014, the City began to develop a comprehensive strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Engaging a wide variety of local stakeholders - from businesses to community groups to engaged citizens - the City sought valuable input and expertise, actions and implementation plans to help craft a successful "made-in-Vaughan" approach to tackling climate change.
1) Our Stakeholder Steering Committee
This guiding committee was comprised of approximately 40 individuals representing over 30 different businesses, institutions and non-profit organizations operating in Vaughan. Meeting approximately once a month between September 2013 and January 2014, the Steering Committee helped to guide and refine the vision and goals of this GHG emissions reduction effort; draft over 85 sector-specific GHG reduction targets; and outline a community implementation plan for 2014. Key Steering Committee project documents and presentations can be found below:
2) Open Community Forum and Online Idea-Sharing via IdeaScale
In November 2013 an open Community Forum was held at Vaughan City Hall to engage Vaughan citizens in community action planning to reduce GHG emissions. The Forum was co-hosted with Vaughan's Natural Heritage Network Study. Members of the public were invited to get involved, share opinions and ideas and learn more about the two projects and how they both relate to Green Directions Vaughan, the Community Sustainability and Environmental Master Plan. Following the open Community Forum, the public was encouraged to continue to offer their thoughts, opinions and ideas on the over 85 proposed sector-specific GHG reduction actions online via IdeaScale - an online idea-sharing platform designed to capture community expertise and innovations.
Initiatives arising from this Community Climate Action Plan will work to reduce overall GHG emissions in Vaughan while positively impacting the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the community. Interested in finding out more? Want to get involved? Contact environment@vaughan.ca.
Phone: 905-832-2281
TTY:1-866-543-0545
Email: environment@vaughan.ca
Location: Vaughan City Hall Level 200 2141 Major Mackenzie Drive Vaughan, ON L6A 1T1