Federal funding announced for climate projects
A reforestation effort for
St. John’s, a furnace replacement program for provincial housing properties and a plan to switch the fuel used at the Fisheries and Marine Institute are the first of 13 climate-action projects in Newfoundland and Labrador to be announced as recipients of money through a federal emissions-reduction fund.
Ottawa’s Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund will provide $4.8 million for the 13 projects, with the provincial government contributing $3.3 million through its Climate Change Challenge Fund.
One of the three programs identified Wednesday is the City of St. John’s Carbon Sequestration Reforestation Project. It aims to reduce emissions and increase carbon sequestration as part of the City Park Land Project, expanding the provincial capital’s urban forest’s ecological services with 11.4 hectares of reforestation.
St. John’s Mayor Danny Breen was joined by Environment and Climate Change Minister Bernard Davis and Seamus O’regan, federal minister of Natural Resources and the province’s representative in the federal cabinet, for a ceremonial tree-planting that accompanied Wednesday’s announcement.
“Renaturalizing 11.4 hectares of land across 13 city parks and open spaces reduces the need for turf maintenance in those areas, which reduces our fossil fuel use, saving greenhouse gas emissions and financial resources,” said Breen.
The remaining 10 projects will be announced in the coming weeks.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s Climate Change Challenge Fund is a competitive grant-based program to fund capital projects that contribute to greenhouse gas reduction. The program was open to organizations of all sizes across commercial, municipal and not-for-profit sectors, as well as Indigenous governments and organizations.
Originally, the overall federal contribution to the fund — first announced in 2019 — was $11.4 million, but that has risen to $19.9 million because of increased interest in the program.