Climate change action plan nearing completion

With the help of residents, the Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP) is nearly complete and expected to be officially adopted by the council this fall.

In 2019, the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg (MODL) declared a climate emergency and joined the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP). The PCP program requires the development of a Local Climate Change Action Plan to guide the municipality toward a low-carbon, climate-resilient future. The municipality possesses varying levels of control over local

emissions within its boundaries. If our Local Climate Change Action Plan is to succeed, federal, provincial and local action is necessary.

Municipal staff conducted several engagement activities from December 2021 until March to gather public feedback on the proposed climate actions in the LCCAP. Two virtual engagement sessions, an online survey, a discussion form on Engagemodl, and internal/external stakeholder presentations were all held.

In these engagement activities, we sought overall acceptance of many proposed climate actions, such as: clean energy financing program expansion, launching a tree planting program and supporting initiatives for alternate modes of transportation like, cycling, walking, public transit and carsharing along with many others our municipality would like to put in place.

Our goal was to give us data on our 10-year LCCAP plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen our climate-sustainable future. We also want to be proactive in creating programs and infrastructure to help relieve the effects of severe climate shifts such as increased temperatures and stronger seasonal change.

The majority of comments collected through engagement activities supported our planned climate change tasks, offering valuable input for distinguishing our proposed modifications in the LCCAP.

This past June, council set a community greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 30 per cent below the 2019 baseline emissions level by 2030, 65 per cent below the 2019 baseline emissions by 2040 and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

In 2021, MODL set the corporate greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 40 per cent below the 2019 baseline emissions level by 2030. Some of the actions the municipality has undertaken to reach this include transitioning municipal vehicles to electric vehicles, and we have begun the procurement work to add solar power to the Municipal Services building.

To support the community target, council will review a final list of climate actions proposed by the sustainability committee this summer for inclusion in the Local Climate Change Action Plan. Climate change is affecting our communities and MODL must take a leadership role to address this crisis.

Would you like to get involved? Learn more at engage.modl.ca/local-climatechange-action-plan.