Leaders gather for climate action event
Representatives from municipalities across Essex County are scheduled to participate in a Climate Action Symposium at the University of Windsor on Friday.
Topics include climate emergencies and your municipality, the cost of doing nothing, community energy planning, engineering solutions for climate change and climate change and health.
“A year ago, together with the University of Windsor, we brought together municipalities and researchers for a workshop where we discussed whether to move forward collectively and what our priorities were for climate action,” said Claire Sanders, climate change specialist for the Essex Region Conservation Authority.
“The need for strategic, longterm planning was raised as a priority and there was consensus that a regional climate collaborative could help bring municipalities and other stakeholders together.
The daylong slate of information sessions and workshops is co-hosted by Windsor-essex Climate Change Collaborative, the University of Windsor, Essex Region Conservation Authority, Windsor Law Centre for Cities and Cities and Climate Action Initiative.
Speakers include Karina Richters, from the City of Windsor, former Guelph mayor Karen Farbridge, energy specialist Peter Garforth, University of Windsor professors Anneke Smit and Peter Henshaw, as well as Amandeep Hans from the Windsor-essex County Health Unit.
Afternoon workshops will allow civic leaders the chance to explore options for community energy planning, risk reduction and planning for resilient parks and ecosystems.
Sanders noted that since the initial symposium, every Essex County municipality has experienced numerous impacts of a changing climate.
“This year, the workshop will bring together a multidisciplinary group to provide an overview of what’s been done since the last meeting, including declaring several climate emergencies across the region and to move forward the urgent action needed to mitigate and adapt to what we’ve been seeing across the region,” Sanders said.