Georgian Bluffs is set to officially adopt its first corporate climate action plan.
Council discussed the plan in committee of Nov. 1, and are expected to officially adopt it on Wednesday.
The plan attempts to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, from a township perspective.
This comes after council received the draft plan in June, and engagement activities with residents took place over the summer.
Acting CAO and Director of Community and Environmental Services Niall Lobley says, “the community expressed views around the targets in the plan, the content in the plan, and broadly speaking, felt we were on the right track.”
Through consultations with the community, key themes for the plan emerged.
These themes include nature based solutions, which feature various programs aimed at land protection and ecological restoration, as well as corporate emissions targets, which was identified by a number of respondents during the engagement, the targets were not high enough and the timelines to achieve them were not aggressive enough.
Other themes include community composting and waste, leading the community on decisions which have climate related impacts, incentivising community action, reconciliation and Indigenous community involvement, fiscal responsibility, focusing on producing zero emissions rather than relying on electric vehicles, and employing changes to building standards by insisting on greener buildings across the township.
A report from Lobley says the township aspires to a 40 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, 70 per cent by 2040, and at least 80 per cent by 2050.
“I think at this point in time, it’s going to be very difficult to quantify the impact that work will have, but by doing that work and recording it, we will when the tools become available for us to quantify that impact in subsequent additions of our climate action plan, be able to quantify that work” says Lobley.
By adopting the plan, council is also directing staff to implement the actions included in the plan starting with the 2024 budget cycle.
