Mississauga Prepares for the Impacts of a Changing Global Climate

The City of Mississauga is developing a Climate Change Action Plan to help minimize and prepare Mississauga for the impacts of a changing global climate.

The Plan will include both corporate and community-wide actions to reduce or offset the impacts of climate change. It will also prepare the city for possible future climate scenarios. Completion of the Plan is set for 2019.

“Canadian municipalities have an important role to play in addressing climate change because more than 50 per cent of the population now lives in urban areas,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie. “Climate change is a global priority but taking local action is crucial now more than ever. We have a responsibility to the environment, our economy and the quality of life for our existing and future generations.”

Mayor Bonnie Crombie added, “Developing the Plan is the first step in helping us realize our visionary goal of transforming Mississauga into a net-zero carbon city.

According to climate projections, more extreme weather events such as intense heatwaves, increased rainfall, severe flooding and extreme winter storms are expected for the future.

“Mississauga has personally felt the impacts of extreme weather with recent storms such as the 2009 flood in Cooksville, the rain and windstorms of July 2013 and the ice storm of December 2013,” said Michael Cleland, Acting Director, Environment. “Over the years we’ve taken many actions both within our corporation and out in the community. We’re committed to doing more.”

The City of Mississauga is already contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG’s) by reducing the amount of energy used for City operations. The City has a 5 Year Energy Conservation Plan to reduce energy and GHG’s by an additional one percent for the next five years with a total annual savings of approximately $575,000 per year.

Examples of climate change actions taken by the City, residents and businesses across Mississauga include:

• Greening corporate fleet – The City’s Greening Our Fleet program reduced greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking approximately 39 cars off the road per year. The program avoided over $500,000 in fuel costs between 2006 and 2012.
• Converting city-wide street lights to LED – Between 2014 and 2015, converting City street lights to LEDs reduced greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking approximately 150 cars off the road per year.
• Introducing a stormwater charge – In 2016, a new stormwater charge was introduced to better maintain and expand stormwater infrastructure in Mississauga.
• Planting trees – Through the City’s One Million Trees program, more than 250,000 trees have been planted by the City, its partners and the community.
• Diverting waste from landfills – Residents and businesses have helped divert waste from landfills through the Blue Box, Green Bin and the Municipal Hazardous and Special Waste programs.
• Attending awareness and educations sessions – Through City-run initiatives like Earth Markets, residents have learned more about environmental actions and green activities.

Next Steps
The City will be engaging residents, partners and other levels of government to create responsible and forward-looking solutions on climate change. To begin, a Stakeholder Panel will be created over the coming months and will include organizations that have a major stake in climate change action in the city.

Today at General Committee, Ward 6 Councillor Ron Starr was appointed to the Panel. He will be joining Mayor Bonnie Crombie along with Ward 8 Councillor Matt Mahoney, the City’s Chair of the Environmental Action Committee (EAC).

To stay-up-to date on the Plan and upcoming engagement opportunities, visit theclimatechangeproject.ca.

Background:

• The City of Mississauga has been a member of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) since 1999.
• In 2012, Mississauga Council adopted the City’s first Living Green Master Plan (LGMP).
• Climate change action supports the Green Pillar of the City’s Strategic Plan.

Tags

• Climate Change
• Council and Committees
• Plans and Strategies