Prince Edward County is preparing a climate action plan.
During Thursday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, councillors reviewed details on the upcoming climate action plan, with a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen the community against the ongoing impacts of climate change.
The climate action plan is broken down into several areas of focus, with climate action being integrated into municipal projects and operations where possible in order to make operations more sustainable. The different areas of focus include increasing building energy efficiency, reducing emissions from road transportation, protecting natural systems and encouraging sustainable land use, strengthening agriculture, reducing waste generation, promoting a sustainable local economy, and improving infrastructure resiliency.
The effects of climate change have already impacted Prince Edward County, with the area being noted as particularly vulnerable to climate issues due to relying on agriculture, tourism, and natural resources for much of it’s economy. These are all sectors that can be easily disrupted by climate change.
During a discussion about the plan, Councillor Brad Nieman said that climate change has been particularly rough on the county’s farmers.
“There’s no doubt the climate change is greatly affecting not only the county but Ontario,” said Councillor Nieman. “We’ve gone two years in a row with biblical proportion rain to biblical proportion drought.”
The plan was approved by the committee, and forwarded on to the next meeting of council for final approval.
