What We Heard: Community Climate Plan

On Wednesday, March 10 the findings of the first round of public engagement to guide a community climate change plan will be tabled at Committee of the Whole. Over 60 impacts to the St. John’s community are identified, 15 of which are the most likely to occur.
 
The purpose of the engagement was to help identify how climate change impacts St. John’s as a community, what is important to residents and suggestions related to reducing or mitigating greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).
 
What we heard in workshops and public sessions about opportunities to reduce GHGs and energy use include:

• Improving public transit
• Supporting the availability of local food and products
• Retrofitting existing residential buildings to reduce energy
• Supporting electric/hybrid vehicle use 

Responses were captured at engagestjohns.ca through an interactive map, quick polls, a ranking tool on criteria, and actions and a virtual public session. In addition, the City’s Multi-Stakeholder Sustainability Team comprised of representatives of community organizations participated in two workshops to capture initial perceptions and to identify expected structural, ecological and socio-economic impacts for the changing climate.
 
The Resilient St. John’s Community Climate Plan is expected to be released in late summer 2021 and will identify a 30-year strategy to reduce GHGs while stabilizing energy costs by supporting energy efficiency. It will also provide strategies to further prepare the City to address the challenges and opportunities presented by the impacts from climate change.

The complete ‘What We Heard’ document as well as updates on this project as they become available can be found at engagestjohns.ca.

The City of St. John’s is committed to a city that is sustainable today and for future generations; economically, environmentally and financially. This project is identified in Our City, Our Future under the Sustainability priority with the goal to plan for land use and preserve and enhance the natural and built environment where we live.