Staff at the Town of Collingwood have presented council with a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent over ten years.
The plan, called “Greener Collingwood” is for corporate emissions only, and proposes a 30 per cent reduction from 2019 numbers by 2030.
The town’s climate change specialist, Nicole Yardy, said there were two other goals in the Greener Collingwood plan in addition to the 30 per cent reduction target, which includes integrating climate change and sustainability into the town’s corporate culture, and to become a corporate and municipal leader in sustainability initiatives.
The corporate target is a ten per cent increase over previous staff reports that came under fire from the Collingwood Climate Action Team for being too low.
In 2019, the baseline measurement for the town’s corporate greenhouse gas emissions was 3,327 tonnes per year, and the whole community baseline measurement was 207,218 tonnes per year. So far the plan presented to council is only for a 30 per cent reduction of the town’s corporate emissions, a community plan would come later, according to Yardy.
Yardy, along with town staff Amanda Pegg (executive director of corporate and customer service), Jill Landry (fleet and facilities coordinator) and Adam Gallant (fleet and facilities coordinator) delivered a report to council’s corporate and community services standing committee on April 3.
The staff presenting the plan told council the 30 per cent corporate target was “realistic and achievable with support.” Such support would include annual budget discussions.
Actions proposed to reduce the towns emissions were sorted into five sectors:
- Buildings and facilities
- Transportation and fleet
- Solid waste
- Environment and biodiversity
- Behaviour and culture change
“The first three sectors are where the town will be able to study and measure large greenhouse gas reduction or emission reduction,” said Yardy, noting town-owned buildings and facilities including water and wastewater infrastructure account for 55.4 per cent of the town’s corporate greenhouse gas emissions.
“The goal of this sector is to reduce building emissions by 50 per cent in 10 years and 80 per cent in 20 years,” said Yardy.
To achieve those targets, the plan suggests a greenhouse gas reduction pathway feasibility study, and then completing any retrofits suggested in the study.
For new building designs, said Yardy, the town will need to “strongly consider near net zero emission designs.”
The town’s transportation and fleet sector accounted for 33.5 per cent of the corporate emissions based on 2019 data.
Reducing emissions in the town’s vehicle fleet means purchasing zero-emission vehicles (electric).
Solid waste represents about 10 per cent of the town’s greenhouse gas emissions, and the goal for the sector is a reduction of 20 per cent of the town’s waste by 2030. Yardy said this would be accomplished by waste audits and staff education.
The full cost of the plan will be spread and calculated over multiple years.
“The first step in the reduction pathway is the feasibility study,” said Landry, noting the town has put out a request for proposals for the study and is awaiting bids.
The town also has an application for up to $200,000 to cover 80 per cent of the eligible costs of doing the feasibility study through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ green municipal fund. Council has already approved $50,000 for the town's 20 per cent share in the cost of the study in the 2023 budget.
Gallant said there are more grant options available to help cover the cost of the town's retrofits.
“We need to do this work because it’s a feasibility study … we need to do these projects in the facilities to achieve the target,” said Gallant. “This is going to require long-term financial and resource commitments.”
Representatives from the Collingwood Climate Action Team spoke to the council committee after the staff presentation, encouraging a “stretch” target of 40-per-cent reduction in emissions by 2030.
“I do feel that 30 per cent, at this time, is a stretch goal, because there’s a significant amount of work that would need to be done to achieve that,” said Pegg. “There are also considerations to budget allocation and we don’t have that information until those studies that are referenced in the report are complete.”
The committee supported the staff report and it will go to a full council meeting later this month for another vote and potential discussion.
