winnipeg

Climate change represents one of the world’s greatest environmental challenges. Responding to growing global concerns around climate change, governments at all levels are taking actions to both mitigate their impacts on the environment and adapt municipal plans and infrastructure to meet the physical demands of a changing climate.

In 1998, the City of Winnipeg joined the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) Program. The PCP outlines five key milestones in a flexible and performance-based process that helps over 300-member municipalities build the capacity to incorporate climate change into their planning and decision making. Upon joining the program, the City of Winnipeg committed to reducing its community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 6%. Effectively pursuing this reduction necessarily includes the need for a corresponding action plan and timeline.

The Winnipeg Climate Action Plan: Planning for Climate Change. Acting for People. (The Plan) outlines the City of Winnipeg and the broader community’s commitment to work together. The Plan provides a framework to proactively, meaningfully, and effectively mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Working together with partners to reduce emissions the City can also:

» Create a more prosperous, innovative and diverse local and regional economy

» Construct more complete neighborhoods and revitalize the livability of all communities throughout Winnipeg

» Improve the efficiency of transportation networks and reduce traffic congestion

» Build and maintain healthier buildings to live and work in which are less expensive to operate

» Enhance connectivity of green spaces and parks throughout Winnipeg to support biodiversity and natural systems

Winnipeg’s Climate Action Plan is the result of several years of work by the City of Winnipeg, community leaders, stakeholders, technical experts and the public.

The development of the Action Plan has been comprised of two phases:

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• PHASE 1 Understanding Winnipeg’s energy and greenhouse gas emissions inventory, and modeling of three emissions reduction scenarios. The inventory is referenced throughout the Plan.

• PHASE 2 Development of Winnipeg’s Climate Action Plan that includes a climate vision, refreshed targets, actions, and an implementation strategy that identifies opportunities for the City to work with the community to reduce emissions through policy, regulation and programming. The Plan was developed through extensive community engagement with local stakeholders and residents, as well as work across City departments. Diverse engagement techniques (including storytelling, community speakers, online engagement, and focused workbook discussions) were used to encourage a conversation about the vision for climate action in Winnipeg, along with specific directions to enable climate action in the community. These aspirations and directions formed a foundation for the process to identify and develop possibilities to be considered in the Plan. Best practices research and technical analysis were incorporated into the process throughout.

The City acknowledges the need to also undertake planning related to climate adaptation, as these efforts are most effectively addressed in concert with mitigation. Strategic Opportunity #7 of this report emphasizes the value in dedicating additional resources to develop a climate resiliency strategy.