Canadians Have Their Say on Climate Change

Provincial, territorial, and federal governments are working together with Indigenous peoples and the public to collaboratively shape Canada’s approach to climate change. Environment and Climate Change Canada recently invited the public to share ideas and solutions for climate change and green growth through their Let's Talk Climate Action campaign. Community Energy Planning: Getting to Implementation in Canada (GTI), a national, collaborative initiative, address the need for Community Energy Plans (CEP) in their submission. They state that such planning is a vital best practice as they provide many benefits to communities—such as lowering energy costs, enhancing reliability, addressing GHG and energy emission objectives, and maintaining millions of dollars in local economies. However, many communities with existing CEP’s have faced challenges and barriers in implementation. GTI share a series of recommendations that will help accelerate this process. They discuss the need to build capacity by supporting and establishing collaborations, similar to GTI, whether in the community or governmental levels. They urge communities to lead by example by providing public access to data, reflecting the Community Energy & Emissions Inventory. They also address the need for hands-on support and coaching at the local level. This can be achieved through enhancing local leadership and staff capacity as well as identifying and disseminating best practices on policy and programs.

Learn more about Community Energy Planning and GTI’s recommendations for implementation in their full submission. Also, check out their full proposal complete with tables and figures. 

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