Kitchener Council votes yes to a multi-million dollar climate change plan
Posted Apr 30, 2024 05:08:58 AM.
Last Updated Apr 30, 2024 09:28:15 AM.
Kitchener Council has voted in favour of a new environmental initiative that is expected to need $10 million per year for the next 25 years.
The city’s Climate Action Plan 2.0 includes 47 actions to be implemented through 2027, with the long-term goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
A statement from the city describes it as “a detailed strategy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, reduce costs through investments in energy efficiency and prepare our community for the increasing effects of climate change.”
The council vote, Monday night, followed a presentation from the week before from Corporate Sustainability Officer, Anna Marie Cipriani.
She told councillors at the Planning and Strategic Initiatives Committee on April 22, “We know that it’s going to be a significant capital investment in order to make progress. We look at approximately, a very rough order of magnitude, of $10 million a year over 25 years.”
Among the 47 action plans are swapping out the city’s fleet of fossil fuel-burning vehicles and services for renewable energy, developing solar power, working with the University of Waterloo to research bio-diesel, testing hydrogen co-combustion and more.
At the Tuesday council meeting, Councillor Scott Davey raised an eyebrow over the quarter-billion-dollar plan, but said the plan is based on contingencies, like upper government funding, and he supported the motion.
