WHEREAS on Council declared a Climate Emergency at the Regular Council Meeting of December 2,2019 through Resolution No. 484-19; and
WHEREAS the need to address the Climate Emergency is ever more urgent as is clear in the recently released ICCP report ;
WHEREAS global heating is an emergency of a worse scale than the pandemic; with more severe and long lasting consequences; and
WHEREAS Cobourg Council approved a Climate Action Plan in principle to mitigate global heating by reducing and removing sources of GHG emissions; and
WHEREAS global heating has negative effects on the health of citizen and outdoor workers, municipal infrastructure, and watershed ecosystems for which an adaptation plan is needed to better manage and reduce our vulnerability to the harmful effects of global heating:
- extreme heat is a risk to citizen and outdoor worker health, the health of trees, causes softening/deterioration of standard road asphalt, communication wires to sag, etc
- flooding, high winds, freezing rain, drought can damage physical infrastructure (roads/culverts and bridges, storm water systems, water supply and sewage treatment systems, building roofs and basements, energy supply systems, communication networks, river banks, etc); causes tree damage; loss of transportation and communication services;
- milder winters results in increased/new pests and disease such as those affecting tree health, and more changes in freeze/thaw cycles cause can damage to infrastructure
- extreme variability in flooding, drought, and heat affects our ecosystem and water quality
WHEREAS it is more cost effective to implement mitigation and adaptation measures proactively than to address the impacts after they have occurred (In 2012 the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy estimated that every $1 spent now on adaptation will yield between $9 and $38 worth of avoided damages in the future), and
NOW THEREFORE the SCCAC Recommends that:
WHEREAS Cobourg is in the process of preparing its 2022 Budget;
When approving 2022 budget allocations for various Departments that Council advise staff that when they come to Council later in the year for approval of funding for specific undertakings such as a new road, parking lot, vehicle(s), sewer/water system upgrade, changes to its communication infrastructure, the planting of trees, etc., that staff show Council that their request reflect the most sustainable option for that undertaking from both a climate mitigation and climate adaptation perspective; and that; - Cobourg include an allowance based on an estimate from staff in its 2022 budget to cover the possibility of an initial increased cost of choosing an environmentally sustainable option ; or delay its budget approval schedule by one month to allow staff to provide the cost for the most sustainable option; and that
Cobourg make it a priority for 2022, including ensuring sufficient staff resources such as having an Environmental Expert on staff in 2022, to begin work on the preparation of a Cobourg Climate Adaptation Plan including:
- contacting those with whom it should partner (e.g. Ganaraska Regional Conservation Authority,, Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit, Northumberland County, Lakefront Utilities, etc) ;
- identifying whether and what experts might be needed to assist with developing such a plan, and
- determining the budget amount Cobourg should include in its 2023 budget.