Windsor named on list of cities taking climate action

Windsor city hall in Windsor, Ont., on March 25, 2020. (Rich Garton / CTV Windsor)

The City of Windsor has been recognized by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) as one of 123 A List cities and counties in the world that are taking bold leadership on environmental action and transparency.

To score an A, among other actions, a local government must disclose publicly on local climate change initiatives through CDP-ICLEI Track and have a community-wide emissions inventory.

It must have set a renewable energy target for the future and have published a climate action plan. It must also complete a climate risk and vulnerability assessment and have a climate adaptation plan to demonstrate how it will tackle climate hazards. Many A List cities and counties are also taking a variety of other leadership actions, such as political commitment from a city’s mayor to tackle climate change.

“The City of Windsor is thrilled to accept this designation for our early leadership on environmental stewardship, while we recognize the need to continue to improve our systems and approach. There is no doubt that all governments need to make climate change risk a focus of decision making, going forward,” said Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens.

City officials say they starting to address the challenges of a changing climate through the development and implementation of the Sewer and Coastal Flood Management Plan and inclusion of parks features to reduce the risk of extreme heat. The city is also working to reduce emissions through increasing opportunities for active transportation and investigating solutions for home energy retrofits.

Local economic development projects, including the NextStar battery plant and Stellantis’ retooling for electric vehicles, ensure that Windsor is supporting the net-zero transition in communities across the Canada and internationally.

“Congratulations to the City of Windsor for earning a spot on the CDP Cities A List — one of 49 cities and counties in North America to make the list in 2022,” said Katie Walsh, head of cities, states, regions and public authorities, CDP North America.

“From mitigating carbon emissions in line with science, to building resilience against floods, drought and other climate hazards, to centering marginalized and vulnerable communities in their response, A List local governments are demonstrating best-practice environmental action. Windsor is in the vanguard of cities and counties leading the way toward a climate-safe future.”

Meanwhile, the Citizens Environment Alliance has released “Environmental Priorities for Greener Windsor 2022-2026” Greener Windsor'. It highlights issues to help council focus on the need for climate mitigation and resilience.

For climate action, the CEA is asking Windsor to fully funds it climate emergency targets and all its future science based and net zero targets.