St. Catharines recognized as climate action leader

St. Catharines was recognized for its leadership on environmental action and transparency, earning a top score on climate action from CDP, an international environmental impact non-profit.

The City joins a prestigious list of just 122 municipalities from across the globe to receive recognition on the CDP 2022 A List.

To score an A, among other actions, a local government must not only publicly disclose their data, but also have a community-wide greenhouse gas emissions inventory, 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.

“Being included on this List – one of just 122 communities across the entire globe – is prestigious recognition that the City of St. Catharines is taking climate change seriously,” said the city’s new Mayor Mat Siscoe.

“I’m proud of the leadership role we’ve taken under the leadership of former Mayor Walter Sendzik, not only in reducing emissions, but also in becoming a more resilient community in the face of climate change.”

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Many A List communities are also taking a variety of other leadership actions, such as political commitment from City Council to tackle climate change, and according to CDP are taking three times as many mitigation and adaptation measures as non A-List communities.

St. Catharines has actively taken steps to address the concerns of local impacts of climate change. In 2019, Council unanimously declared a Climate Emergency. The dual purposes of the declaration were to recognize the urgent need to take action to mitigate the effects of climate change and to deepen the City’s commitment to protecting its economy, ecosystems, and community from climate change.

In 2021, the City also signed on to the Cities Race to Zero which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

“The work doesn’t end here. The City’s Climate Adaptation Plan is a great example of our efforts to mitigate, and prevent, climate change – but we know we need to continue to do more to protect the planet, our residents and the infrastructure we rely on,” added Siscoe.