by Brianna Crandall — December 21, 2015—Thanks to the efforts of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) and its partners, green infrastructure (green roofs, walls, etc.) has been recognized by the Ontario government as a critical strategy for climate change and adaptation.
On November 24, 2015, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change released Ontario’s Climate Change Strategy, detailing their plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, and build a prosperous low-carbon economy.
Steven Peck, founder and president of GRHC, commented:
The recognition of green infrastructure as a major part of the solution to climate change in this report is a break through! Now we need to convince policy makers to invest in green roofs, green walls, urban forests and other forms of green infrastructure, to match words with deeds!
This ground-breaking strategy sets out the government of Ontario’s vision for combating climate change and achieving greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. The plan will establish a future where greenhouse gas reduction goes hand-in-hand with a growing, efficient, competitive and productive economy in the province of Ontario. As defined in the report, green infrastructure will be used to restore ecosystems, reduce atmospheric carbon, and protect and expand carbon sinks.
Thanks to the lobbying efforts of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, Green Infrastructure Ontario, Landscape Ontario, the Ontario Parks Association and others, green infrastructure has been featured prominently as one of the key action items to achieve a 37 percent emissions reduction by 2030 and as a method of establishing a new low-carbon economy.
Glen Murray, Ontario Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, recently spoke at Grey to Green 2015, a GRHC conference in Toronto, where he spoke to the impacts of climate change. Murray stated that the solution to climate change is in “the individuals, cities and towns, businesses, and First Nations and Métis communities of Ontario,” and that the province would succeed by working together.
In 2016, a detailed five-year action plan with specific commitments will be released. The government of Ontario will report on, and renew, its action plan every five years afterwards, according to GRHC.
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities will be holding the next Grey to Green Conference: Addressing Climate Change with Green Infrastructure in Toronto June 1-4, 2016.
