Climate Resilient Burlington (CRB): A Plan for Adapting to Our Warmer, Wetter and Wilder Weather is a plan about climate adaptation.
Background
The City of Burlington already has two plans about climate mitigation (to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change). They are the Corporate Energy and Emissions Plan: 2019-2024 and the community Climate Action Plan. Both of these climate mitigation plans are in the implementation stage and have carbon neutral goals of 2040 for corporate emissions (City operations) and 2050 for community emissions. Recognizing that even if carbon neutrality is achieved today, existing greenhouse gases will remain in the atmosphere for the foreseeable future and continue to impact our climate. As such, it is important to plan for the weather we are going to see.
Climate Resilient Burlington
The purpose of the draft CRB plan is to identify actions to manage the highest risks of warmer, wetter and wilder weather. While the CRB plan considers Burlington’s climate projections to the years 2051-2080 under a high emissions scenario, the plan outlines actions to focus on for the next 10 years to build resilience and prepare for a changing climate. Although this is our first climate adaptation plan, we are not starting from scratch and many of the actions are building on work already underway and referred to under ‘related initiatives.’
The draft CRB plan was developed using a bottom-up approach with 49 City staff and community stakeholders representing 12 City departments and 17 community organizations through 15 workshops between September 2021 and January 2022 as well as additional follow-up. The community was also engaged through a dedicated CRB page on the Get Involved Burlington portal, a survey on the vision and principles of the CRB, and a public launch in October 2021.
The draft CRB plan has 32 actions under five themes and 10 action areas along with associated goals, indicators and targets for ongoing monitoring and reporting.
- Theme 1: Resilient Built and Natural Infrastucture
- Infrastructure Design and Life Cycle Management
- Flood Management
- Service Disruption
- Theme 2: Thriving Natural Environment
- Tree Management
- Natural Area Management
- Theme 3: Health and Well-Being
- Extreme Heat and Health
- Theme 4: Disaster Resilience
- Community Capacity Building
- Citizen and Business Support Programs
- Theme 5: Strong and Resilient Economy
- Agriculture
- Local Economy
Each of the 32 actions identify the City lead and supporting departments, community connections, related initiatives, timelines and how they align to higher risk hazards such as high winds, wet conditions, extreme heat, etc. The document also has two Citizen Action Checklists which were developed based on community feedback to our first survey.
Provide Your Feedback
The draft CRB plan will be presented to the Environment, Infrastructure and Community Services Committee (EICS) on May 5, 2022. If you would like to speak to City Council about the staff report and plan, you may register to delegate until noon on May 4, 2022.
In addition to delegating to City Council, you also have an opportunity to provide feedback through the current surveys which are divided into two sections:
- City of Burlington Actions: 32 actions listed within five themes (one survey per theme)
- Citizen Action Checklists and proposed future Community Climate Resilience Education Program (one survey)
You can choose to respond to one or more surveys until 11:59 p.m. on May 8, 2022.
Your responses will help us to finalize the Climate Resilient Burlington: A Plan for Adapting to Our Warmer, Wetter and Wilder Weather and develop the Community Climate Resilience Education Program.
Take Action Burlington! Let’s work together to prepare for our warmer, wetter and wilder weather. Collectively we can make a difference.
Take Action Burlington 