The City of Burlington has been named to the Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP’s) 2024 Cities A List, recognizing global leadership in environmental transparency, climate action and resilience planning. Only 112 cities worldwide (15 percent of scored cities) earned CDP’s top score. Canada’s 2024 A List cities include: Burlington alongside Calgary, Halifax, Montréal, Nanaimo, Toronto, Vancouver, and Windsor.
Earning a spot on CDP’s A List is a significant achievement that reflects the highest standard of local climate leadership. To be recognized, cities must publicly disclose through CDP-ICLEI Track and meet rigorous criteria including a city-wide emissions inventory, a climate risk and vulnerability assessment (CRVA), and a published climate action plan.
Canada’s 2024 A List cities are leading with integrated climate strategies that combine risk assessments, bold emissions targets, and sector-specific actions like building retrofits and flood mitigation.
City of Burlington Quick Facts
Burlington has reported annually via CDP since 2021 earning a B, A, A-, and A respectively.
The CDP’s one-window reporting also allows the City to fulfill commitments to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM), a global collaboration between the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability, the Global Covenant of Mayors Secretariat, and the International Urban Cooperation Project. The City joined GCoM in 2020 and received the mitigation and adaptation badges in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
Burlington City Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2019 and directed staff to “immediately increase the priority of the fight against climate change and apply a climate lens to the plans and actions of the City of Burlington including the Council strategic workplan and future budgets.” A ‘climate implications’ section was also added to staff reports to City Council.
In 2020, Burlington City Council approved the Climate Action Plan (CAP) and set a target to become a net carbon neutral community by 2050. This was the second climate plan with the first approved in 2014 and named the Burlington Community Energy Plan.
In 2021, City staff presented the Climate Projections Report to City Council illustrating how the community can expect to be impacted by a changing climate under different scenarios. In 2022, City Council approved Climate Resilient Burlington: A Plan for Adapting to Warmer, Wetter and Wilder Weather. The City’s Climate Change Vulnerability and Risk Assessment was also presented at that time.
In 2024, Burlington City Council approved the third Corporate Energy and Emissions Management Plan 2024-2029, continuing with a pathway for City operations to become net carbon neutral by 2040 as identified in Vision 2040.
In 2025, the Burlington Chamber of Commerce recognized Burlington as a finalist at the 2025 Business Excellence Awards under the Environmental Impact Award category. Additional accomplishments dating back to the 1990s are listed in a Take Action Burlington blog post about this achievement.
About the Carbon Disclosure Project
CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world’s only independent environmental disclosure system. As the founder of environmental reporting, they believe in transparency and the power of data to drive change. Partnering with leaders in enterprise, capital, policy and science, they surface the information needed to enable Earth-positive decisions. They have helped more than 24,800 companies and almost 1,000 cities, states and regions disclose their environmental impacts in 2024. Financial institutions with more than a quarter of the world’s institutional assets use CDP data to help inform investment and lending decisions. Aligned with the ISSB’s climate standard, IFRS S2, as its foundational baseline, CDP integrates best-practice reporting standards and frameworks in one place. Their global team is united by their shared desire to build a world where people, planet and profit are truly balanced. To view CDP’s full Cities, States and Regions A List please visit: cdp.net/en/data/scores.
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