Town of Devon Partners for Climate Protection Milestones 1 - 3

The Town of Devon will be developing a climate change mitigation plan aiming to reduce community and corporate greenhouse gasses (GHGs) in the Town of Devon through local action. The Town of Devon is located along the banks of the scenic North Saskatchewan River, approximately a 15 minute drive south of the City of Edmonton, Alberta. The current residential population of Devon is 6,578. Devon Town Council has set an ambitious goal of becoming a net zero-energy municipality, making GHG reductions and adaptation to climate change a major priority. The plan will be created following the Partners for Climate Protection Milestone Framework and they will be completing Milestones 1 to 3. Some goals of the plan include quantifying and tracking progress that has been made towards climate change mitigation by generating a baseline year GHG inventory. Other goals include creating GHG emission targets and developing a strategy to reduce GHGs by aligning these targets with municipal plans and priorities. The quantification of data is a necessity to understand corporate and community energy use and areas for improvement. The development and use of this plan will help guide current and future planning to include climate change mitigation measures, which will prepare Devon for the potential impacts of climate change. Environmental benefits hoped to be achieved through this initiative include a reduction in current and future GHG emissions from energy efficiency, increased renewable energy generation, sharing of best practices, and a reduction in landfill contributions. Social benefits include increased awareness of the importance of climate mitigation and adaptation. Economic objectives include awareness of opportunities for improvement in performance and cost reduction. This includes energy efficiency opportunities that may reduce corporate and community operational costs, technological upgrade opportunities, and economic development opportunities.