T2050 - Clean Nova Scotia Foundation

The Clean Climate Action initiative is a partnership of six rural municipalities in Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Department of Energy and Clean Foundation. The purpose is to increase the capacity, knowledge and skills necessary to advance deep GHG emissions reductions in those communities. Clean will partner with climate change experts to work with municipal staff to carry out a greenhouse gas emissions inventory, set emissions reductions targets, and develop a local action plan. Following these first phases of the project, Clean will provide a collaborative series of workshops, webinars and strategic conversations to enhance municipal capacity in climate change mitigation, and to help implement local action plans. We understand that capacity is a substantial challenge for rural communities in Atlantic Canada, so we will bring in professional support. Municipalities in Nova Scotia have already begun identifying gaps in their ability to respond to the requirements to reduce GHG emissions, but municipal staff have told us that they lack the staffing, funding, knowledge and/or skills necessary to engage with the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) Milestone Framework. Clean’s job is to ensure that participating municipalities become champions for their communities. We recognize that the most effective way to keep municipalities engaged is to deepen their understanding of climate change, highlight their successes, and keep them motivated to continue the GHG emissions reduction efforts to reach Milestone 5 and beyond.Through a series of strategic conversations and workshops, we will guide municipal staff in collaborating with one another to develop concrete strategies to overcome climate action barriers, and to distill these strategies into municipal action plans with clear timelines, objectives and outcomes. The goal is to enhance their capacity as municipal leaders to become active in climate change mitigation and implement their local action plans.