Ontario announced it is investing in local projects to help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from municipalities. According to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC), this initiative is part of Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan and is funded by proceeds from the province’s carbon market.
Chris Ballard, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, made the announcement on August 14, 2017, at the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa.
The new Municipal GHG Challenge Fund will support energy-efficiency upgrades to drinking water or wastewater treatment plants, as well as renewable energy and energy efficiency retrofits to other municipal facilities such as arenas. Up to $100 million of proceeds from Ontario’s carbon market will be invested in the fund in 2017/18.
The MOECC said any municipality with a community-wide greenhouse gas emissions inventory, emissions reduction targets and a strategy to reduce emissions is eligible to apply. Municipalities may request up to $10 million per project and applications are being accepted until November 14, 2017. Applications can be submitted here.
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The latest environmental engineering news direct to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time.According to the MOECC, municipalities with a population of less than 10,000 that do not have a community-wide greenhouse gas emissions inventory, reduction targets and a plan, may be eligible for the Very Small Municipalities Stream. Applications to this program can be submitted here.
The Climate Change Action Plan and carbon market are what the MOECC calls the “backbone” of Ontario’s strategy to cut GHG pollution to 15% below 1990 levels by 2020, 37% by 2030 and 80% by 2050. The government said it will report on the plan’s implementation annually and review the plan at least every five years.
To read the original release, visit: news.ontario.ca
