Climate Action

As part of the township’s environmental commitments, a Climate Change Coordinator role was created in late 2024 to support the municipality in its sustainability journey. Alongside leading a number of mitigation and adaptation initiatives, the coordinator’s role is to develop and implement Mapleton’s Corporate Climate Action Plan.

This plan will provide a roadmap of defined goals, timelines, and priorities to address climate change and offer guidance on integrating a climate lens (climate considerations) into municipal operations.

Climate Action Plan Update

The Corporate Climate Change Action Plan currently in development is intended to evolve as technologies, priorities, and available resources change. As an initial plan, many early actions focus on establishing and updating policies, studies, plans, and decision-making frameworks needed to guide complex, long-term transitions, such as deep energy retrofits of municipal facilities, fleet transition, and climate-resilient infrastructure. While this foundational work may result in more gradual emissions reductions in the short term, it creates the conditions for faster and more visible progress over time.

Community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and regional adaptation are not directly addressed in this plan; however, the township is working closely with the County of Wellington and regional partners to understand and develop our role within broader regional climate action. This may include policy and strategic development, environmental leadership, programs and incentives, education, and community engagement.

Current Initiatives

Drayton Flood Mitigation Project (link) (funded)
PMD Arena Emission and Energy Reduction Study (50% funded)
Climate First – Municipal Building Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (funded)

Target Setting

In 2015, the Paris Agreement was ratified by 194 countries plus the European Union (almost every country in the world), legally requiring countries to set emissions targets, and publish plans and progress reports. Federally, the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act legally requires the Canadian government to set five-year emissions targets and detailed reduction plans. Although provinces and municipalities are not directly bound by the agreement, they must operate within federal frameworks and work collaboratively to limit global warming to 1.5 °C. According to the IPCC, global emissions must decline by 43% by 2030 (from 2019 levels).

Canada’s Emissions Reduction Targets are to reduce emissions by 40-45% below 2005 levels by 2030 and to achieve net-zero by 2050.

Municipal emissions targets are based on accurate GHG inventories that cover the fleet, facilities, and water systems and should align with federal, provincial, and local climate goals. Planning must consider technology feasibility, lifecycle timing, costs, funding

opportunities, and the advantages of Ontario’s low-carbon grid. They should be based on the realistic opportunities for each sector.