King’s climate action plan will require ‘collective effort,’ mayor says

Strategy includes goals, targets and actions intended to move township toward low-carbon future

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 16, 2022
Laura Broadley

King Township is moving forward on its plan to become a low-carbon community.

The township has created a climate action plan that contains goals, targets and actions that will help move King Township over to a low-carbon future through to 2050. It will need to be modified and updated throughout, according to staff.

“The climate action plan is truly a community-wide plan aimed at moving King Township to a low-carbon, net-zero future,” said Mayor Steve Pellegrini.

Council was set to approve the plan at a meeting at the end of January, but some residents wanted to wait so more input could be put forward.

In the summer of 2019 King council declared a climate emergency along with 500 other municipalities across the country. After the declaration, council decided to create a climate action plan.

Between 2019 and 2021 there were several climate-related decisions made for the township including the approval of a 45 per cent reduction goal in corporate emissions, purchase of two electric vehicles, township-wide electric vehicle charging network and the life cycle replacements of facility equipment with new energy-efficient units.

“While the township has pledged a reduction goal of 45 per cent in Greenhouse Gas emissions by 2030 at a corporate level, we will need the co-operation of all the people of King Township, our residents, sectors and industries. This will need to be a collective effort,” Pellegrini said.

In order for the plan to be successful, there will need to be co-operation among everyone, he added.

“To affect real change, everyone will need to do their part. Even something as simple as households transitioning to electric vehicles, or the use of on-demand micro transit could be transformative for the township, as 45 per cent of all emissions township-wide are related to transportation,” Pellegrini said.

In 2022, King is expected to expand its green fleet, start the optimization and recommissioning project at the Trisan Centre, new near net-zero King Recreation Centre design, low-carbon Schomberg community hall retrofit, electric vehicle staff and public charging policy and the facility energy automation and equipment retrofits.

“Council has shown that we are firmly behind the efforts associated with combating climate change,” Pellegrini said.

Coun. Avia Eek said the plan is a “great start” because everyone is embracing climate actions that people can participate in.

“When you look at a climate action plan from an individual’s perspective I think it becomes very daunting because you think, we’ve had decades and decades of destroying our planet, and for convenience,” she said.

When people look at the big picture of climate change it may seem overwhelming,” Eek added.

“What can I do as an individual?” she said.

Eek said a resident told her that since King is the largest geographical municipality in York Region, if every property owner would convert 10 per cent of their land to planting trees or a garden that sequesters carbon, it would help.

“If every individual took individual measures, it’s not going to solve the problem ... but it’s a step in the right direction and it gets people talking,” Eek said.