Richmond Hill set to take actions to “Green the Hill” as city updates environment strategy

The focus of the strategy will shift from “what we want to protect, enhance, and restore” to “how we can protect, enhance and restore our local environment.”

Yorkregion.com, Thestar.com
Aug. 5, 2022
Sheila Wang

Councillors at the City of Richmond Hill have taken steps to protect the environment over the next nine years as the community grows and climate change impacts intensify.

In July, the city council adopted an update to the City’s 2014 Environment Strategy, Greening the Hill: Our Community, Our Future reiterating its commitment to balancing growth and green.

The focus of the strategy will shift from “what we want to protect, enhance, and restore” to “how we can protect, enhance and restore our local environment,” according to the 35-page document.

“Our city and our community care deeply about the amazing natural environment that surrounds us and together we’ve made great strides in doing our part to protect it,” Mayor David West said.

From heat waves and ice storms to the most recent hurricane-force storms on May 21, the city is already feeling and will continue to experience the effects of climate change.

The strategy says that climate change has emerged as one of our time's most critical global issues. As a result, residents are more committed to reducing their carbon footprint and supporting ecosystems under pressure from a changing climate and increased development.

"All in all, it’s a really great report because it is very comprehensive and it demonstrates that the staff at the City of Richmond Hill understand well all that needs to be done for a more sustainable future to be ensured for us," Liz Couture, a local environmentalist and the organizer of the DRAWDOWN Richmond Hill

Guided by three key principles: Greening our Consumption, Greening our Natural Spaces and Greening our Growth, the strategy will provide guidance on managing the environmental impacts, enhancing local ecosystems and creating a more sustainable community.

The update sets out goals in 10 theme areas: energy, transportation, water quality and quantity, water conservation, sustainable land development, natural heritage and urban forest, invasive species, wildlife, local food and pollinators, and waste.

It also outlines a list of actions to help achieve the goals, which are expected to benefit the community by making it easier to enjoy the outdoors, including hiking and gardening, giving people better access to local food, and trimming the energy and water bills.

As growth and intensification continue to be a source of concern for many Richmond Hill residents over the past years, the updated strategy includes the goal of fostering sustainable development and redevelopment and a suite of actions.

Through her own experience, Couture named the three most important solutions to climate change in Richmond Hill: building heating and cooling, transportation and transition to electric and alternative methods, and waste reduction.

"It is really great to see that the updated environment strategy does in fact cover off all of these main areas of opportunity in our community," she said.

However, the environmentalist said she worried that not enough residents and citizens are being inspired into action to invest in their carbon footprint reductions and encourage the city to continue to find creative ways to engage people.

“We heard loud and clear as we updated the strategy that our residents support a greener future and want to be personally involved,” the strategy reads.
Implementation progress will be reported annually beginning in 2023.

To learn more about what the city is doing and how you can help, visit RichmondHill.ca/Environment.