THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF NELSON

REQUEST TO APPEAR AS A DELEGATION

DATE: December 16, 2019 Committee of the Whole
TOPIC: Climate Change Action Plan
PROPOSAL: Update on Climate Change Action Plan Progress
PROPOSED BY: Staff
_____________________________________________________________________
ANALYSIS SUMMARY:
Kate Letizia, the Climate Change Coordinator at the City of Nelson, is presenting in regard
to the Climate Change Action Plan that is under development. The presentation includes
background information and progress updates regarding the Climate Change Action
Planning Process and the Climate Change Coordinator Position.

BACKGROUND:

Project Background:
The City has a long history of leadership related to the development and implementation
of actions to reduce emissions and build resiliency to climate change. To date, the City
has taken a number of key steps – many of which have stemmed from its Path to 2040
Sustainability Strategy (2010), the Community Energy and Emissions Action Plan (2011),
the Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan (2011), and its ongoing emergency
management efforts.

In the face of rapidly shifting climatic conditions and increasing scientific confidence that
global temperatures are going to continue to rise for decades to come, largely due to
greenhouse gases (GHGs) produced by human activities, the City has committed to
taking further action and better coordinating its efforts to prepare for and mitigate the
potential impacts of climate change. Indeed, the effects of the changing climate in the City
are already being felt, with observable and increasing shifts in temperature, precipitation
and extreme weather events. The future impacts of climate change in the City could be
numerous and diverse, with potentially serious consequences to infrastructure and
services, property, the local economy and environment, and the overall quality of life of
its citizens.

To continue it sustainability and climate change leadership, the City has taken steps
toward developing a comprehensive and integrated Climate Change Action Plan. To
guide the development of this plan, Development Services and Engineering was awarded
funds by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) to hire a dedicated climate
change professional focused on working with City departments and the community to
develop and implement an action-oriented climate change plan. This plan will
simultaneously focus on improving the City’s and the community’s capacity to mitigate
GHG emissions, and to adapt to changing climatic conditions and associated risks.

A note on climate change mitigation vs. climate change adaptation

Climate change mitigation measures are those actions that are taken to reduce and curb
GHG emissions, while climate change adaptation measures are based on reducing
vulnerability to the effects of climate change. In short, mitigation attends to the causes
of climate change while adaptation addresses the current and future impacts of climate
change.
According to NASA (2019), appropriately “responding to climate change involves a two-
pronged approach” that concurrently considers solutions focused on the reduction of a
jurisdiction’s emissions (mitigation), as well as responses to the climate change that is
already “in the pipeline” (adaptation). Further, addressing climate change mitigation and
adaptation concurrently streamlines climate action resources, allows for more efficient
and collaborative policy alignment, and opens up the door for pursuing multiple co-benefit
opportunities in the realms of health, safety, livability and economy, for example (Simon
Fraser University’s Adaptation to Climate Change Team, 2019).

Source: City of Portland Climate Action Plan, 2015

Climate Change Coordinator

The City’s Climate Change Coordinator position is a two-year position (July 2019 to July
2021) funded through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). The Coordinator
is primarily tasked with developing and implementing initiatives that increase the City’s
capacity to mitigate its climate impact and adapt to climate change. Further - and to inform
plan direction – the Coordinator is tasked with taking stock of current climate change-
related actions and efforts already occurring across City departments and the community,
and bringing them together in one comprehensive and shared roadmap for the future.

To accomplish the above outcomes, the Climate Change Coordinator will follow a work
plan that is comprised of the following tasks:

- Gather comprehensive information related to the work that’s been done to date in
the City to address climate change, as well as opportunities to integrate actions
from previous community and environmental plans into future climate change
work.
- Obtain and analyze data related to the City’s current GHG inventory (community-
wide) and climate change-related risks, as well as future trajectories and
projections.
- Solicit and interpret diverse perspectives throughout the community, related to the
key gaps, issues and barriers to action and impact regarding climate change in the
City.
- Develop a shared community vision for tackling climate change in a unified way.
- Update climate change targets so that they align with current baseline data, and
other pertinent government targets and international agreements.
- Undertake best practice research related to the City’s specific climate change
challenges.
- Work with City staff and the community to identify the City’s highest impact and
 most feasible climate change actions.
- Identify high potential opportunities for integrating climate action into current
systems and processes, and shifting those that need to be updated or broadened
to incorporate a climate change lens.
- Guide action implementation, including the assignment of responsibilities,
timelines, costs and financing mechanisms and a process for monitoring,
evaluating and iterating actions over time.

Funding Requirements

FCM

As mentioned above, the City was a successful recipient of FCM’s (funded by the
Government of Canada) Climate Change Staff Grant Funding. This is a program that
provides supplementary salary funding for a new or existing municipal employee to “work
on initiatives to improve adaptation to local climate change impacts or reduce greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions”.

FCM’s Climate Change Staff Grant is covering 80% of the City’s Climate Change
Coordinator’s yearly salary, disbursed over a two-year time period. The remaining 20%
is partially funded through Development Services’ operational budget for 2019, with the
remainder to be considered in the department’s 2020 budget process.

As a requirement of funding, FCM and the City have entered into a contract whereby the
following specific deliverables are required, as outlined in the City’s initial application for
grant funding:

- In year one (July 2019 to July 2020), the Climate Change Coordinator must
develop and facilitate an ongoing ‘Climate Change Steering Committee’, develop
and facilitate community engagement and consultation activities, and most
importantly, develop a climate change plan that will be presented to the City
Manager and Council for approval. This plan is contractually obligated to include:
o A comprehensive overview of current GHG monitoring and reduction
projects;
o An outline of stakeholder consultations conducted to inform the plan;
o An outline of what is still necessary/advisable regarding stakeholder
consultation going forward;
o A description of the strategy used to form the City’s Climate Change
Steering Committee;
o Recommendations for new climate change actions worth implementing in
the short, medium, and long-term for the City.
- In year two (July 2020 to July 2021), the Climate Change Coordinator is required
to work towards the implementation of operational and institutional changes within
the municipality and community that will help ensure long-term adoption of the
climate change plan after the grant period. Further, they must present a progress
report to Council, continue to manage the ‘Climate Change Steering Committee’
and any other external stakeholder working groups and activities, and give a final
presentation and recommendations to Council regarding medium-term
operational, institutional and departmental changes to address climate change
risks and vulnerabilities.
Finally, the Climate Change Coordinator must also develop and/or coordinate and submit
ongoing work plans, progress reports and supervisor's reports (quarterly) and a Maturity
Scale report and final report to FCM at the end of the contract period.

VANCOUVER FOUNDATION

A funding application for $20,000 from the Vancouver Foundation’s ‘Systems Change
Grant’ Stream was submitted by the Climate Change Coordinator in August 2019 and
was approved in September 2019. This funding is to be utilized to design and launch an
intensive and sustained community engagement program that will focus on bringing
together a diverse representation of Nelsonites to learn, collaborate and develop
community-focused climate change solutions.
It is expected that the results of this program will inform the City’s Climate Change Action
Plan alongside a variety of other engagement activities focused on the broad public as
well as specific subject matter experts, as well as result in the formation of new capacities,
skills and relationships amongst actors in the City that wouldn’t normally connect and/or
engage deeply on climate change. Further funding to support this work on a long-term
basis is currently being sought.
Partnerships
The Climate Change Coordinator has also committed to the following partnerships to both
support community action and to inform and strengthen the Climate Change Action Plan:
- Selkirk College: Climate Adaptation and Innovation Initiative. The Climate Change
Coordinator is working with Selkirk College’s Rural Development Institute and
other jurisdictions in the Columbia Basin to identify shared climate vulnerabilities,
while also advancing regional-scale responses to climate change.
- EcoSociety: 100% Renewables Plan. The City has signed on to be part of the
working group for a 100% Renewables Plan for the West Kootenays, led by
EcoSociety. This partnership involves working group membership, target
alignment and engagement and plan development support.
- Simon Fraser University: The Integrated Climate Action for BC Communities
Initiative. The City was accepted as a ‘case study community’ for SFU’s Integrated
Climate Action for BC Communities Initiative, a program designed to support BC
municipalities in advancing synergistic climate action that considers climate
change adaptation and mitigation concurrently to “enhance the effectiveness of
both strategies, avoid risks, and generate economic, ecological, and social
benefits.”
- BCIT: EcoCity Footprint Tool Pilot. The City has also signed on as a pilot
community in terms of engaging with BCIT’s ‘ecoCity Footprint Tool’, which is a
user-friendly database that draws on community-based information to create an
ecological footprint, a consumption-based GHG emissions inventory and an urban
metabolism.
Progress to Date

The Climate Change Action Planning process is well underway for the development of a
data-driven, community-informed roadmap of actions that will guide the reduction of the
City’s GHG emissions and vulnerabilities to climate risks. To date, the following
milestones have occurred to support this work:
 - Extensive partnership development and collaborative work with several local
academic institutions and non-profits;
- Fund development to support community engagement (i.e. Vancouver
Foundation);
- Key stakeholder identification and one-on-one interviews, including City staff,
RDCK staff and subject matter experts in various related fields;
- A thorough policy scan and assessment of previous and current climate change
actions undertaken by the City;
- Development of a database of local climate-change related data sources,
highlighting specific resources and gaps;
- Hosting of a Climate Change Mapping Workshop with local non-profits, institutions
and private businesses, to gather system-wide information related to the climate
change actions taking place in the City outside of the municipality, as well as the
actors, resources and barriers that inform their work;
- Ongoing community event attendance and guest speaking engagements to build
community capacity and strengthen relationships (i.e. Green Home Show,
EcoSociety Book Club, KAIROS Peace Day Event, Fridays for Future Workshop
Series, Nelson at its Best Roundtable Conversations etc.);
- Development and launch of the City’s Working Group on Climate Action, including
cross-department leadership from the City and Core Service Providers from
external agencies representing public health, innovation and technology,
economic development, regional sustainability and social services;
- Extensive best practice research focused on climate change action planning,
climate change planning and communication theory and climate change action
plan frameworks from leading institutions and cities.

Future Milestones

The major milestones that will be completed between January and July 2020 to inform
the City’s Climate Change Action Plan include: further baseline data gathering and
analysis, procurement of localized GHG trajectories and climate projections, ongoing
stakeholder engagement, the development of a risk and vulnerability assessment, target
development, best practice research and plan drafting and design.

With regard to staff and community engagement in particular - a cornerstone of the

climate change planning process - the following activities are scheduled to occur before
plan development (time and capacity permitting):

- Continued community event attendance and guest speaking;

- Bi-monthly ‘Working Group on Climate Action’ meetings;
- Departmental one-on-ones as needed;
- Citizen surveys;
- Public events focused on shared problem identification, visioning and action
development;
- Public sounding boards to solicit ongoing feedback – to be placed at several
locations throughout the City (i.e. Rec Centre, Hockey Games, Mall, etc.);
- Intensive action development workshops with diverse stakeholders (using
Vancouver Foundation Funding).

Upon finalization of the Climate Change Action Plan in summer 2020, implementation
planning will begin, followed by plan activation and monitoring for a one-year, FCM funded
period (although it is understood that a number of the actions, monitoring processes etc.
will continue past this timeframe).

Plan Content Expectations

While the specific plan content is still being developed, it is expected that the following
overarching elements will be included in the City’s Climate Change Action Plan:
- Context and Current Performance
- Vision and Guiding Principles
- Action Areas
- Targets and Goals
- Actions
- Implementation Framework
Please see Attachment 1 to review a snapshot of best practice examples from various
award-winning and/or internationally recognized municipal climate change and
environmental management plans, which may inspire and inform the layout and content
found in the City’s Climate Change Action Plan upon its completion.

BENEFITS OR DISADVANTAGES AND NEGATIVE IMPACTS:

This report is for Council and the public’s information only.

LEGISLATIVE IMPACTS, PRECEDENTS, POLICIES:

It is within Council mandate and authority to hear the presentation.

COSTS AND BUDGET IMPACT - REVENUE GENERATION:

There are no costs associated with hearing the presentation.

IMPACT ON SUSTAINABILITY OBJECTIVES AND STAFF RESOURCES:

The Climate Change Action Plan will align with the City’s: Official Community Plan, Path
to 2040 Sustainability Strategy, Community Energy and Emissions Action Plan, and
Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan. The Climate Change Action plan will also
align with a number of other subject specific plans and strategies that guide the City’s
operations, including its Active Transportation Plan, Community Wildfire and Protection
Plan, Water Master Plan and several relevant bylaws.

While specific outcomes have yet to be determined at this stage in the process, it is
expected that the actions included in the Climate Change Action Plan will have a strong
net positive impact on the City’s sustainability, moving the City significantly closer to
meeting sustainability related principles, directions and objectives.

COMMUNICATION:
The presentation educates Council and the community about the City’s Climate Change
Action Plan process and provides an opportunity for Council to ask questions about the
report’s content and/or the Climate Change Action Plan planning process in general.

OPTIONS AND ALTERNATIVES:

1. Receive and thank the presenter

ATTACHMENTS:
- Attachment 1: Content and Layout Best Practice Examples, Climate Change
- Powerpoint presentation
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT Council hears from Kate Letizia, the City of Nelson’s Climate Change Coordinator,
and thanks her for attending.

AUTHOR: REVIEWED BY:

__________________________________ ____________________________
CLIMATE CHANGE COORDINATOR CITY MANAGER
Attachment 1: Content and Layout Best Practice Examples, Climate Change

Below are a number of visual snapshots of content and layouts from various award winning
and/or internationally recognized comprehensive Climate Change and Environmental
Management Plans. These examples may inspire and inform the layout and content found
in Nelson’s Climate Change Action Plan upon its completion.

Example 1: City of Paris Climate Action Plan

Best Practice: Highlight and celebrate the municipality’s

environmental leadership ‘story’ to date, including major impacts
previous actions have had, societal and/or behavioral shifts that
have occurred etc.
Example 2: City of Victoria Climate Leadership Plan

Best Practice: Development and display of accessible and meaningful baseline data and
planning principles that have been used to inform plan development and action prioritization.
Example 3: City of Barcelona Climate Action Plan

Best Practice: Development and display of data and local expert informed, geographically
localized climate projections.
Example 4: City of Portland Climate Action Plan

Best Practice: Organize contextually specific action areas according to potential

impact, co-benefits possibilities and possible implementers and/or collaborators.
Example 5: Banff Environmental Master Plan

Best Practice: Connect context, previous actions and inspiring case studies to action
areas and new initiatives to come - to tell the story of what’s happened, happening and
going to happen in the future.
Nelson’s
Climat e
Change Act ion
Plan - An
Updat e

City of Nelson
December 2019
Climate Action Plan
Update
Background
- The City of Ne lson has a long history of le ade rship whe n it come s to taking actions to
re duce e missions and build re silie ncy to climate change .

- Ke y ste ps have be e n guide d by our Path to 20 40 Sustainability Strate gy, our Low Carbon
Path to 20 40 , our Corporate Gre e nhouse Gas Re duction Plan and ongoing hazard and
vulne rability ide ntification and re duction le d by the Fire & Re scue Se rvice s and Public
Works

- Rapidly shifting climatic conditions + incre asing scie ntific confide nce that global
te mpe rature s are going to continue to rise for de cade s to come → time for Ne lson to take
e ve n furthe r action to be tte r coordinate and incre ase our e fforts to le sse n our impact and
pre pare for the pote ntial impacts of climate change .
Our Foundation
Plans & Strategies Infrastructure & Programs
- Path to 2040 Sustainability Strategy - Community Solar Garden
- Corporate Greenhouse Gas - EcoSave home energy retrofit program
Reduction Plan - Seniors Home Weatherization Program
- Active Transportation Plan - Heat Mapping
- Low Carbon Path to 2040 - High-density zoning
- Ongoing emergency management
Commitments
research and programming
- Signatory to BC Climate Action - Forest fire fuel mitigation
Charter - Water conservation and flood measures
- Active Member of the FCM Partners - Early implementation of the BC Step
for Climate Protection Program Code
- 100% Renewables by 2050
Commitment
Climate Change Action Plan, 2020
- Focus on improving our
corporation and community’s
capacity to mitigate greenhouse
gas emissions and to adapt to
changing climatic conditions.
- Consolidate and coordinate
pre vious policie s and actions and
de ve lop a ne w roadmap for
addre ssing gaps and risks.
 Mitigation vs Adaptation vs Low Carbon Resilience

Climate Change Mitigation = reducing

greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
Climate Change Adaptation =
reducing vulnerability to the effects of
climate change
Low Carbon Resilience = Two-
pronged approach that tackles both
concurrently, with a focus on co-
benefits
Low Carbon Resilience - Co-Benefits
Climate Change Coordinator Position
- 2 Ye ar Contract, July 20 19 to July 20 21
- Funde d via the Fe de ration of Canadian Municipalitie s (FCM) (cove ring 80 % of
Ne lson’s Climate Change Coordinator’s ye arly salary, disburse d ove r a two-ye ar
time pe riod)
- Part of FCM’s ‘Climate Change Staff Grant Funding Program’ - a program that
provide s supple me ntary salary funding for a ne w or e xisting municipal
e mploye e to “work on initiative s to improve adaptation to local climate change
impacts or re duce gre e nhouse gas (GHG) e missions”.

58 municipalities across the country have been granted this funding opportunity
Funding Requirements Our Climate Change Action Plan is
contractually obligated to include, at a
minimum:
Year One (July 2019-2020)
● A compre he nsive ove rvie w of curre nt GHG
- Develop and facilitate an ongoing monitoring and re duction proje cts
● An outline of stake holde r consultations
‘Climate Change Steering
conducte d to inform plan
Committee’ ● An outline of what is still ne ce ssary/advisable
- Develop and facilitate community re : stake holde r consultation going forward
● A de scription of the strate gy use d to form
engagement and consultation Ne lson’s ‘Climate Change Ste e ring
activities Committe e ’
- Develop a climate change plan ● Re comme ndations for ne w climate change
actions worth imple me nting in the short,
that will be presented to the CAO me dium, and long-te rm for the City of Ne lson
and council for approval
Funding Requirements, FCM
Year Two (July 2020-2021)

- Work towards the implementation of operational and institutional changes within

the municipality and community to ensure long-term adoption of the climate
change plan after the grant period.

- Present a progress report to council

- Continue to manage the ‘Climate Change Steering Committee’ and any other
external stakeholder working groups and activities

- Give a final presentation and recommendations to Council re: medium-term

operational, institutional and departmental changes required to address climate
change and it’s risks and vulnerabilities, sustainably.
Progress to Date
Partnerships
Fund Development
$20,000 from the Vancouver
Foundation awarde d in Se pte mbe r →

To be utilized to design and launch an intensive

and sustained community engagement program
that will focus on bringing together a diverse
representation of Nelsonites to learn,
collaborate and develop innovative, community-
focused climate change solutions - together.
Taking Stock - Internal
Key stakeholder identification and
40 one-on-one interviews, including
City of Nelson staff, RDCK staff and
subject matter experts in various
related fields

A thorough policy and program

scan (international →local), and
asse ssme nt of pre vious and curre nt
climate change actions unde rtake n
by The City of Ne lson

De ve lopme nt of a database of local

climate -change re late d data
source s →highlighting spe cific
re source s and gaps
Taking Stock - Community

Hosting of a Climate Change ‘System

Mapping’ Workshop with (50) local non-profits,
institutions and private businesses

Ongoing community event attendance and

guest speaking engagements to build
community capacity and strengthen
relationships

Ongoing interviews with community leaders

Working Group on Climate Action

Purpose:

- To co-develop a leading-edge climate change

action plan, using a low carbon resilience
approach
- To synthesize and build upon existing work and
efforts to forge opportunities for greater climate
action
- Co-create operating principles for how to move
forward and more deeply integrate climate action
into our operations
- Build stronger connections between key sectors
and actors
Extensive Research
Academic Frameworks & Programs
from Leading Cities

Thought
Leaders/Institutions
Future Milestones
Milestones - Year One
Phase 1: Take St ock Phase 3: Explore and
Develop Solut ions

Aug - Dec 2019 Feb - May 2020

Nov - Feb 2019 May to July 2020

Phase 2: Define the Phase 4: Design and

Challenges Approve Plan
Towards a Climate Action Plan
- The major milestones that will be completed between January and July 2020 to inform Nelson’s
Climate Change Action Plan, include:
- Further baseline data gathering and analysis
- Procurement of localized, up to date GHG inventory (community-wide), future GHG trajectories
and climate projections
- Development of a ‘Risk and Vulnerability’ assessment
- Ongoing stakeholder engagement - targeted and broad community
- Best practice research - actions and implementation frameworks
- Target and action development
- Plan drafting and design
Engagement
- Continued community event attendance, guest speaking & informal interviews (Jan to July)
- Bi-monthly ‘Working Group on Climate Action’ meetings (Jan, March, May, July)
- Departmental one-on-ones as needed (Jan to July)
- Online Citizen Surveys (Jan #1, June #2)
- Public events focused on shared problem identification, visioning and action development (Feb,
April)
- Public sounding boards to solicit ongoing feedback – to be placed at several locations t/o
Nelson (i.e. Rec Centre, Hockey Games, Mall, etc.) (March - May)
- Intensive action development workshops with diverse stakeholders (using Vancouver
Foundation Funding) (Feb to July)
- Strategic action planning session with Council (May)
Plan Content Expectations
While the specific plan content is still being developed, it is expected that the following overarching
e le me nts will be include d in The City of Ne lson’s Climate Change Action Plan:

- Conte xt and Curre nt Pe rformance

- Vision and Guiding Principle s
- Action Are as
- Targe ts and Goals
- Actions
- Imple me ntation Frame work
Thank you!

“Everywhere I look there are opportunities to

be addressing climate change…”

- Bill Nye