The Climate Change Project

The City of Mississauga has joined a growing number of Canadian municipalities who are taking action on climate change. On June 19, City Council passed a motion declaring a climate emergency in Mississauga.

“Mississauga is working to become climate change leaders, and we’re proud to be reaffirming our commitment by joining cities across the country in declaring a climate emergency.” - Mayor Bonnie Crombie

In September 2017, the City also joined the Global Covenant of Mayors the largest international coalition of its kind. Established by the United Nations in 2008, it seeks to demonstrate the global impact cities are making to transition to a low carbon and climate resilient economy.

• Siemens is committed to using technology and data as a tool to advance the common good and support informed infrastructure investment decision-making. More than 4,000 employees in Canada deliver solutions for sustainable energy, intelligent infrastructure, healthcare and manufacturing.
• According to the Siemens’ City Performance Tool, Mississauga could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 81 per cent by 2050. This is compared to its 1990 baseline by reducing passenger kilometers travelled by single occupancy vehicles, increasing the production of renewable electricity, and implementing a suite of infrastructure technologies aimed at the energy, building and transportation sectors.
• Effective implementation of the technologies could also result in more than 290,000 local jobs being created by 2050.

Siemens, in conjunction with the City of Mississauga, published Mississauga’s Climate Future: Technology Pathways to a Sustainable Future in 2050 identifying potential measures to achieve an 80 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 (80x50) relative to 1990 across all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions sectors. This analysis paves the way for the City to consider adopting 80x50 as a GHG emission reduction target as part of the upcoming Climate Change Action Plan. The City’s Climate Change Action Plan will provide a roadmap for Mississauga to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

“Siemens analyzed the City’s infrastructure data through our City Performance Process using a data-driven tool that allows cities to make informed infrastructure decisions, through the lens of the sustainability goals. The analysis found that the City would need to transition to 100 per cent generation of renewable electricity and 62 per cent passenger travel by transit and active transportation to achieve its goals,” stated Martin Powell, Global Head of Urban Development for Siemens. “In addition to the current policies already in place, the implementation of 25 infrastructure technologies impacting energy, building and transportation sectors would also be necessary to achieve an emission’s reduction goal of 80 per cent by the year 2050.”

In addition to a greener grid, addressing improvements to the efficiency of heating demands in buildings also needs to be a priority. Currently, space and water heating consumes 83 per cent of the total energy usage in residential buildings and 58 per cent in commercial and municipal buildings in Mississauga. This provides a huge opportunity for emissions reduction, which has been addressed by modeling two solutions in the analysis – Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and air-sourced heat pumps. Together, these solutions have the potential to reduce GHG emissions by over 2.6 million metric tons or 38 per cent compared to a 2050 business-as-planned scenario.

The findings from the Technology Pathways to a Sustainable Future report are being used in the development of the City’s first comprehensive Climate Change Action Plan.

For a copy of the report click here.

About the Siemens City Performance Tool

Launched in 2015, Siemens’ City Performance Tool (CyPT) was developed with cities in mind, to help cities make informed infrastructure investment decisions, identifying which technologies from the transport, building, and energy sectors might be utilized in that specific city to accomplish goals such as mitigating that city’s greenhouse gas emissions, improving air quality, and adding new jobs to the local economy. Using a three-step process, Siemens works with cities to first build a GHG emissions baseline for its transport, buildings, and energy sectors, then chooses technologies to simulate on that baseline, and finally estimates economic and environmental impacts of investing in those technologies.

More than 45 cities worldwide have used the tool to inform their infrastructure investment decision-making including but not limited to: Aarhus, Denmark; Mexico City; Minneapolis; Nanjing, China; Vienna; San Francisco; Madrid; Los Angeles and Nuremberg.

The Climate Change Stakeholder Panel represents key agencies and organizations in the City of Mississauga and provides ongoing input to the Climate Change Project at key intervals with specific opportunities to generate actions and provide feedback on the Climate Change Action Plan.

Panel Members include the following organizations:

• Region of Peel
• Alectra
• Enbridge
• CRH
• Toronto Region Conservation Authority (TRCA)
• Credit Valley Conservation (CVC)
• University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM)
• Sheridan College
• Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA)
• Mississauga Board of Trade (MBOT)
• Peel District School Board
• Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board
• Metrolinx
• Trillium Hospital Group
• Oxford Properties Group
• Orlando Corporation
• FRAM Building Group
• Ecosource

Thank you to those who came to the Imagine2050 Escape Room!

The Imagine2050 Escape Room was developed in partnership with Escape From The 6.

A big thank you to everyone who helped us put together this year’s After Dark Earth Market!

It was our biggest Earth Market yet so I think it’s safe to say it was a huge success! For highlights from the day, click here: http://wke.lt/w/s/nJy1u

This year we partnered with Many Feathers who brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the event – not to mention their fulsome network of local vendors J We had over 40 vendors, exhibitors, and food trucks including:

· Tropic Love

· Enbridge

· David Suzuki Foundation

· Ecosource

· Domino’s pizza

· The Arepa Republic

· Electric Vehicle Society

· YogaVision

· Blackwood Gallery

Our performers were also a highlight. A huge thank you to Jammers Waffle House, Rhythm Works, ArtWorkX and DJ Stewie, YogaVision, and Amanda Kennedy – our awesome emcee.

And last but not least, the Imagine2050 Escape Room engaged residents in a fun and creative way around the topic of climate change and helped show residents what actions they can take to combat climate change. If you missed the Escape Room at the ADEM, you can still check it out at Erin Mills Town Centre from July 20-29. Drop In or book a time in advance http://www.escapefromthe6.com/reservations/

The City is currently wrapping up our Background Studies Phase. We have been busy gathering data to support the development of the Climate Change Action Plan. Study topics include land use, municipal fleet, infrastructure vulnerability assessments, clean tech sector assessment, energy mapping, community greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions footprint analysis, and community climate risk assessments. All of the information from this phase of the project will feed into the Action Planning Phase which kicks off in the fall of 2018.

Our Community Engagement and Outreach is now underway. Get involved by telling us Your Climate Story and check out our upcoming events.