Sustainable Severn Sound has developed the area’s first Local Climate Change Action Plan (LCCAP). The overall objective of the LCCAP is to educate communities and municipalities on climate change and ways we can reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the use of fossil fuels, lower our energy consumption, and adapt to our changing climate. The Plan has identified GHG emission profiles, emission reduction targets and unique actions to achieve our goal. The LCCAP filled an existing gap within area municipalities, and has since laid the foundation for municipal-level climate change planning.

The LCCAP is a high-level summary of two separate inventories for the baseline year of 2015, ‘corporate’ or municipality and ‘community,’ which have been further disaggregated for each of the 6 municipalities.

The corporate sector focuses on GHG emissions from heating, electricity and waste generation in all municipal owned buildings and facilities, water and wastewater infrastructure and from the operation of corporate vehicles.

The community sector focuses on GHG emissions emitted from home and business heating and cooling, as well as electricity, transportation, and generation of curb side waste. Climate change from a community perspective can be influenced by individuals, businesses, organizations, institutions and various levels of government.