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Climate change is a global problem, affecting all countries. While greenhouse gases (GHGs) form naturally, many human activities add additional GHGs to the atmosphere. Heating and cooling buildings, using energy at home and work, driving vehicles to move people and goods, powering industrial processes - most things we do that consume energy contribute to the problem. Radiation from the sun enters the earth's atmosphere, and GHGs act like a greenhouse's glass to block this heat from escaping back to space. There is a direct link between rising atmospheric GHG concentrations, particularly carbon dioxide (CO2), global warming and more frequent extreme weather events. In Canada, climate change will affect fishing, farming, forestry, lakes, rivers, coastal communities and the North.
The Strait-Highlands Region, which includes Inverness County, Richmond County and the Town of Port Hawkesbury, have joined the Partners for Climate Protection Program in 2005 with the Strait-Highlands Regional Development Agency (S-HRDA) taking a lead role toward sustainability. Pooling together resources, each partner municipality will benifit in many ways from being part of a more sustainable region.
The Strait-Highlands RDA recently completed Milestone Three of the Strait-Highlands Green Action initiative that involved the building of an energy and emissions inventory (emissions audit), setting municipal and community emission reduction targets and the development of a regional action plan to meet the targets.
We are now at the start of our implementations phase (Milestone Four) where the S-HRDA will work together with local municipaliites, businesses and residents on sustainability projects to reduce our environmental footprint and allow us to play an active role in the Green Economy. Through this process, the team will continue engaging government public and private sectors within the Strait-Highlands Region to educate and collaborate on issues related to carbon emissions in the region. Strait-Highlands Green Action utilizies a network of knowledgable stakeholders (Advisory Committee) to provide valuable input and feedback and leave the table with valuable knowledge on sustainability that will benefit regional operations.
Work on this initiative began February 20th, 2006 and has recieved $700,000 financial committment from all three levels of government as well as the private sector. Refer to our Project Partners section to view the partner contributions to Strait-Highlands Green Action.
For more information, contact:
John Beaton
902.625.3929, extension 5
john.beaton@strait-highlands.ns.ca
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