Greenhouse Gas Reduction Action Plan (2023 Update) — full text

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1 2023 Update 2 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Climate and Environment Advisory Committee reviewed the GHG Reduction Action Plan adopted by the Town Council in March of 2021, which can be found on the Town of Mahone Bay website. The Town's Climate & Environment Committee is tasked with reviewing the Plan on an annual basis and making recommendations to Council for updates to the Plan. The Committee's initial review of the plan concluded in July of 2023 with this update document - prepared by the Town's Climate & Energy Program Manager - being recommended to Council. It was decided that this update would focus only on the Plan actions, while the Committee will discuss the conduct of a more comprehensive update - including updates to community GHG emission calculations and forecasting - in a future year. The following updated actions should be read in the context of the original plan linked above. 3 2.1 HEATING & BUILDING EFFICIENCY ACTION #1 New buildings standards. TARGET: 100% of newly constructed residential, commercial, and institutional buildings are net zero ready by 2030 and no longer use fossil fuels. MAHONE BAY'S APPROACH: The new 2020 National Energy Code for Buildings supports municipalities by introducing a tiered approach encouraging new construction to be Net Zero Energy Ready (NZER) through building and HVAC efficiencies. Municipalities looking to implement energy efficiency and carbon reduction strategies can prescribe or encourage tiers for new construction that align with the knowledge and capacity of their community. Tier 1: 2020 Building Code Tier 2: 10% improved energy performance Tier 3: 20 % improved energy performance from 2020 Tier 4: 40% improved energy performance from 2020 Tier 5: 70% improved energy performance from 2020 4 The 2020 Building Code has an ~ 15% better energy ratings than what was enforced in 2015 which was already 10% better than what was enforced in 2015. 2020 Building Code standards can be enhanced via development regulations, which could potentially also impose heat source requirements on new construction (as is being done in some other Canadian jurisdictions). RESOURCES: The Town of Mahone is responsible for development services which are provided by the Municipality of the District of Chester under contract. This action will require additional staff time to explore and coordinate proposed regulatory changes and support related public processes / consultations. ACTION #2 Energy efficient and electrically heated municipal buildings. TARGETS: 100% of existing municipal buildings are retrofit to net zero ready by 2030. New (heated) municipal buildings will be built to net zero ready standards. 2023 CHANGES - The number of targets has changed from 3 to 1. The targets that referred to decreasing average dwelling size and decreasing the number of new single-family homes have been removed. UPDATES - There has been no change to the status of this Action. Progress on this action may be difficult as the Town has minimal influence over the implementation of the National Building Code. 5 MAHONE BAY'S APPROACH: As the Town completes upgrades to, and constructs new municipal buildings, electrification and energy efficiency options will be considered in the decision-making process. Prior to major renovations or retrofits, an energy audit may be completed to better inform upgrades to maximize efficiency. Further retrofits to electrify heating systems will reduce GHGs associated with fossil fuels to make use of a cleaner electrical grid. RESOURCES: To ensure electrification and energy efficiency is considered in retrofits and new construction, staff time will be needed to coordinate with energy auditors and project contractors. Costs associated with electrification and efficiency options for municipal buildings will be factored into capital project costs. 2023 CHANGES - The action now clarifies that municipal buildings will either be retrofitted to be heated electrically or be built with electric heat incorporated. It gets rid of the word retrofit in the title. The targets have been expanded to include new buildings. UPDATES - Some updates to Town Hall have been completed including several new windows and heat pumps. There are plans to complete updates to the building by 2024 including exterior improvement that includes replacing the rest of the old windows and removing the oil boiler and replacing it with an electric heat source. 6 ACTION #3 Electrification and energy efficient retrofits for the private sector. TARGETS: Eliminate fossil fuel use for 60% of non- residential buildings by 2040, 100% by 2050. Improve the energy efficiency of non- residential buildings. MAHONE BAY'S APPROACH: Work with Efficiency Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Business Inc, and other organizations to provide coordinating and external financial assistance to the owners of commercial and industrial buildings for engineering and feasibility studies for larger case-by-case energy retrofits. Smaller businesses may be able to access residential programs. Efficiency Nova Scotia offers a $15,000 rebate to eligible customers to conduct a feasibility study by a third-party consultant. The feasibility study will highlight recommendations to retrofit equipment and building envelopes to increase efficiency. RESOURCES: Town Staff can work with interested local businesses to access these programs and provide resources to help work through applications and secure reputable consultants. 2023 CHANGES - The targets have been condensed into 2 from 3. Electrifying refers to switching from fossil fuels to electricity, so this does not need to be explicitly stated. Questions around how to measure increased efficiency caused that target to be changed to be more general (improved efficiency). UPDATES - Thinkwell Shift received funding for their Get 2 Zero program, which Mahone Bay businesses had the opportunity to participate in. 7 ACTION #4 Electrification of home heating systems and residential retrofits. TARGETS: Eliminate fossil fuel use in 50% of homes (that currently use fossil fuels) by 2030, in 80% of homes by 2040, 100% by 2050. 100% of buildings' space heating and cooling needs are met by electric systems by 2050. Work to expand our renewable energy storage capacity in the form of batteries and electric thermal storage units. MAHONE BAY'S APPROACH: With the ability to ensure a 100% renewable supply, the electrification of home heating systems contributes significantly to community GHG reductions. Approximately 50% of Mahone Bay homes and buildings were built prior to 1980 and supporting the retrofits of these homes to improve efficiencies will realize GHG reductions, more specifically from fossil fuel heated homes. Heat Pump and Energy Thermal Storage Financing Program In collaboration with AREA, the Town of Mahone Bay and electric utility has and will continue to implement a financing program for home heating equipment such as heat pumps. This program is referred to as the HOME Program and launched in October 2020 while drafting this action plan. This program supports residents through the process of purchasing and maintaining a heat pump and also offers a financing option. This allows customers of the program to heat their homes more efficiently, with a cleaner source of electricity compared to oil, propane, or wood heat and reduce the upfront costs to homeowners, making the equipment more accessible. 8 Data collected from residents and business also shows that many homes are already equipped with electric heating and 37% of respondents reported having efficient heat pumps installed and 3 respondents (1%) reported having electric thermal storage units. This number is expected to grow as interest in the HOME Program increases. There were 78 respondents (26%) that reported having both a fossil fuel source (oil/propane) and electric source of heat. These respondents are ideal candidates for the home electrification programs as they likely require minimal electrical upgrades, if any, facilitating uptake and installation processes. Similarly, 27% of respondents also stated that they had no electric heating source and use only oil, propane, wood, or a combination of these sources. These homes would likely be more costly to begin integrating electric heat but may also present the biggest emissions savings as any electrical heating upgrades would directly offset fossil fuel emissions. Neothermal Pilot Project Neothermal Energy Solutions presented to Council on January 14th, 2020, about conducting a pilot project with ~10 Mahone Bay residents. While currently only in the pilot stage, Neothermal's energy storage solutions allow homeowners to use 50-80% less oil fuel to heat their homes and switch a portion of their heating needs to electric using the time-of-day rates and charging the units throughout the night. If 10 residents pursue this heating upgrade about 16,600 litres of oil per year will be avoided equaling a reduction of 28 tonnes of CO2e per year. Additional GHG savings can also be realized if the ETS units are charged with excess renewable energy through the night when energy demand is normally low. These units can be included in a financing program such as referenced above, and staff are investigating other options to support this pilot project. This option will be particularly useful for homeowners who have sunk costs in fossil fuel burning systems to use the remaining life of the systems more efficiently. 9 Efficiency Nova Scotia Efficiency Nova Scotia (ENS) offers a Home Energy Assessment (HEA) Program which has an auditor assess homes to provide an energy efficiency roadmap. The Assessment cost is $99 + HST and includes a follow-up audit. This fee can also be waived for income-qualifying homeowners through ENS's HomeWarming Program. If homeowners choose to make the efficiency upgrade, the follow-up will determine which rebates they are eligible for. RESOURCES: Staff time will be required to develop and implement financing options and programs as well as to coordinate with and maximize homeowner access to external resources such as ENS. Capital funding of $100,000 over two fiscal years beginning in 2020-21 (originally 2020-21) is recommended to be leveraged against FCM Community Efficiency Financing for an additional $100,000 in external funding, though private financing to homeowners will continue to be explored wherever possible. Funding for installations on private property would be repayable by residents, secured against their properties. 2023 CHANGES - The targets have condensed into 3 from 4. Specific targets for thermal and electrical savings were removed. UPDATES - Mahone Bay's HOME program has been in place since October 2020. This program connects residents with financing with the Credit Union Atlantic and heat pumps installed by Greenfoot. A relaunch brochure will be sent out to residents soon with electrical bills. Staff have applied for funding to do a review of the HOME Program, with the goal of identifying how the program can be improved and expanding it to include additional products. 10 2.2 ELECTRICITY SUPPLY ACTION #5 Develop Community Solar gardens TARGETS: Replace 100% of the remaining grid electricity with green electricity by 2030. 18.8% of load supplied by solar MAHONE BAY'S APPROACH: The Town of Mahone Bay, in collaboration with AREA, are seeking new opportunities to expand renewable energy generation to the Mahone Bay Electric Utility (with resident investment), including a community solar garden project and the expansion of the Ellershouse Windfarm. AREA has been working to secure contractors and materials to begin construction of the solar garden which is proposed to begin in the end of 2021/ early 2022. The community solar garden will include a community subscription opportunity that will be structured to best fit Mahone Bay and its residents and encourage community participation. The solar garden project is predicated on external funding support through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) which is anticipated to provide 73% funding to the project with the remaining $1,567,535, coming from the Town, further defrayed by resident subscription. This level of funding would support a solar garden producing up to 18.8% of the electricity currently required by the community. RESOURCES: Significant staff time will be required to support this project through to full operations, including community outreach. Capital funding of $1,567,535 over two fiscal years beginning in 2021-22 is recommended to be leveraged under ICIP for an additional $4,238,151 in 11 external funding. Town capital funding to be further defrayed by resident investment. ACTION #6 Identify Opportunities for Other Renewables. TARGETS: Increase wind supply to 90% by 2035 2023 CHANGES - No changes UPDATES - Work on the Community Solar Garden has nearly been completed. On behalf of Mahone Bay, Berwick, and Antigonish, AREA applied for funding for three Community Solar Projects. In July 2021 the federal and provincial funding was announced for all three of the Towns' solar garden projects (providing a combined 73% of the cost of the projects). AREA is serving as the general contractor for the projects. The Mahone Bay Community Solar Garden is a 1.873MWpdc project and is expected to provide up to 16% of the Town's energy. The Community Solar Garden has been built at the Mahone Bay wastewater treatment facility site, located at 918 Main St. 12 Replace 100% of the remaining grid electricity with green electricity by 2030. Offset remaining emissions with overproduction and selling of renewable energy. MAHONE BAY'S APPROACH: Staff continue to work with the Alternative Resource Energy Authority to find new opportunities to procure and produce more renewable energy from wind, solar, and hydro. Currently 40% of the Town's electricity use is produced from the Ellershouse Wind Farm. The Town has had great success with Ellershouse and will continue to seek out wind energy opportunities to achieve 90% wind energy production by 2035. As outlined in section 9, with all of the actions implemented from this Plan, there are still some remaining emissions in 2050. In attempt to not only reach the IPCC target of a 45% reduction from 2010 levels by 2030, but also to put Mahone Bay on a path to 100% carbon-free by 2050, opportunities to overproduce renewable electricity and sell the excess to offset remaining emissions - where economically beneficial to the Town and utility- will be identified. RESOURCES Town Staff to continue to work with AREA to identify renewable energy procurement opportunities and/or funding sources for development. 2023 CHANGES - No changes UPDATES - The Alternative Resource Energy Authority (AREA) received funding through the Low Carbon Communities Fund to identify and research additional renewable energy opportunities for Mahone Bay, Berwick, and Antigonish. They will be investigating the impact of options such as additional wind turbines, expanding the capacity of our Community Solar Garden projects, acquiring battery storage, and biofuel gensets. 13 2.3 TRANSPORTATION ACTION #7 Implement Transportation Plan (TP) and encourage active transportation. TARGETS: 40% of trips are walking and cycling (including ebikes) by 2030, 50% by 2050, targeting trips of less than 2km for walking and less than 5km for cycling. MAHONE BAY'S APPROACH: In 2020 the Town of Mahone Bay contracted CBCL Ltd. to produce a Transportation Plan Report to address transportation needs in town including but not limited to, pedestrian safety, active transportation routes, parking, and more efficient intersections. There are numerous occasions throughout the year that parking becomes an issue increasing the amount of congestion, idling and driving around to find parking which adds to GHG emissions. The Transportation Plan Report outlines recommendations the Town can implement to encourage active transportation choices by residents and to optimize the flow of traffic throughout town to reduce unnecessary emissions during busy periods such as events. During data collection, when asked about active transportation 32% of respondents mentioned they choose active transportation 50% of the time or more and made the following suggestions to encourage more active transportation: - Pedestrian safety - Share the road initiatives - Wider sidewalks and road shoulders - Trail improvements and maintenance - Designated bike paths/lanes 14 - Slower speed limits - Increased accessibility - Electric scooters RESOURCES: Significant staff time may be required to support this action, depending on the recommendations implemented. Staff time will also be used to encourage active transportation choices by residents. Capital funding will be needed to implement recommendations provided in the Transportation Plan Report and Town funding can likely be leveraged for at least 50% external funding support under programs such as the Department of Energy & Mines Connect2 Program. Recommendations are likely to be focused on improvements to roads, sidewalks, crosswalks, and associated signage. 2023 CHANGES - No changes UPDATES - The Town was successful in their 2021 Connect2 funding application. Funding for this program was used to install six new speed humps on Clairmont and Kinburn Street. This action was identified in the Transportation Plan and the Bicycle NS Bikeway Concept Design Report as a recommended speed calming measure. Connect2 funding will also be used to investigate options for a multi-use active transportation path connecting Clearway and Kinburn St. Several new crosswalks have also been installed throughout the Town. These new crosswalks are located at the Anglican Church, Kedy's Landing, on Main St. by the medical centre, and at Long Hill Rd. These new crosswalks will increase pedestrian safety throughout the Town. Staff have also applied for funding for the Edgewater Street Active Transportation Trail through the federal Active Transportation Fund. This project would create an approximately 400m long designated active transportation trail along the Edgewater St waterfront, connecting Kedy's Landing to the Town center through active transportation. Both residents and businesses located at Kedy's Landing have expressed support for this project. 15 ACTION #8 Assess transit and shuttle options TARGETS: Support viable transit options Transit and car share mode share increases to 10% by 2030 100% of any transit vehicles be electric by 2040. MAHONE BAY'S APPROACH: Citizens for Public Transportation have presented to Town Council and have undertaken considerable work on a proposed fixed-route transit plan for Mahone Bay and surrounding area. Community engagement has also supported the idea of a shuttle service during tourist seasons. These options will continue to be assessed with further work needed to find a viable option for Mahone Bay. Discussions are ongoing with neighboring municipal units. RESOURCES: Staff time required to assess feasible options. If a viable option for the Town is identified in the future, further financial resources may be required to implement such a service. 2023 CHANGES - No changes UPDATES - There are no updates to report on this action item. 16 ACTION #9 Install electric vehicle chargers within Town TARGET: Install 8 charging stations COMPLETED 2023 CHANGES - The action Item has been completed. UPDATES - 8 level two electric vehicle charges have been installed throughout the Town. They are located on Clairmont St, at Town Hall, on Main St, the Mahone Bay Civic Marina, at the new Fire Station on Hawthorn Rd, and at the Mahone Bay Centre. These Level 2 chargers feature a J1772 connector, compatible with almost all electric vehicles and plug in hybrids. Level 2 chargers provide up to 30km of range per hour of charging. There is a $1.50 per hour fee to use the chargers. Individuals can pay for their charging session by adding funds to their FLO account or FLO access card using a credit card. There is an additional 50 cents per hour fee for charging if you are not a FLO member. These chargers allow visitors to Mahone Bay to take advantage of our green energy - which is already 84% non-emitting! As of July 5th, 2023, these electric vehicle chargers have been used 829 times for over 1,571 hours. The charger located on Clairmont Street by the Pharmasave has been used the most, followed by the charger located at the Mahone Bay Town Hall and the charger located at the Mahone Bay Marina. 17 ACTION #10 Implement an Electric Vehicle CarShare and encourage vehicle electrification. TARGETS: 30% of new personal and commercial vehicles are electric by 2030, 60% by 2040, and 100% by 2050 Small vehicle municipal fleet 100% electric by 2030 Heavy municipal fleet is 100% electric by 2040. MAHONE BAY'S APPROACH: Staff are exploring options for obtaining an Electric Vehicle for municipal operations and to provide educational and awareness opportunities for community members. Additionally, Town and AREA staff have been discussing options to expand electric vehicle usage in Mahone Bay and propose "Electric Avenue" events to showcase different EV models. Town and AREA staff are further exploring the feasibility of an Electric Vehicle Carshare Pilot Program with Department of Energy and FCM. Such a program could support early EV adoption in Mahone Bay by making EVs more available and accessible for town residents. An expansion of the single- vehicle option above, this program would allow residents to be a member of the CarShare and use the vehicles as needed while simultaneously making EVs more accessible to test drive different models and familiarize residents with the technology which isn't always available at car dealerships across the Province. These educational events and the opportunity residents have with a CarShare program aim to facilitate greater EV uptake in town effectively increasing the electrical load and switching vehicles requiring fuel to a cleaner electrical source (and benefiting the Town's utility). The CarShare program also aims to reduce the number of personal vehicles in town and having fewer trips with combustion engines. As the majority of drivers in Mahone Bay are only driving 3-4 times per week and ranging 50-200km per week, these statistics look promising for facilitating carsharing as well as the uptake of electric vehicles in Mahone 18 Bay. Electric cars are currently the most manufactured electric vehicle and the range of these vehicles are surpassing 300km per charge. With the implementation of charging infrastructure within Town, electric vehicles would be very suitable for Mahone Bay residents and business. The data also demonstrates that community members are also interested in electric vehicles with 64% stating they would like to test drive one. To facilitate the uptake of electric vehicles, expansions to the existing HOME Program could also consider the potential to support residents with home charger installations. This in turn, could help grow the load of the utility. RESOURCES: This action is scalable on confirmation of external funding support, from a single EV, test drives and education campaigns to a multi-vehicle CarShare program providing a true alternative to residents. Depending on scale significant staff time will be required to support this project. Recommended project funding of $60,000 over two fiscal years beginning in 2020-21 can support a single-vehicle option with educational activities (partially defrayed by corporate savings on mileage reimbursement) or can potentially be leveraged for up to 80% additional external funding ($240,000) through FCM / provincial sources. 2023 CHANGES - There is no change to the wording of this Action. UPDATES - Staff submitted a pre-application to the FCM for funding a feasibility study and have been approved to submit a full application. Staff have approached MODL for cost-sharing for an FCM funding application to do an electric vehicle carshare feasibility study, and MODL is interested in working together but not for the current fiscal year. Other municipalities are interested in being kept in the loop, in terms of process on this action item and if there is an opportunity to collaborate. 19 ACTION #11 Implement Shop and Eat Local Campaign TARGET: Encourage local shopping by residents MAHONE BAY'S APPROACH A shop local campaign is an action under transportation as it minimizes the number of residents and business ordering products online that require shipping, it also reduces the amount of vehicle trips to locations of greater distance away. Shopping local not only reduces the demand for transportation of goods but also supports Mahone Bay's local businesses. Though local businesses may still be receiving shipments from other locations we can considerably reduce emissions associated with the transportation sector if, for example, 20 people shopped at a local store for an item rather than have a delivery truck deliver that item to 20 different residents. Additionally, small changes in the way we choose our food can have an impact on GHG emissions. Certain foods are grown unsustainably, degrading soils and changing land use. Some food categories are energy and water intensive to raise crops and livestock while outputs from others produce significant GHG emissions, like methane from the beef industry. Processing, transport, retail and packaging are all part of our foods' life cycle that should be considered when choosing what we eat. Eating for our environment does not mean never consuming these foods if it is something you enjoy, but simply being mindful of foods and where they come from and looking for more sustainable products or reducing consumption. For example, if families chose one day a week and do not consume meat products, they could notice small GHG impacts which could lead to cumulative emissions reductions across the community. 20 RESOURCES: This action would require staff time to create and implement the educational awareness campaign through newsletters, events, and social media content. Staff can also work with residents and businesses to determine items that have demand but no local source and work with businesses to find ways to offer these products or services. 2023 CHANGES - There is no change to the wording of this Action. UPDATES - Initial planning for these campaigns was completed by an intern during the summer of 2022. The Town was not able to secure an intern to continue this work in 2023 but will attempt to do so in 2024. 21 2.4 SOLID WASTE Action #12 Implement a waste reduction campaign TARGETS: 100% diversion by 2050, Reduce generation 30% by 2050 100% organics diversion by 2050 MAHONE BAY'S APPROACH: In recent years the Province of Nova Scotia has noticed an increase in the amount of waste per capita being sent to landfills. This action aims to reduce the use of single use items and find sustainable solutions for municipal operations and to support education and awareness for community residents and businesses. The Town aims to provide more education on lifecycle analysis of the products consumers toss. Each item has a manufacturing and transport process with associated GHGs before making its way to a consumer. Further, Once an item reaches the end of its life there are transportation emissions to pick-up and deliver waste and additional emissions associated with the process of filling landfills and recycling products. Finding sustainable products that we can use over again begins to reduce the lifecycle GHG emissions of single use products. RESOURCES: Staff time is required to create and implement an educational awareness campaign and to coordinate and host workshops, working with Region 6 Waste Management (in which the Town is a member). 22 2023 CHANGES - There is no change to the wording of this Action. UPDATES - Research and outreach material for these campaigns were prepared by an intern during the summer of 2022. An amended Solid Waste Management By-law was passed on May 26, 2022. The goal of the by-law changes is to reduce plastic contamination in the organics stream. Items such as hot beverage cups and 'biodegradable' plastic bags are often placed in the compost when they belong in the waste stream. The amendments will clarify which paper products are compostable and which are not. This in turn will improve the quality of the finished organic product and reduce plastic contaminants in the organic stream. 23 2.5 WASTEWATER ACTION #13 Upgrade water and wastewater infrastructure TARGETS: Upgrade to high efficiency pumps by 2035 (-50% energy use) Decrease water volume use by 1%/year to 2050. MAHONE BAY'S APPROACH: As part of Mahone Bay's asset management program, Town infrastructure is being accurately mapped including date of installation and current condition. This allows the Town to better identify and replace aging infrastructure. Currently, the Town's water utility loses a significant amount of water through leaks in the aging distribution system. As infrastructure is replaced, less energy is required to treat and pump this lost water, and significant water savings and emissions can be realized. Likewise, infrastructure replacement presents opportunities to upgrade to more energy efficient equipment, such as newer lift pumps. RESOURCES: Capital funding for infrastructure is informed by the Town's asset management program and reflected in Council's long-term capital planning. Funding for water infrastructure replacement and updating can generally be leveraged for Provincial and Federal support under programs such as ICIP. 24 2023 CHANGES - There is no change in the wording of this Action. UPDATES - There is no change in the state of this Action. 25 2.6 GREEN LAND USE ACTION #14 Foster trees, gardens and greenspaces on municipal and private properties TARGETS: Collect and maintain a database of natural assets and condition; Maintain tree and greenspace, no net tree loss; Support designation of municipal property as parkland where viable. MAHONE BAY'S APPROACH: Designating green areas within Town provides opportunities to grow the Town's natural assets which serve as carbon sinks by sequestering GHGs from our environment. Tree planting and urban gardens, whether vegetable gardens, wildflower gardens, or flower beds, make use of space to offset GHG emissions and create wildlife habitat while being visually pleasing. This action item draws from inspiration provided by Bayview Community School students who have created bee hotels out of recycled materials. Flower gardens offer bees and other insects a source of nectar. Gardens can include species preferred by our native endangered species such as milkweed for the monarch butterflies. The Town has many natural assets that act as a carbon sink sequestering CO2 from our environment. Though they do not offer a permanent solution as carbon is then released as material decays or is burnt, natural assets such as forests, gardens, and other vegetation offer a temporary solution to help mitigate a small percentage of Mahone Bay's emissions. During Mahone Bay's centennial year celebration, a successful tree planting and donation campaign resulted in over 100 new trees being planted. Including municipal and privately owned lands, approximately 57% of the Town of Mahone Bay's land base is currently forested. The Town aims to 26 maintain and protect these assets and manage them sustainably. Residents can also be educated and encouraged to be stewards of their privately owned land as well. In order to properly conserve and protect the Town's natural assets a project aimed at data collection for trees, waterways, wetlands and other natural assets must be completed. During this data collection the function and condition of the asset will collected. Many of our natural assets provide essential services to our community free of charge. If these aren't protected, constructing, and maintaining infrastructure to do the same job could become costly. Collecting data on our natural assets will also contribute to the development of an Urban Forest Master Plan as per Council's 2021-2025 Strategic Plan. RESOURCES: Town staff time will be required to encourage planting and to assess potential parklands, public planting locations and gardens within the community, coordinating with local schools and non-profit organizations to identify opportunities. Capital funding for a data collection project and incorporating local community groups and volunteers will be needed to progress natural asset data collection. 2023 CHANGES - There is no change in the wording of this Action. UPDATES - In the summer/fall of 2022, a co-op student started the collection of natural asset data, funded through the provincial Community Works program. This individual captured the condition and location (GPS coordinates) of street trees in Mahone Bay. An intern has been hired for the summer of 2023, to help complete this collection of natural asset data. 27 2.7 POLICY & GOVERNANCE ACTION #15 Establish climate action advisory committee. TARGET: Committee established in 2021- 22. COMPLETED 2023 CHANGES - This action Item has been completed. UPDATES - The Climate & Environment Advisory Committee has been established, the Terms of Reference approved by Council, and members have been selected. The purpose of the committee is to provide leadership and guidance on climate change mitigation, adaptation, and environmental stewardship initiatives. The committee will provide feedback on issues and projects related to environmental sustainability within the Town. They will also review the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Action plan and recommend updates to Council. Meetings are being held monthly on the first Wednesday of the month. The first meeting was held on June 1st, 2022. 28 ACTION #16 Policies and Policy Amendments TARGET: Policies and policy amendments to support Plan implementation. MAHONE BAY'S APPROACH: The Climate Action Advisory Committee will work to develop and recommend a GHG Reduction Policy to Council. Further amendments will be made to current policies such as the Asset Management Policy, to ensure that climate change mitigation is considered in every part of the decision making and procurement process. The Committee will help also help to inform a "Climate Analysis" to any staff report that may have a positive or negative impact on Climate Change. RESOURCES: Staff time to draft policies and policy amendments. 2023 CHANGES - There is no change in the wording of this action. UPDATES - A "Climate Analysis" section has now been added to each staff report. This ensures that climate considerations are considered in every Council decision.