Subject Archives

  • How to Use the Greenhouse Gas Calculator for Municipalities

    SSG

    How can municipal staff coordinate emissions reductions across all departments and all operational decisions? The GHG Calculator can help ensure that your municipal budget and capital plan reflect your commitment to climate action.

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    Four Climate Action Trends to Watch in 2024

    weaveradmin

    Amid the disappointment that more wasn’t achieved at COP28 and a spate of extreme weather events at the outset of 2024, we don’t want to lose sight of areas where progress has been made. Below we share four positive trends that we’re keeping an eye on in 2024.

  • COP28 Takeaways for Cities

    Alia Dharssi

    The international community finally acknowledged the cause of climate change while cities gained prominence in COP negotiations and looked at cutting methane.

  • Montreal Commits to Climate Budget

    Alia Dharssi

    For the first time, Montreal’s municipal budget includes a carbon budget—a cumulative cap on Montreal’s emissions out to 2050. By requiring City Council and staff to consider climate change in all investment decisions, the budget has the potential to push climate action forward while reducing spending decisions that increase climate pollution.

  • We Developed a Step-by-Step Climate Action Guide With IDB

    SSG

    We worked with the Inter American Development Bank to develop Planning Climate Action in Cities and Region, a guide for local governments in Chile and beyond.

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    How to Reduce Urban Consumption Emissions

    SSG

    Most urban climate action plans focus on greenhouse gas emissions generated within a city’s boundaries resulting— from things like heating buildings, fueling cars, and decomposing trash. But emissions related to other everyday activities like eating out at restaurants, traveling on an airplane, purchasing a new phone, and construction of new buildings are also driving the…

  • How Local Governments Can Pull the Emergency Brake and Take Climate Action Now

    Emi Do

    Priority Climate Action Plans (PCAP) empower governments to act while they plan, rather than waiting for a plan to act. How do we make sure we are acting smart, while acting fast?

  • Lessons in Rebuilding After a Wildfire

    Emi Do

    When the entire town of Lytton, BC, burned down on June 30, 2021, the community decided to rebuild better. Their process offers lessons for other communities facing wildfire risks. 

  • How Two American Cities Integrated Federal Funding Into Their Climate Action Plans

    Emi Do

    SSG collaborated with Lakewood, Ohio and Ames, Iowa to identify the role of specific federal funds through detailed financial modeling. They are, to our knowledge, the first municipalities to account for federal funding from the Infrastructure Bill and Inflation Reduction Act in their climate action plans—setting them up to save hundreds of millions of dollars by…

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    Land-use Planning is Climate Planning

    Jeremy Murphy

    City planners and developers across Canada make choices that create low-carbon or high-carbon neighbourhoods every day. Choosing the historically popular low-density approach locks in carbon emissions for decades. In the face of the climate crisis, this choice is simple: low-carbon developments are the only viable option.