SYMBOLIC COLLAPSE
Symposium discuses energy planning, building economy, benefits to residents
About 30 people gathered at Charles Clark Square Friday for a climate rally organized by Windsor on Watch. Participants Elaine Weeks and Alex Mackay and others fall to the ground to dramatically emphasize the climate emergency the world faces today. The rally coincided with a climate change symposium for local municipalities.
If climate change were ever disproven, local efforts to mitigate its projected adverse effects would still benefit life in the region.
That sentiment resonated at Friday’s Climate Action Symposium at the University of Windsor, which saw more than 40 municipal representatives from across Windsor and Essex County discuss possible investments in energy efficiency, ideas for environmental protection, and the positives those could bring regardless of the world’s changing climate.
“Rather than thinking of it as something we only need to address because of the risks, there’s a whole bunch of opportunities we can access at the same time,” said Karen Farbridge, one of the event’s presenters and a former mayor of Guelph.
By implementing green guidelines set out in the City of Windsor’s
Community Energy Plan (CEP), which was approved by council in 2017, the city would be able to reinvest the money it saves on energy into the community. That means potential funding boosts to transit, social programs, public health and more — but only if elected leaders support community action.
An increase in energy retrofits to privately and publicly owned buildings would create jobs, Farbridge said, with those workers putting money back into the local economy. Residents who then save money on energy bills could better afford housing.
“The opportunity exists for community to address climate change while building resilience, building the local economy and making a higher quality of life for people.”
Those benefits could also spread to Essex County. The Essex Region Conservation Authority, one of the Climate Action Symposium’s organizers, is currently working with the county on a CEP of its own.
“This region has the opportunity to be a leader,” said Peter Garforth, another speaker at the event and a consultant on Windsor’s CEP. “These initiatives never start at the national level.
“Municipalities have tried and failed to make significant environmental strides by waiting for one climate-oriented project’s completion before beginning another,” he said. To make lasting and positive impacts, green endeavours have to be multiple and ongoing, and should begin as soon as possible.
Both Windsor and Essex County declared climate change emergencies this month, acknowledging significant impacts already being felt by the region and likely to get worse in the future if the issue is ignored.
Symposium topics included the cost of doing nothing; climate emergencies and your municipality; community energy planning; engineering solutions for climate change; and climate change and health.
Discussion groups identified issues and possible next steps for municipal and regional improvements on climate change mitigation. Those included planning resilient parks and ecosystems, reducing risk, the role elected leaders play in supporting community action and energy planning for municipal planners.
Later in the afternoon and independent of the climate symposium, about 30 people held an hour-long climate rally at Charles Clark Square in downtown Windsor. Organized by the environment advocacy group Windsor on Watch, the gathering was part of a global climate strike.
This region has the opportunity to be a leader. These initiatives never start at the national level.