Photo: Sean Kilpatrick The Canadian Press “In the fight against climate change, municipalities are on the front line, and they are best placed to know the local challenges and their solutions affecting neighborhoods, transportation and businesses,” said Steven Guilbeault.
The Canadian Press in Ottawa
Posted at 10:38 a.m.
- Canada
The Trudeau government is investing $530 million to help municipalities adapt to climate change.
Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault made the announcement Monday in Ottawa, along with Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit S. Sajjan.
This is one of the largest amounts ever allocated for this purpose, according to the government, and will be used to fund 1,400 municipal climate change adaptation projects by 2031.
These projects will aim to build more resilient infrastructure to cope with floods, storms and forest fires that are increasingly frequent with climate change.
The amount will be invested in the Green Municipal Fund, which finances sustainable development projects in municipalities. The fund says it has approved 2,100 sustainable development projects since its launch in 2000.
The Trudeau government says it has invested $6.6 billion in adapting to change climate since 2015.
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Municipalities “on the front line”
Municipalities are increasingly faced with natural disasters and several local leaders complained of having few means to manage these situations.
The Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UMQ) had demanded from the Quebec government 2 billion dollars per year to adapt to the changing climate, but Prime Minister François Legault had only granted them a fraction of this amount.
The Institute Canada's Climate Change estimates that every dollar invested in adaptation to climate change generates benefits of $13 to $15.
“In the fight against climate change, municipalities are on the front line, and they are best placed to know the local challenges and their solutions affecting neighborhoods, transportation and businesses,” said Minister Guilbeault in a press release.
“With wise investments, long-term planning and effective consultation, we can support communities already experiencing the effects of climate change and help them to make the future more sustainable and more prosperous for the next generations. »