The role of municipalities in changing behaviours

As the impacts of climate change become increasingly clear and widespread, we must all work to decrease greenhouse gases and become more resilient to the expected impacts of climate change. That includes cities, which have an important role to play in climate change action. Indeed, cities have a variety of mechanisms that they can use to drive local action on climate change, including:

Land use and urban planning

Licensing and regulation

Leadership and awareness

Community engagement and service delivery

Operations and workforce11“Changing Climate, Changing Communities: Guide and Workbook for Municipal Climate Adaptation,” Local Governments for Sustainability, 2010, http://www.icleicanada.org/images/icleicanada/pdfs/GuideWorkbookInfoAnnexes_WebsiteCombo.pdf.

When it comes to encouraging more sustainable habits, behaviours, and consumption patterns, the City of Mississauga has focused its efforts on the development of a regulatory framework (e.g., bylaws, resolutions), as well as on community engagement and service delivery. Laws and regulations discourage behaviours that could harm the environment, while also encouraging positive actions that citizens can take. To this end, the City has passed a number of bylaws, resolutions, and strategies that not only strive to alleviate climate change, but also ensure that City staff and residents are doing their part to contribute to an environmentally sustainable and resilient Mississauga.

The City has started to pass some laws that support climate change mitigation and adaptation. For example, the City has passed an anti-idling bylaw, a storm sewer bylaw, and a tree protection bylaw. The tree protection bylaw is a good example of a regulatory tool that encourages residents to “live green,” prohibiting residents from removing three or more trees from their property in a single year without first receiving approval from the City.22Private Tree Protection By-law, City of Mississauga, http://www.mississauga.ca/file/COM/treeprotection.pdf. Currently, Mississauga is home to over two million trees, and is projected to reach over three million by 2032, with the help of the City’s One Million Trees campaign. There is little dispute that trees play a vital role in decreasing greenhouse gases: our urban forest removes 454 tonnes of particulate matter, ozone, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and CO2 from the City’s air annually.33“Protecting Our Natural Areas and Trees,” City of Mississauga, http://www.mississauga.ca/portal/residents/natural-areas-and-trees.

In an effort to further demonstrate leadership in environmental stewardship, Mississauga City Council passed a motion to request that the Federal Government develop a national strategy to reduce plastic pollution. This strategy would help to make all plastic packaging recyclable or recoverable by 2030, and entirely diverted from landfills by 2040.44Ali Raza, “Mississauga Focuses on Using Less Plastic, Urges Federal Government Develop Plan,” 24 June 2018, https://www.mississauga.com/news-story/8688504-mississauga-focuses-on-using-less-plastic-urges-federal-government-develop-plan.

Another important role the City can play is in outreach and education. The City offers a variety of programs, partnerships, and projects to ensure opportunities for active community engagement. Through our community engagement and service delivery programs, the City is in close communication with local businesses, community organizations, and residents. We focus on face-to-face interactions in order to provide more meaningful engagement, and offer opportunities for community involvement through outdoor environmental education, youth- and business-focused programs, outreach booths at community events, and environmentally focused campaigns and events. To complement this, the City also uses a variety of online and social media channels (including Twitter, Facebook, Storify, City of Mississauga website and the Residents Survey) to reach and engage an even larger number of people.

The City has also partnered to create environmental education programs. The City’s Environment, Recreation, and Parks and Forestry Divisions collaborated to develop an outdoor education and gardening camp, with the goal of establishing more environmental education programs in the Recreation program calendar. The City also partnered with Ecosource, an organization that focuses on how residents can change their lifestyles to become more environmentally friendly, to offer a community gardening program connecting Mississauga residents with local gardening spaces; the aim was to encourage active, healthy living and also help green the city.

Through the Climate Change Project, the City has organized and led a number of events that promote climate action and inform residents about what they can do to help combat climate change—from planting trees to taking public transit to reducing household waste. In 2018, the Environment Division was able to bring awareness of climate change to approximately 7,200 residents through a variety of events such as the Imagine2050 Escape Room, the After Dark Earth Market, and the Imagine2050 Photo Contest.

A multifaceted approach is perhaps the best way a municipality can encourage its residents to act on climate change: rules and regulations are important, but so are outreach, education, and providing opportunities for residents to become involved in their communities. For more information and to find out how you can participate, visit https://yoursay.mississauga.ca/climate-change.