Communities across Nova Scotia are receiving more support from the Province and Clean Foundation to bring their climate change priorities to life.
Today, May 9, Environment and Climate Change Minister Timothy Halman and Scott Skinner, President and CEO of Clean Foundation, announced the first 12 projects to be supported through the Community Climate Capacity program at the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities Spring Conference in Baddeck.
“Climate change is impacting Nova Scotians,” said Minister Halman. “Local leadership and action is our best defence to make sure communities are prepared and proactively responding to protect homes, businesses, infrastructure, our coastline and coastal communities, and natural areas. This program will provide the knowledge and capacity that is needed to help communities, including those along the coast, adapt to, and mitigate the impacts of, climate change and become more resilient.”
The 12 projects involve 16 municipalities, one Mi’kmaw community and two community organizations. A dedicated team of climate change experts will help them with the projects over the next three years. In addition, those experts are available to all municipalities to provide climate change educational and capacity-building support.
Other ways the Province is helping communities become resilient to climate change include:
- funding a coastal protection co-ordinator position at the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities to support municipalities with work to protect coastal communities
- creating the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund, which provides grant funding for climate change adaptation and mitigation projects
- establishing the Low Carbon Communities Program, which provides funding for low-carbon building, transportation and electricity projects
- creating more flood-line maps
- expanding the stormwater engineer and flood management adaptation positions at the Department of Environment and Climate Change to support municipalities.
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