Climate Close to Home: How Municipalities Can Lead the Way

Municipalities are linked to roughly half of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions – they’re

also the last stop for decisions around climate adaptation, which may decide the very survival of

hundreds of communities in the coming years. While most climate activism tends to focus on federal or

provincial governments, municipalities must play a role if we’re to reach our net-zero targets and

withstand the impacts of a changing climate.

On September 22nd, Climate Legacy is excited to welcome three municipal leaders and expert

consultants to discuss the key steps cities must take to adapt to climate change, as well as how

municipalities can fund this work, and what the role of citizens will be in making this happen.

Our Panelists and Moderator: 

Catherine McKenney (who uses the pronouns they/them) is the Executive Director of CitySHAPES. Catherine has spent the majority of their career working at the municipal level of government, as a political assistant, the chief advisor to the Deputy City Manager, and as a two-term Councillor at the City of Ottawa. During Catherine’s time on Council, they were responsible for holding the city to account on budgets involving housing and homelessness, climate action, transit and active transportation. Catherine’s successful motion to declare a homeless emergency in the City of Ottawa was the first of its kind in Canada.

Donna Chiarelli is a core team member of the Natural Assets Initiative, working on multiple projects to support communities across Canada to integrate natural asset management and nature-based solutions into their infrastructure management and service delivery. As the owner and principal of Planet A Consulting, Donna brings 25 years experience helping to build healthy, prosperous and resilient communities. Her primary focus is on strengthening decision making of local governments and the people they work with, related to asset management, environmental sustainability and climate action.  She is also an associate of the Climate Risk Institute, where she co-delivers a course on asset management and climate resiliency.

Dustin Carey is the Lead, Climate Adaptation with FCM’s Green Municipal Fund and an Expert Consultant with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. After receiving his Master of Climate Change degree from the University of Waterloo, he applied his understanding of climate science to practical municipal climate solutions. Specializing in climate adaptation, municipal asset management, capacity development and sustainable land use practices, Dustin works to enable local governments to create low-carbon, resilient communities. He wrote the Climate-Resilient Asset Management chapter of the United Nations’ Managing Infrastructure Assets for Sustainable Development Handbook.