Climate Change
Let’s create a Resilient Richmond Hill – together
Resilient Richmond Hill aims at mitigating climate change (by lowering our GHG emissions) and adapting to climate change (by planning for weather extremes). Acting now will help strengthen our community and maintain – and even improve – our quality of life.
Resilient RH builds on existing actions, programs, partnerships, and plans to form a more comprehensive and strategic response to climate change. While this initiative is specific to our community, its underlying goals align with many other cities around the world.
Community Energy and Emissions Plan
The goal of the Community Energy and Emissions Plan (CEEP), titled Richmond Hill’s Path to a Low Carbon Future, is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 – by greatly reducing our GHG emissions and not emitting more than we offset.
Read the Community Energy and Emissions Plan
To support the CEEP’s implementation, the City collaborated with community members to develop a Climate Change Conversation Toolkit, titled A Guide to Talking to People in Your Life about Climate Change. This made-in-Richmond Hill resource provides information and tips for local climate discussion and action that aligns with the CEEP.
Read the Climate Change Conversation Toolkit
Our award-winning CEEP StoryMap tracks the plan’s development and features community inputs (Resilient Places, Resilient Stories) and local climate actions, projects, and achievements (Climate Champions).
For information about energy conservation and efficiency in our homes and buildings, and applicable rebate/incentive program, visit our Sustainable Energy page.
For information about reducing our emissions from vehicles and options for active transportation, visit our Sustainable Transportation page.
Climate change in Richmond Hill
What is Climate Change? |
Richmond Hill is already feeling, and will continue to experience, the effects of climate change: heat waves, ice storms, increased rainfall, high wind speeds and more freeze-thaw cycles. These weather extremes threaten the health of natural and built environments, and the viability of municipal services and operations.
Climate change refers to long-term changes in weather patterns. Global warming is a measure of climate change and describes increases in the earth's average temperature over time. Human activities in the last 100 years, such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation, have increased greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the air, which contributes to global warming and changing weather patterns. Our community contributes to climate change in two main ways:
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What is Resilience? |
To be resilient means to be able to prepare for, resist and recover from damage or negative impacts. A resilient community plans ahead and maintains a balance of strength and flexibility.
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How can we cope with climate change? |
By building up our resilience, Richmond Hill can deal with the negative impacts of climate change while helping to address its root causes. Our natural environment already contains resilient features, such as the Oak Ridges Moraine, rivers and streams, forests, wetlands, and wildlife. Our built environment contains resilient features as well: parks and open spaces, walking and cycling options, community gardens, and stormwater management. Resilience in the face of climate change involves two broad responses:
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How can homeowners manage extreme weather risks? |
Extreme weather events in Richmond Hill pose risks to our property and our safety. The information below can help residents prevent and prepare for these costly impacts. FloodingBasement flooding from increased precipitation and storm intensity is the top climate change cost in Canada. The average cost of a flooded basement is $43,000. Taking steps to prevent flooding can save expensive repair costs, increase the “insurability” of your home, and protect living spaces for many renters in our community.
HeatHeat stress brought on by hotter summer days and longer heat waves can be problematic for many residents, and even lethal for some. Highly developed areas dominated by “hardscaping” (paved or impermeable surfaces) often intensify the temperatures through the urban heat island effect. Residents in houses and multi-residential units can make simple changes to better manage this impact.
Emergency PreparednessRichmond Hill’s Fire and Emergency Services maintains an Emergency Plan for the community. Their Emergency Preparedness page contains useful information for severe weather impacts, including flooding, power outages, and health emergencies. The City of Richmond Hill has additional information regarding extreme weather on the following web pages: |
Public Documents |
What else has Richmond Hill been doing about climate change? |
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