Climate Commitments
Climate Emergency
On March 1, 2022, Town Council declared a Climate Emergency, joining over 500 Municipalities across the country and becoming the 8th Municipality in Nova Scotia to do so.
By the declaration, the Town recognizes that the threat posed by climate change to our community constitutes an emergency and commits to bold and transformative actions and decision-making, compatible with the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to keep global warming under 1.5 °C.
defaultTNG Climate Emergency Declaration(69 KB)
Partners for Climate Protection Program
The Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program is a joint effort of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and ICLEI Canada — Local Governments for Sustainability. The PCP program is a 5-milestone framework advancing a municipality through planning to implementation of local climate action at the corporate and community level.
The Town of New Glasgow joined the PCP program as an early apter in 1998. To learn more about the Town’s progress in the program, please refer to the Climate Action Planning and Reduction Targets section.
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy
The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy is an international alliance of cities and local governments with a shared long-term vision of promoting and supporting voluntary action to combat climate change and move to an inclusive, just, low emission, resilient society. Over 9,000 cities, representing more than 800 million people worldwide and over 10% of the total global population, have committed to the GCoM.
The Global Covenant of Mayors Canada is a collaboration between the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, ICLEI Canada, the Global Covenant of Mayors Secretariat, and the International Urban Cooperation Project supported by funding from the European Union. In 2019, the Town of New Glasgow was selected as one of 25 Municipalities in Canada to form the Global Covenant of Mayors’ first Showcase Cities Pilot program. As a GCoM member, the Town demonstrates its commitment to advancing local climate action in three key areas: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, identifying — and adapting to — the risks associated with climate change, and increasing access to clean and affordable energy.
Race to Zero and Race to Resilience
The Town of New Glasgow Council approved joining the Cities Race to Zero and Race to Resilience global campaigns in November 2021.
The Cities Race to Zero is a global campaign run by the COP26 Presidency and High-Level Climate Champions to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions and investors for a healthy, resilient, zero-carbon transition that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth. The Cities Race to Resilience campaign seeks to build a more resilient world, helping frontline communities to build resilience and adapt to impacts of climate change, such as extreme heat, drought, flooding and sea-level rise.
By joining the Cities Race to Zero and Race to Resilience, the Town of New Glasgow pledges to commit to doing our part in keeping global temperature increases below 1.5 °C and putting inclusive and equitable climate action at the heart of decision-making. The Town of New Glasgow pledges to reach net zero-emission by mid-century and will report progress annually through the Partners for Climate Protection Program and through the Global Covenant of Mayors.
Learn more about the Cities Race to Zero and Race to Resilience campaigns at the UNFCCC climate champions webpage.
Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI)
The CCRI is a one-year pilot developed by the National Zero Waste Council, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Recycling Council of Alberta, and RECYC-QUÉBEC to advance circular economy knowledge sharing and capacity building in the Canadian local government sector. The Town of New Glasgow was selected as one of 15 local governments to participate in the pilot. Over one year, the CCRI provided a national webinar series on innovative approaches and provided direct support, guidance and peer-to-peer exchange — supporting communities to take steps to become more circular.
Learn more about the pilot at CanadianCircularCities.ca.