Join us for the School of Environmental Studies Colloquium Series Featuring MES Candidate Hilde Binford
Location: BioSciences Complex, Room 1120
Rural Municipal Climate Action: Emissions, Land and Nature-Based Solutions
Rural municipalities face many of the same pressures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as larger urban centres, but often have fewer resources and different emissions profiles. At the same time, they may have significant mitigation opportunities associated with land, forests, agriculture and other natural assets. This research examines how four Ontario municipalities -- Drummond/North Elmsley, Zorra, King and Timmins -- are approaching climate mitigation through municipal operations, community emissions reduction and land-based strategies. Drawing on municipal plans, greenhouse gas inventories and related policy documents, the study identifies gaps and emerging practices in rural climate planning and develops a best-practices framework intended to help rural municipalities move toward more comprehensive and locally appropriate climate action.
Bio: Hilde Binford is a master’s student in Environmental Studies at Queen’s University, where her research focuses on climate mitigation in rural municipalities, with particular attention to land use, natural assets and nature-based solutions. She has had a longstanding interest in climate change and climate policy. In 2008, she trained with Al Gore’s Climate Project, and she has attended most United Nations climate change conferences (COPs) since 2009. Her current research brings her broader climate-policy experience to the practical question of how smaller and rural municipalities can develop effective, locally appropriate approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.