In 2022, the City of Spruce Grove released our Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP). It provides a road map for the City’s climate actions.

To develop the CCAP, from 2020-2021, the City engaged community members and conducted research into a recommended set of actions that Spruce Grove can take to address climate change in an environmentally and financially responsible way.

On May 9, 2022, the report was accepted by Council as information. Council supported aspirational targets toward:

• Adoption of the recommended adaptation actions as outlined in the CCAP; and
• Reduction of Spruce Grove’s greenhouse gas emissions along the “Spruce Grove” path.

The purpose of the CCAP is to describe how Spruce Grove will prepare for the impacts of a changing local climate while also contributing to our collective goal of limiting future climate change. Through this work the main goal is to help the city be a resilient, safe, and attractive place to live, work, and play for years to come.

Overall, the plan helps to answer the following two main questions:

1. How can the City help prepare the community for the anticipated effects of climate change?
2. How can the City reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and help the community do the same?

Climate Risk and Opportunity Assessment

The Climate Risk and Opportunity Assessment for Spruce Grove sorted projected impacts into high, medium, and low priority categories. Most impacts are characterized as negative, with a few positive opportunities for the City, such a longer construction season.

High priority risks	Medium impacts	Low impacts
multi-year droughts heat waves freezing rain hailstorms	water supply shortage intense storms flooding wildfire smoke increased indoor cooling demand	cold stress tornados river flooding wildland fire

Themes and climate adaptation actions

To determine feasible and effective climate adaptation actions for Spruce Grove both benefits and costs were analyzed. Actions with a higher benefit score are described in the CCAP and fall into the following categories:

• City Buildings and Infrastructure (CBI),
• City Programs and Outreach,
• Homes, Businesses, and Local Economy (HBE), and
• Water Management and Natural Infrastructure (WN).

The proposed future actions themselves range from creating new city policies and improving infrastructure, to engaging the public in taking individual action.

Questions?

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