Today, the Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, was joined by the Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Jr., Minister of Natural Resources Canada, on behalf of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, to announce approximately $4.8 million from the Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund to support 13 climate action projects in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Provincial Government is contributing $3.3 million in support of these initiatives that will lower emissions, improve fuel efficiency and help communities across the province save on energy costs.
The City of St. John’s Carbon Sequestration Reforestation Project will receive approximately $77,900 from the Government of Canada and the province to reduce emissions and increase carbon sequestration in the City Park Land Project. It will expand the St. John’s urban forest’s ecological services with 11.4 hectares of reforestation, resulting in a reduction of emissions from reduced turf maintenance and improved carbon sequestration.
Other projects that will receive funding from the Climate Change Challenge Fund are the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation’s Furnace Replacement Project for existing housing units with $786,130, and the Fisheries and Marine Institute’s Fuel Switching Project with $1,039,980. The remaining ten projects will be announced in the coming weeks.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s Climate Change Challenge Fund is a competitive grant-based program to fund greenhouse gas reduction projects. This fund supports capital projects that lower greenhouse gas emissions. The program was opened to organizations of all sizes across commercial, municipal, not-for-profit sectors, and Indigenous governments and organizations.
The province’s Climate Change Challenge Fund will receive up to $19.9 million through the federal Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund, an increase from the previously announced total of $11.4 million in response to strong interest in the Climate Change Challenge Fund. The $4.8 million for projects announced today comes from this previously announced funding.
Quotes
“Through projects such as these, and our Climate Change Action Plan, we are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, stimulate clean innovation and growth and build resilience to climate change impacts. Such projects are part of the work to support the development of a green economy and initiatives to move the province forward both environmentally and economically.”
Honourable Bernard Davis
Minister of Environment and Climate Change
“Climate change is real, and it’s changing the lands around us. We are building a cleaner, more prosperous future that leaves no one behind. These 13 projects will lower emissions and create jobs throughout the province. This is how we get to net-zero.”
Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Jr.
Minister of Natural Resources Canada
“Re-naturalizing 11.4 hectares of land across 13 city parks and open spaces reduces the need for turf maintenance in those areas which reduces our fossil fuel use, saving greenhouse gas emissions and financial resources. The City of St. John’s has a strategic priority to be a sustainable city today and for future generations. Replanting previously cleared sites is identified in the city’s Urban Forest Management Plan and the benefits of this reforestation project aligns with our recently released Corporate Climate Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in city operations while stabilizing energy costs by supporting energy efficiency.”
Danny Breen
Mayor
City of St. John’s
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Learn more
Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund
Canada’s strengthened climate plan: A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy
Media contacts
Lynn Robinson
Environment and Climate Change
709-729-5449, 691-9446
lynnrobinson@gov.nl.ca
Moira Kelly
Office of the Minister of Environment and Climate Change
819-271-6218
moira.kelly@canada.ca
Media Relations
Environment and Climate Change Canada
819-938-3338 or 1-844-836-7799 (toll-free)
ec.media.ec@canada.ca
Kelly Maguire
City of St. John’s
709-576-8491
kmaguire@stjohns.ca