Since 2001, the Clean Air Council, a network of 27 municipalities and health units from across the Greater Toronto, Hamilton and Southern Ontario Area, have been working collaboratively on the development and implementation of clean air and climate change mitigation and adaptation actions.
The Clean Air Council is based on the premise that municipalities benefit from actions to reduce energy use in order to save money and limit emissions; make the movement of people and goods more efficient; and make communities more livable, competitive and resilient.
The members of the Clean Air Council work collaboratively on agreed upon priorities; track, analyze and determine the outcomes of actions; and bring experts and practitioners in the various activity areas together to share experiences and lessons learned. There are many benefits to a collaborative approach to addressing air quality and climate change issues. Having multiple jurisdictions at the same table enhances networking and the exchange of resources and information. It ensures that no one group is working in isolation, and that efforts are not unnecessarily duplicated. Inter-governmental and inter-regional cooperation also provides an opportunity to leverage scarce resources for research, outreach and other air quality and climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives. Working together, the Clean Air Council enables members to achieve far more with fewer resources and reduced risk.
THE MANDATE OF CLEAN AIR COUNCIL IS TO:
- Address air quality and climate change challenges through a dynamic network that expands knowledge and encourages practical and successful policies and actions.
- Promote a better understanding of air quality and climate change problems and opportunities among municipalities, public health and policy makers to improve their ability to address these problems in an economically effective way;
- Explore opportunities for joint initiatives to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and increase climate change adaptation and resilience actions;
- Develop and report on progress of Inter-governmental Declarations of Clean Air and Climate Change;
- Track and monitor the implementation and transfer of clean air and climate change actions across the jurisdictions; and
- Liaise with municipalities in Ontario, Canada and internationally, and organizations with compatible mandates to share best practices for reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and increasing community livability and resilience.
Clean Air Council Actions, Priorities and Progress Report