Ontario invests in climate change initiatives

The province is providing $5 million from the Green Investment Fund to the Ontario Centre for Climate Impacts and Adaptation Resources, in partnership with the Ontario First Nations Technical Services Corporation. This investment will help provide Indigenous communities with training, tools and infrastructure to address climate change by:

• Developing climate change adaptation plans.
• Building technical capacity so Indigenous communities are able to take advantage of economic opportunities from Ontario’s proposed cap and trade program.
• Creating a Northern Ontario climate change impact study using data from the adaptation plans.

Ontario is also committing $8 million to develop advanced microgrid solutions in First Nations communities. These microgrid projects will support economic growth by reducing reliance on diesel fuel and enabling stable, predictable sources of power.

A shift to microgrids from diesel fuel is also vital to the fight against climate change and achieving Ontario’s greenhouse gas pollution reduction target of 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.

Ontario’s new Green Investment Fund is a $325 million down payment on the province’s cap and trade program to strengthen the economy, create jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These investments will help secure a healthy, clean and prosperous low-carbon future and transform the way we live, move, work and adapt to our environment while ensuring strong, sustainable communities.