As predicted in the Community Energy Plan, emissions and energy consumption for the Windsor community have continued to increase as priority actions have yet to be implemented. In 2018 a total of 1,945,603 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) was emitted to the atmosphere compared to the 1,812,728 tonnes CO2e emitted in 2014. These emissions totals result in per-capita emissions of 8.96 tonnes CO2e per person for 2018 compared to 8.49 tonnes CO2e per person for the 2014 CEP baseline. The CEP target is a per capita emissions of 5 tonnes CO2e by the year 2041.

Notable Accomplishments

As noted above the City of Windsor is committed to the Global Covenant of Mayors. As part of the Global Covenant of Mayors, Windsor annually reports through the Carbon Disclosure Project. In 2019, the City of Windsor received an overall score of A recognizing climate change leadership. However, for the City’s actions on mitigation a B score was received. This is still higher than the average North American scores of a C and average global scores of D.

The City of Windsor was one of twenty-five Canadian municipalities selected to join the first Showcase Cities cohort led by the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM) Canada. The Global Covenant of Mayors Canada is a collaboration between the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, ICLEI Canada, the Global Covenant of Mayors Secretariat and the International Urban Cooperation Project supported by funding from the European Union. Over the next year, Showcase Cities will receive intensive support to help reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate change and advance their ambitious climate actions.

Municipal Comparisons

The Showcase Cities, noted above, were selected to compare Council approved plans and targets. A summary of the findings from the municipalities are provided in Appendix A.

It should be noted, that each of these Showcase Cities has committed to advancing climate action over the next year in at least one area (i.e. mitigation or adaptation).

City of Detroit

The City of Detroit has a robust and aggressive mitigation strategy with the goal of reducing both community-wide and municipal emissions. The community target is a 30% reduction in GHG emissions by 2025 from a 2012 baseline. For the municipality the target is to reduce emissions by 35% by 2024 and 75% by 2034 from a 2012 baseline. The City also has a target specifically for Industrial and Commercial energy consumption of a 10% reduction in energy intensity by 2024 and a 30% reduction by 2029.