Climate change: tools to help municipalities

Floods, forest fires, droughts, landslides: municipalities are faced with the effects of climate change, and a new initiative from the Fédération québécoise des municipalities (FQM) aims to better equip them to deal with it, we learned The Journal.

The program will be unveiled on Thursday, as part of the FQM’s annual conference, which is being held in Quebec, and during which Prime Minister François Legault will speak.

The My Green Municipality initiative notably offers a program for the decarbonization of municipal assets. We want to offer support to towns and villages to make the transition to sustainable and renewable energy, adopt climate-related plans, adapt their water management, fight against coastal erosion and modernize the urban lighting to switch to LED.

The program offers turnkey or personalized support and guides cities towards financing or optimization of financial aid. It offers the support of several experts throughout Quebec.

Funding

To carry out these projects, the FQM offers a financing vehicle that allows the decarbonization of municipal infrastructure to be carried out, without capital outlay, as part of the ÉcoÉnergie 360 ​​program.

It aims to facilitate the transition for cities by offering an integrated service for financing, tender management, contract signing and works management. An opportunity for them to reduce their environmental impact, without increasing their long-term debt, argues the FQM.

Energy savings

“The cost of the work is reimbursed from the value of the energy savings generated by the work carried out. And the assets remain municipal property,” underlines the municipal organization.

The program is offered by SOFIAC, in partnership with Fondaction, the government of Quebec and the government of Canada.