RESTORE HAMILTON
Community Solutions for Immediate Climate Action
Our communities deserve a meaningful plan based on science and built from public input to direct action on the climate and biodiversity crises we face. This submission highlights the limitations of the existing draft plan and proposes solutions that will sequester carbon, create jobs, protect our watersheds, increase biodiversity in our city, and make Hamilton more resilient to the effects of climate change. Our plan, Restore Hamilton, focuses on protecting and enhancing what matters most, ensuring we pass on a vibrant living city for future generations.
Residents are urged to send an email to Council in support of the initiatives in the Restore Hamilton letter below and in support of development within our urban boundary, not on new expansion lands or Greenbelt. Even a short letter in your own words will have an impact.
The ‘Restore Hamilton’ Plan includes:
Meeting the Targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework: The City of Hamilton should achieve the Global Biodiversity Framework’s targets for 2030 at a local scale, including committing to protecting 30% of our lands and waters by 2030.
Permanently Protect Our Farmland and Natural Areas: The City of Hamilton should endorse the Made in Hamilton Greenbelt Plan and advocate and take steps to ensure that our farmland and natural areas are permanently protected by inclusion in the Greenbelt Plan.
Growing An Equitable Hamilton Nature Network: The City of Hamilton should support and recognize the importance of protecting and growing our Hamilton Nature Network to combat inequitable impacts of climate change while providing benefit to local communities.
Investing in Natural Solutions: The City of Hamilton should commit at least $10 million per year to purchase and restore natural lands and waters.