Climate Change Action Plan

Executive summary

Human activities during the past century have caused global warming to accelerate by emitting greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. These greenhouse gasses, such as carbon dioxide, trap heat in the atmosphere and change the world’s climate. Nova Scotia and the rest of the world are now experiencing the impacts of climate change. From fluctuating weather patterns that impact food production, to rising sea levels that intensify the risk of flooding, the impacts of climate change are unparalleled in scale. We will continue to live with the effects of the greenhouse gas effect caused by human activity for the rest of this century, regardless of what actions we take to reduce our emissions in the next several decades.

The NSCC Climate Change Action Plan outlines a pathway for our institution to make a significant impact on the sustainable development of our province as we work with our communities to address climate change. The Plan builds upon the foundation of already established College plans, policies and procedures and was formed after consultation with the NSCC community, participation in provincial and municipal climate planning initiatives and review of existing climate strategies from other post-secondary institutions and the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Climate Change1. The Action Plan was created by the NSCC Facilities and Engineering Department in collaboration with the NSCC Sustainability Team.

The content of the Action Plan focuses on three key themes: Mitigation, Adaptation, and Education. Each theme contains several strategies tailored to the unique nature of our institution. The scope of the mitigation actions detailed in this plan focus on capital planning and operational objectives, which will be delivered by NSCC Facilities and Engineering. Adaptation actions include long-term planning objectives to deliver climate resiliency at both campus and institutional levels, which will involve campus management teams and central planning staff. Education actions will focus on collaboration among all NSCC staff units, including climate change related governance, teaching and research. With 13 campuses across the province teaching a variety of programs, from agriculture to information technology, NSCC covers a much broader geographic and educational range than other institutions. This range presents us with the opportunity to communicate the message of sustainability to a wide and diverse audience. We have embraced this opportunity and are committed to being leaders in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change in our communities.

Together, these themes and strategies complement each other and have the potential to build upon existing NSCC capacity to create a culture of innovation and continuous improvement that will inspire the workforce of tomorrow.