The city of Montreal is promising that in the next five years it will drop its greenhouse gas emissions to the amount produced in 1990.
Officials say they will also take steps to prepare Montreal for more extreme weather events including floods and ice storms.
Montreal has been afflicted by extreme weather events that are out of its control, such as the 1998 ice storm, and ones that showed the weakness of infrastructure, such as the rainstorms that flooded the Decarie Expressway and the Acadie Circle.
Mayor Denis Coderre said it's all part of sustainable development plans for Montreal.
"We need to get ready and that's part of what I call the connectivity agenda," said Coderre.
Municipal officials say cutting GHGs by 30 percent from current levels is essential to limit climate change as much as possible.
Measures being planned include visible steps such as planting more trees within the city.
Other measures are more subtle, such as convincing building owners to make flat roofs white, in order to use passive reductions in solar heating to reduce the amount of energy devoted to air conditioning in the summer months.
The city is also pledging to create more cooling centres to help people cope with heat waves.
"When I've been to Dakar (Senegal) with Khalifa Sall, the mayor of Dakar, he's doing exactly the same thing. We have some issues that we are all living together. Of course the environment, or the sensitivity of the environment, might be different, but the cases and the issues are the same."
Officials have noted six problems that Montreal will face because of climate change.
They are:
- Increased average temperatures
- Heavy rainfalls occurring more frequently
- More frequent and more intense heat waves
- More frequent destructive storms
- Longer dry periods
- Faster spring thaws, leading to flooding
Those climate change effects could lead to more widespread insect infestations; more potholes because of more freeze-thaw sessions in winter; more floods; more storm damage.
The 2015-2020 report into climate change for Montreal recommends the city take steps to improve the amount of greenery in the city, create spaces to help citizens cope with extreme heat, and take steps to improve the capacity of storm sewer systems.
