MONTREAL -- While in the middle of a heated battle to retain her seat as mayor of Montreal, Valerie Plante was honoured for her fight against climate change this week along with a professor from McGill University.
Delta Management runs the Clean50 awards which honours top "green" professionals in the country.
Plante was among the 16 honoured this year among the 1,000 nominations.
"Montréal is well on its way to becoming Canada’s sustainable, resilient, and biodiverse haven," reads the Clean50 appraisal of the mayor. :Under Mayor Plante’s leadership, Montréal adopted a Climate Plan that sets out a clear roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and an ambitious 55 per cent reduction of GHG emissions beneath 1990 levels by 2030."
Other honourees include GeenPower Motor Company chairman and CEO Fraser Atkinson, the Bank of Montreal Team and McGill University professor and ResNet founder Dr. Elana Bennett.
"Elena’s publications have been cited by thousands of other researchers," Clean50 writes. :Her “knowledge-to-action” approach to sustainable management, which includes stakeholders in the process of scientific discovery, helps ensure that work serves on-the-ground decisions."
ResNet is a cross-Canada network designed to improve working conditions for the provision of multiple ecosystem services.
Plante said she was proud to see her policies come to life in a variety of ways.
"I am proud to have been named one of the most ambitious leaders in sustainable development and I am particularly proud of the fact that Montreal's commitments are being translated into concrete actions," she said in a news release. "Our international actions are most meaningful when they take shape on the ground and improve the quality of life of the population."
