By Claude & Parth on 2026-06-25, City: Hamilton, View Transcript
Hamilton's Climate Change Advisory Committee received updates on the city's carbon budget and accounting framework, climate change reserve-funded projects, committee transition planning, and working group priorities. Members focused on how climate impact assessments will be phased into capital budgeting, how a new community liaison group would be recruited, and how the committee can turn recommendations into formal council action.
Staff reviewed Hamilton's carbon budget and accounting framework, which council approved June 3. Matt Francis said, "this framework is about transparency. It's about accountability for our goals and targets. and it's about making evidence informed decisions as it relates to climate impacts on city-led projects."
Staff also outlined the city's carbon credit and offset policy. Andrea Horwath described it as "essentially putting a temporary ban on selling or purchasing carbon offset credits."
On implementation, Trevor said climate impact assessments would continue to be phased in through the budget process: "we would continue to look at capital projects for the 2028 budget cycle for capital projects. However, open up the voluntary approach for other projects less than 250,000," with the city "really eyeing the 2029 budget process to make it mandatory for all new capital projects."
Councillor Maureen Wilson said the framework matters because city decisions affect "the rate base, the tax base" and "also carbonwise."
The committee discussed reserve-funded climate projects that were moving forward this year. Andrea Horwath said, "So, if all goes through, we'll be moving ahead with this year, it's a total allocation of about $3.26 million for 16 different projects."
Members questioned how some projects were evaluated. Jeff Beattie said some proposals still looked like "a pot that a bunch of departments were looking for additional money from," adding that applicants may have been "having to come up with something because they needed funding for projects."
Esther Pauls asked for evidence behind heat-response programs: "Do we have evidence from public health that these cool kits are actually working?" She said that information would help explain why "extreme heat bylaws and other things" need council attention.
The committee discussed how to move from the current advisory committee model to a new community liaison group. Esther Pauls said the Climate Justice and Engagement Working Group should help shape recruitment, saying it should "be the working group that helps to develop the recruitment strategy" for the new group.
Trevor said staff were still in the planning stage: "we need to get all of our ducks in a row and do the planning exercises" before recruitment begins. He said marketing materials could be ready in "roughly November, December," and that "the actual call out for the community probably wouldn't happen until maybe even early next year depending on timing."
Members also discussed how recommendations from the new structure would reach council if committee timelines do not align with city processes.
The committee heard updates from several working groups. One update noted that "the naturebased solutions working group has said that they would like to continue working on advising on consolidation of updates and information regarding naturebased solutions and actions across the city."
On buildings policy, staff said senior project managers are working on "the draft net zero policy for new corporate buildings." Frank suggested the committee should examine how to increase uptake of voluntary standards, asking "how do we grease the wheels so that these voluntary standards are being adopted more readily."
Councillor Alex Wilson asked members to think about the formal route for advancing recommendations, including "formal citizen committee report[s]" or "formal motions" to the General Issues Committee.
The committee also discussed future meetings and member recognition. Trevor said staff hoped to bring members together in person and "celebrate all of the great work that each individual member has done," with a gathering planned for Sept. 22.
Discussed / referenced: - Council approval of the corporate-wide carbon budget and accounting framework on June 3 - Council approval of the Corporate Carbon Credit and Offset Policy - Committee discussion of working group updates, recruitment planning, and reserve-funded climate projects
Members and officials specifically identified in the discussion included: - Andrea Horwath - Esther Pauls - Jeff Beattie - Councillor Alex Wilson - Councillor Maureen Wilson - Matt Francis - Trevor - Katherine
The materials provided did not include a complete attendance list.