Muskoka Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Initiative

Climate change is caused by greenhouse gases (GHGs), which include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur oxide and chlorofluorocarbons. The quantity of these gases emitted into the atmosphere from human-caused activities has significantly increased over the past century. As concentrations of GHGs increase, they act like a blanket around the earth, trapping solar energy that gradually increases the temperature of the atmosphere, known as the greenhouse effect. Climate change causes a variety of life-altering impacts, like extreme weather (heat waves, droughts, flooding, extreme precipitation, etc.) we have begun to see around the world and locally in Muskoka.

In 2019 the District began a GHG inventory which uses data to calculate the GHG emissions associated with both the corporate and community emissions in Muskoka on a sector basis. The District’s corporate emissions include District buildings, fleet, streetlights and a portion of the water and wastewater treatment facilities. The community emissions include building emissions (residential, institutional, commercial, industrial, and fugitive), transportation emissions (private vehicles, off-road emissions, and public transit), agriculture emissions and a portion of the water and wastewater emissions. The inventory was completed in 2020 and offers a better understanding of how the District can take action to reduce GHG emissions. The entire inventory can be found in the documents panel on this page. The following images show the top four sources of emissions both corporately and in the community:

District of Muskoka’s Corporate GHG Emissions breakdown from the 2018 baseline:

District of Muskoka Community GHG Emissions from the 2018 baseline:

In December 2020, the District completed a greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory and set ambitious targets to reduce GHG emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. District Council also approved the New Leaf Climate Action Plan, consisting of 118 actions to protect Muskoka's natural environment. As part of this plan, the District prioritized creating a detailed Community GHG Reduction Plan starting in early 2023. Consultants LURA and ICLEI were hired to facilitate the project.

In early 2023, the Climate Change Mitigation Taskforce (CCMT) was formed, comprising representatives from businesses, organizations, schools, and municipal and District staff. With over 30 members, the CCMT actively meets to review the GHG inventory and provide expertise in developing an action plan to reduce GHG emissions. Three core pillars have been identified based on the inventory:

The Action plan is anticipated to be finalized and approved by District Council in the fall of 2023 and then the District will focus on implementation.

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