The entire Greater Golden Horseshoe region is being affected by a combination of climate change and population growth. It is now commonly accepted that current climatic changes and extreme weather impacts are just the beginning. The Greenbelt Foundation partnered with experts to better understand how climate change is affecting many aspects of our lives, and ways that we can individually and collectively respond to these challenges.

Their articles highlight how the Greenbelt supports climate action in a number of important and interconnected ways that affect our daily lives. It is important for people to understand that they have a relationship with the Greenbelt, and it’s not just a one-way street! It will help us and our communities adapt to climate change, but it is important we help it do the same.

The entire Greater Golden Horseshoe region is being affected by a combination of climate change and population growth. It is now commonly accepted that current climatic changes and extreme weather impacts are just the beginning. The Greenbelt Foundation partnered with experts to better understand how climate change is affecting many aspects of our lives, and ways that we can individually and collectively respond to these challenges.

Their articles highlight how the Greenbelt supports climate action in a number of important and interconnected ways that affect our daily lives. It is important for people to understand that they have a relationship with the Greenbelt, and it’s not just a one-way street! It will help us and our communities adapt to climate change, but it is important we help it do the same. 

Climate Migration

Climate change is anticipated to displace 200 million people around the globe by 2050. As a result, urbanized regions of Canada will likely see an influx of climate refugees. There may also be a rise of internal displacement as some regions of Canada become uninhabitable while others remain less affected. The risk of internal displacement is particularly true for Indigenous people living in Canada’s northern communities where melting permafrost is of growing concern.

So what are the impacts for those being displaced by climate change? And how might regions like the Greater Golden Horseshoe prepare to accommodate climate migrants?

The Mental Health Impacts of Displacement

Newcomers to Canada often experience trauma and distress due to relocation, particularly if they have been displaced in the past by colonization, war, or resource scarcity. Newcomers may also experience a loss of social and community connection, leading to alienation and isolation, which can compound existing trauma. A recent Canadian study revealed increased admission to emergency departments for mental health issues amongst immigrant and refugee youth.

Displacement can be directly linked to:

• Substance misuse
• Homelessness
• Discrimination
• Suicide

Importantly, newcomers may also experience an increased sense of resiliency to climate change over other groups. This is because they have previously experienced traumatic events and have established coping mechanisms.

The entire Greater Golden Horseshoe region is being affected by a combination of climate change and population growth. It is now commonly accepted that current climatic changes and extreme weather impacts are just the beginning. The Greenbelt Foundation partnered with experts to better understand how climate change is affecting many aspects of our lives, and ways that we can individually and collectively respond to these challenges.

Their articles highlight how the Greenbelt supports climate action in a number of important and interconnected ways that affect our daily lives. It is important for people to understand that they have a relationship with the Greenbelt, and it’s not just a one-way street! It will help us and our communities adapt to climate change, but it is important we help it do the same. 

The Burden of Climate Change

Children and youth are disproportionally impacted by the mental health impacts of climate change. Environmentally-related anxiety, distress, grief, and feelings of impending doom are increasingly common amongst youth and children, particularly those who have lived through extreme weather events. Research suggests that youth are at increased risk of long-term trauma, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, due to extreme weather events.

Some terms that are increasingly being used by mental health professionals include Climate Trauma, Ecoanxiety, Ecogrief, and Solastalgia (stress produced by environmental changes to one’s home environment).

With support from the Canadian Environmental Grantmakers Network and the Ivey Foundation, the Greenbelt Foundation and the Alliance for Healthier Communities explore the effects of climate change on youth, women and newcomers.

Researcher Catherine Macdonald from Alliance for Healthier Communities and Katie Hayes, PhD candidate at University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health examine the impacts of climate change on the physical and mental well-being of youth, women and newcomers - groups most often at risk of facing barriers to care - and local support options and programs in and around the Greenbelt region.

Read the full reports below:

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Enhancing the Resilience of the Greenbelt (Phase 1)
Ontario Nature
ontarionature.org

$45,000 (over 1 year)
Grant Approved: October 15, 2018
Grant Stream: Resilient Greenbelt

This project supports the Federal Government’s high-profile international commitment, Target 1, which mandates the conservation of 17% of land and freshwater in Canada by 2020. In collaboration with Indigenous and non-Indigenous community groups, potential candidate sites have been identified for protection. These sites were considered at 3 workshops, where they were mapped, analyzed, and assessed for landscape connectivity, species presence, threats, etc. A total of 52 candidate sites were identified, of which 24 were prioritized with support of local partners. Using Databasin, Ontario Nature incorporated a water resources data layer (representing the "Bluebelt") into mapping and analysis. In total, 93 participants, including members of 12 Indigenous organizations and/or communities, and 36 non-Indigenous organizations, were directly engaged.

In 2017, the Greenbelt protection extended to 21 major urban river valleys and 7 coastal wetlands across the Greater Golden Horseshoe!

River valleys connect the suburban and rural lands of the Greenbelt to Lake Ontario, and provide our communities with greenspace to explore, they clean and filter our water and air, reduce our flood risks, and provide a home to wildlife.

The addition of these waterways to the Greenbelt is an important recognition of the vital role the Greenbelt plays in protecting the hydrological features we rely on for clean drinking water, flood protection, and healthy ecosystems. The Greenbelt provides $3.2B annually in ecosystem services to the region, including $224M per year in flood protection for private property and $52M per year in carbon sequestration.

Protecting the urban river valleys is the first step to ensure these system remain healthy for generations to come. Right now, we are working with community groups, municipalities and organizations across the Greenbelt to ensure the long term health of the urban river valleys and the Greenbelt. 

Shifting the Paradigm Forum 2019
World Wildlife Fund
www.wwf.ca

$5,000
Grant Stream: Resilient Greenbelt
Grant Approved: Spring 2019

Shifting the Paradigm 2019 is a day-long forum led by the World Wildlife Fund designed to stimulate cross-sector conversations and actions that will accelerate progress towards creating healthy landscapes and resilient communities in southern Ontario's Carolinian Eco-zone, and in the Greenbelt, more specifically. The 2019 forum advanced the discussion by connecting three streams of work (protected areas, green investment, and habitat restoration) around a common strategic agenda: reverse biodiversity loss, expand protected areas, restore native habitat, and engage the broader Social Finance sector in scoping and crafting opportunities for social investment.

Restoring and Enhancing Niagara’s Only Coldwater Resource: Twelve Mile Creek
Trout Unlimited Niagara Chapter
https://tucanada.org/niagara-chapter/

$32,000 (over 10 months)
Grant Stream: Resilient Greenbelt
Grant Approved: June 24, 2019

Supported by the Greenbelt Foundation, Trout Unlimited Canada–Niagara Chapter is working with local landowners to identify, assess, and remove sources of degradation to the habitat and water quality in the Upper Twelve Mile Creek watershed. Data collected along the Creek has helped illuminate serious problems in the watershed related to thermal pollution, and high levels of erosion and degradation. Urbanization has had adverse effects on the ecosystem, specifically the introduction of pollution and sedimentation. Trout Unlimited has hired staff and research students to develop and monitor the water quality, temperature, erosion, blockages, and the habitat and species diversity of the Creek. This information is then being interpreted and compared with historical data to identify and prioritize the most degraded areas.