The Citizens Environment Alliance (CEA) says the ranking Windsor recently received from CDP is not a true reflection of what’s happening in the city. “It’s not an audit or anything close to an audit,” CEA Coordinator Derek Coronado said. According to Coronado, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) ranking is based on points earned through a questionnaire. “The point system in the questionnaire, you get points for filling it out,” he said. “But if we look at the indicators in that questionnaire as well, there’s a time lag.” Coronado said, for example, when the questionnaire was filled out last year, Windsor was working on two key policies for the environment: The Deep Energy Efficiency Programme (DEER) and the Sandwich South Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan (SNAP). “Oh, that’s good. That gets you points,” Coronado explained. However, both were shelved by council, he said. “So, are we talking about actual climate action or paperwork?” Coronado wondered. According to a news release, Windsor received an “A” grade from CDP. The city is one of 112 worldwide that have made the list, recognized for leadership in environmental transparency, climate action, and resilience planning. Windsor is just one of eight in Canada to earn such a ranking, although the website doesn’t include a list of how the city achieved the ranking. “We are proud to announce that the City of Windsor has once again achieved an ‘A’ grade in our 2024 CDP climate reporting, maintaining our strong commitment to environmental sustainability,” said Mayor Drew Dilkens, quoted in a news release. “Since we began reporting in 2016, we’ve consistently demonstrated leadership in addressing climate change, earning a leadership level score of A minus or higher each year.” Status of SNAP and DEER The city confirmed late Thursday that SNAP concluded in October 2024 and is publicly available. However, there is no set time for when it intends to proceed with environmental measures contained in it. Meantime, Windsor officials blame a lack of sustainable funding from the upper levels of government for why DEER is not proceeding. It would have seen 80 per cent of Windsor homes retrofitted to have more energy efficient HVAC systems. Coronado said it would have cost Windsor $200 million over ten years. “It was the major project of the city’s Climate Action Plan in terms of the amount of emission reduction it offers,” Coronado said. “The city doesn’t have an alternative to the DEER program. They shelved it and just said, ‘That’s it. We’re not doing it.’” “The DEER program funding requirements are substantial, and no federal funding is available after 2026,” a city spokesperson said. “There is too much financial risk to the City of Windsor to proceed with the program and apply for additional funding.” What is Windsor doing right? Coronado said they are pleased with the Stormwater Financing Plan. It bills landowners for stormwater management based on how much natural land they have. Owners with large concrete yards or parking lots will pay more to process the storm rain runoff. “It’s an important project that the city followed through on, despite the complaints so far, they’ve kept to their guns on it,” Coronado said. Here is the list of programs provided to CTV News from the city about their environmental programs: - With files from CTV Windsor’s Kate Otterbein and Travis Fortnum.
