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The Sustainability Leadership Team

Sustainability Leadership is a non-profit social enterprise serving the Hamilton, Halton, Niagara, Peel, Brant and Brantford regions in Ontario, Canada. We are dedicated to inspiring sustainability leadership in our business organisations for a healthier environment and thriving, prosperous communities.

We believe that by enhancing the success of our most influential and impactful organisations, including businesses, institutions, and non-profit organisations, we will help create sustainable prosperity for our communities.

Partners and Participants

Thank you to all those who were involved in the the Business Climate Action Toolkit. This project would not have been possible without our partners at the City of Hamilton, the perspectives, insights and feedback of local business and community leaders, and the hard work of our volunteers at Sustainable Hamilton Burlington, now Sustainability Leadership.

The City of Hamilton

The Business Climate Action Toolkit was one of ten priority actions established by the City of Hamilton’s Community Climate Change Action Plan. Funding to develop the toolkit was applied for and secured through the City of Hamilton’s City Enrichment Fund.

Industry working group participants

  • Aaron Besseling – Besseling Mechanical
  • Aaron McConachie – Zip Signs Ltd
  • Aileen Villanueva – Maple Leaf Foods
  • Alanna Aqui – Dupont
  • Alfonso Principato – Hamilton Economic Development
  • Brian Pare, Brad Clint – Walker Emulsions
  • Caroline Karvonen – Alectra
  • Catherine Hughes – The Downstairs Kitchen
  • Chris McAnally – Royal Botanical Gardens
  • Chris Pearce – Hamilton International Airport
  • Christi Hodgson – CLEAResult
  • David Carroll – Residence & Conference Centre
  • Ed Cocchiarella – Ideal EHS Systems Ltd
  • Emily Vis – Centre for Climate Change Management @ Mohawk College
  • Frank Vanbetlehem – Studio Intersekt
  • Jeff Feswick, Jay Sandhu, Sam Brown – Historia Restoration
  • Jordan Lai – Renteknik Group Inc
  • Juliet Dhanraj – Ryerson University
  • Karen Logan – Hamilton Industrial Environmental Association
  • Kate Flynn – Mohawk College
  • Kerry Jarvi – Hamilton Downtown Business Improvement Area
  • Kevin Van Hartingsveldt – McCallum Sather Architects
  • Liem Vu – CF Limeridge
  • Liz Enriquez – De La Sol Yoga Studios
  • Martin Harezga – Mountain Equipment Co-op
  • Melissa Gallina – LURA
  • Mike Rooks – Community member
  • Nate Fehrman – Michael Clark Construction
  • Sarah Letto – Leaders in Environmentally Accountable Foodservice
  • Stephanie McLarty, Aaliyah Alhashimi – REfficient
  • Sue Ramsay – Hamilton Halton Construction Association
  • Wendy Stewart – REALTORS Association of Hamilton-Burlington

Community working group participants

  • Altaf Arain – McMaster Centre for Climate Change
  • Amy Castator – WWF Canada
  • Andrea McDowell, Shelley Rogers – City of Hamilton
  • Dave Tourchin – Community member
  • Gabby Kalapos – Clean Air Partnership
  • Ian Borsuk – Environment Hamilton
  • Randy Sa’d – REFOCUS
  • Simone Weinstein – Provision Coalition

Project History

Building the Business Climate Action Toolkit

In 2014, the City of Hamilton created a public engagement campaign to help identify challenges and potential solutions to address climate change in the region. This campaign, called “Let’s talk about the weather”, featured public workshops, events and newsletters. It built awareness around local climate change impacts and identified ten priority actions needed to address climate change. One of the priority actions identified by the resulting “Community Climate Change Action Plan (CCCAP)” was to “create an accessible toolkit for businesses to assist with impact analysis and business continuity planning” in the context of a changing climate and low-carbon economy.

As a key partner in the development of the CCCAP, Sustainable Hamilton Burlington (SHB), now Sustainability Leadership, applied for and received funding to develop this toolkit. In March 2018, SHB conducted a series of working groups to explore the common challenges and resources needed to integrate climate risk management and environmental management into business.

Several insights emerged from this research:

  • Businesses want to better understand the risks of climate change on their organization
  • Businesses want support for capacity building in leadership and change management
  • Businesses want information on what projects and programs can be integrated into business
  • Businesses want access to financial supports to integrate these projects and programs
  • Businesses want to be connected to networks for support, guidance, and recognition

These insights have helped to inform the development of this toolkit, which aims to support local businesses in building a climate-resilient, low-carbon future for themselves and our communities.

Homepage image by Mikhail’s Photography