EDMONTON, ALBERTA — (Marketwire) — 05/10/12 — The Climate Change and Emissions Management (CCEMC) Corporation is providing $7 million in funding to support three projects that will help Albertans prepare for climate change.
“CCEMC is pleased to support these projects that enhance Alberta–s capacity to adapt to climate change,” said CCEMC Chair Eric Newell. “Timely action is necessary to ensure we minimize impacts to Alberta–s environment and economy.”
These are the first adaptation projects for the CCEMC, which has a mandate that includes funding efforts that improve the ability of the province to adapt to climate change.
Tree Improvement Alberta will receive $3 million to explore tree species adaptation risk and explore opportunities for conservation and reforestation to help maintain forest ecosystems. The CCEMC is providing $3 million in project support.
A project to assess the vulnerability of Alberta species and their ecosystems in a changing environment will receive $2.4 million in support. This project, lead by the will assess the climate-related vulnerability of hundreds of Alberta species and create an action plan to addresses vulnerabilities and opportunities.
The third adaptation project is a stakeholder-led Integrated Watershed Management Project for the South Saskatchewan River Basin. This initiative will explore improvements to water storage, infrastructure, as well as the timing of withdrawals, releases and flows. This project is lead by and . CCEMC is providing this project with $1.6 million in support.
The CCEMC consulted with Alberta Environment and Water to identify priority adaptation projects and then invited organizations that are leading related efforts to come forward with proposals.
Enabled through regulation, the CCEMC is an independent not-for-profit organization that provides ongoing, dedicated funds to support the discovery, development and deployment of innovative clean technology.
Funding for CCEMC is collected from industry. Since 2007, Alberta companies that annually produce more than 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions are legally required to reduce their greenhouse gas intensity by 12 per cent. One option for compliance is payment into the Climate Change and Emissions Management Fund – $15 dollars for every tonne over the reduction limit.
More information and media contact information for each project is available in a backgrounder in the media section available at
Contacts:
Climate Change and Emissions Management (CCEMC) Corporation
Celia Sollows
780-239-4150