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Welcome!!
The Community of London Environmental
Awareness Reporting (CLEAR) Network was
officially launched one year ago. Your feedback is always
welcome and encouraged.
The environmental indicators provide an
important indication on how well Londoners -
individuals, families, employees and
employers - are doing in our daily lives
that affect different areas of environment.
Over the years major contributions have been
made to improve and enhance the
environment. Sadly there are times when the
environment has clearly been negatively
impacted. It must be recognized that any
improvements are just a beginning and that
continuous improvement - in all areas - is
necessary to enhance the quality of the
environment around your home, in London,
Southwestern Ontario and beyond. Remember to
think global, and act local. These
improvements must come from all corners of
our Community and take the form of actions
and commitments to protect and enhance the
environment.
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What is The CLEAR Network?
The Community of London Environmental Awareness
Reporting (CLEAR) Network is a website,
maintained by the City of London and its
partners, that
provides Londoners with quick and easy access to
information about the issues that impact the
environment in London.
Why was The CLEAR Network established?
The CLEAR Network was established to educate and
inform Londoners about how their day-to-day
activities impact the environment we live in,
and to encourage us all to change our behaviour
to reduce our impact on our environment. Over
the years many Londoners have indicated that
they want more feedback (i.e., they want to know
how their efforts are doing to help the
environment). Plus, many Londoners have
indicated that they would do more for the
environment if they had more information. The
CLEAR Network is viewed as an ideal opportunity
to address these comments.
The City of London works in partnership with
other agencies that have responsibilities to
manage some aspects of the environment and
generate data related to environmental
performance, including London Transit Commission
(LTC), London Hydro, Middlesex-London Health
Unit and the Upper Thames River Conservation
Authority (UTRCA).
The main objective of The CLEAR Network
partnership is to coordinate data exchange,
avoid duplication of efforts and to ensure that
resources are wisely spent to benefit the
environment. The use of a website allows for
easy integration of environmental information.
As part of its development, numerous reports
from across Canada were reviewed to understand
the different methods of delivering
environmental information to individuals,
families, employees and employers. Many
excellent examples exist. In the past, the
production of “State of the Environment Reports”
were strongly encouraged at the Municipal,
Provincial and Federal Government levels, not
only in Canada, but in numerous other
jurisdictions in North America. The ability to
keep these reports fresh with data and the
public’s eye after being published was
difficult. The use of a dedicated website should
assist in overcoming these challenges.
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1. Drinking
Water |
5. Trees,
Parks, and Natural Areas |
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2. Thames
River |
6. Urban
Planning and Smart Growth |
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3. Sewage
Treatment |
7. Air
Quality and Energy Conservation |
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4. Solid
Waste Management |
8.
Transportation |
Click
the
following link for a
quick overview of the
current environmental
performance trends. The performance trend has
been kept very simple for now – Getting Worse,
Staying the Same, Getting Better – because this
can be a contentious. Data over the last couple
of years could be viewed differently versus the
same data over a ten year period. What is most
important is that all the available trend data
that has the same level of consistency has been
presented. This will allow Londoners to make
their own opinion on what they are viewing and
provide us this feedback.
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How often will The CLEAR
Network be updated?
New information will be added as it becomes
available to CLEAR Network partners. Most of the
current indicators provide data on a
year-by-year basis. The goal is to report data
as frequently as possible and at different times
of the year. It must be recognized that many
data follow the Calendar year, therefore major
updates are expected in the February/March
period of the following year.
Posting of public reports that deal with the
environment will become a regular feature. In
this regard, The CLEAR Network will function
like a warehouse for environmental reports
produced by the partners.
Will more
indicators be added over time?
Yes – As our combined knowledge of the
environment improves and more information is
generated and gathered, indicators will be
refined and new indicators will be identified.
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Can the indicators be
added up to get an overall environmental
performance?
This is one of the most common questions asked
about environmental performance and is perhaps
the most difficult to answer. “Adding up” the
current environmental indicators on The CLEAR
Network to obtain a single rating for London is
not something that can be done. Some refer to
this as a Net Effects Analysis. The body of
science in this field is growing each year and
is being led by the academic community around
the world and often Federal-level governments.
Staff from the City of London have followed
these trends and believe that resources at
senior levels of government and in academia are
in a much better position finically, and from a
resource capability perspective, to carry on
this research and make it available to local
governments such as the City of London.
There is great hope that an understandable
approach will become available and widely
acceptable. One method that has been proposed is
the “ecological footprint” of a community.
An ecological footprint is a measure of the
demands humans place on nature. The ecological
footprint measures what we consume from nature,
for individuals, cities, regions, nations or
humanity as a whole. It shows how much
biologically productive land and water (forests,
farm land, lakes, and oceans) we use to produce
all the resources we consume and to absorb our
waste.
A footprint that exceeds the Earth’s carrying
capacity indicates an unsustainable rate of
consumption.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM)
has used ecological footprint analysis to
assess twenty municipalities in Canada,
including London, based on 2001 Census
information. The report can be found under the
FCM’s Quality of Life section, under reports,
2004 Ecological Footprint.
The good news is that London has one of the
lowest ecological footprints of major cities in
Canada. The bad news is that the analysis
indicates that Londoners consume resources at an
unsustainable rate of consumption – almost four
times our fair share of the Earth’s carrying
capacity. Nationally, Canadians has the dubious
honour of having the third-largest ecological
footprint per person, behind the United States
and the United Arab Emirates.
The City of London will continue to monitor the
FCM’s use of the ecological footprint analysis
tool to determine whether the City will use this
as an official performance indicator in the
future.
Can I provide feedback?
Yes – please do so by emailing any comments or
suggestions you may have about The CLEAR Network
to
clear@london.ca.
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