Brock University’s electrification project was a campus-wide infrastructure upgrade designed to address both climate change mitigation and adaptation by diversifying heat sources. By transitioning from natural gas cogeneration engines to electric boilers, chillers, and heat pumps, the project enables Brock University to reduce annual emissions by approximately 18,500 tCO₂e while sourcing cleaner energy from Ontario’s electricity grid.

In 2024, Brock University purchased 15,714,874 kWh of electricity, contributing to a lower-carbon energy mix across campus operations. Campus energy is meticulously tracked using the University’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, which monitors building-by-building energy data covering both thermal and electrical consumption. This granular approach enables precise measurement and optimization of energy use across all campus facilities.

Did you know? Most of Ontario’s electricity is generated from nuclear and hydroelectric sources — both of which are low-carbon and highly reliable. This means, the majority of electricity consumed at Brock is already part of a provincial low-carbon grid, helping reduce indirect (Scope 2) emissions.

Brock University provides climate education for the wider Niagara community through public programming that builds awareness of climate risks, impacts, adaptation and community resilience. These activities connect local residents and community stakeholders with academic, public-sector and professional expertise while supporting informed responses to climate change.

Examples include:

• Public Climate and Health Education: In March 2025, Brock’s UNESCO Chair on Community Sustainability hosted the free public webinar “Linking SDG 3 with SDG 13: Are we prepared?” The session examined how climate change and extreme climate events affect vulnerable populations and explored actions that can strengthen individual and community capacity to cope and adapt. The webinar was moderated by Brock Professor and UNESCO Chair Liette Vasseur and included experts from the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and City of St. Catharines.
• Climate Awareness and Community Engagement: Brock provides publicly accessible climate information through sustainability programming and its SDG 13 platform, connecting climate science with mitigation, adaptation, greenhouse gas reduction and practical action in Niagara. The public platform identifies climate-focused learning opportunities, regional climate initiatives and Brock’s institutional emissions-reduction work.
• Applied Climate Education: Brock-led sustainability programming and experiential learning connect climate knowledge with practical action. In 2025, Brock publicized work involving local climate adaptation, municipal planning and environmental field research, helping translate climate and environmental knowledge into locally relevant applications.

Through free public education, local climate engagement and applied learning opportunities, Brock helps Niagara residents and community partners understand climate impacts and strengthen their capacity to respond to climate-related risks.

Brock University maintains a comprehensive climate action framework through its Carbon Reduction Plan, Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan, and ongoing greenhouse gas reduction initiatives. The University has committed to reducing institutional greenhouse gas emissions by 75 per cent by 2030, relative to a 2013 baseline, and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Brock publicly shares its climate plans, targets, progress, and implementation activities to support transparency and broader climate action.

Examples include:

• Carbon Reduction Plan: Brock’s Carbon Reduction Plan provides a long-term roadmap toward carbon neutrality. Developed with Ecosystem, the plan identifies six strategic actions, including transitioning away from on-site natural-gas electricity generation, electrifying campus heating, reducing building energy waste, aligning infrastructure renewal with decarbonization, strengthening policies and procurement practices, and engaging students in the transition. As a public document, the Carbon Reduction Plan has been shared with the NCCAN group Niagara Region and other peer organizations.
• Public Climate Targets and Progress: Brock publicly communicates its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 75 per cent by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In 2025, the University reported that it had already reduced its overall carbon emissions by 67 per cent.
• Niagara Climate Change Action Network: Brock participates in the Niagara Climate Change Action Network (NCCAN), a regional collaborative network established to support and accelerate a progressive, collaborative, and equitable approach to addressing climate change in Niagara. Through this regional climate framework, Brock connects its climate expertise and institutional climate action with broader climate efforts across Niagara.
• Climate Action Implementation: Brock continued to implement its climate commitments in 2025 through major infrastructure and energy initiatives. The University’s District Energy System electrification project transitioned central heating and cooling infrastructure toward electric-powered chillers and boilers and is projected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 13,700 tonnes by 2030.
• SPARK Initiative: In 2025, Brock launched SPARK, a major clean-infrastructure initiative developed in partnership with the Canadian Infrastructure Bank and Enbridge Sustain. The program is projected to reduce Brock’s greenhouse gas emissions by 83 per cent by 2028 and reduce energy use by 60 per cent, accelerating progress beyond the University’s original 2030 emissions-reduction target.

Through public climate planning, transparent emissions reporting, regional climate collaboration, and implementation of large-scale decarbonization projects, Brock University shares its climate commitments and contributes to coordinated climate action within the Niagara region.

Brock University has participated in cooperative climate-risk and disaster planning with municipalities across the Niagara region. Through Niagara Adapts, Brock’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre worked with seven local governments on climate vulnerability assessment, adaptation planning, stakeholder engagement and resilience-building.

The cooperative planning addressed risks including:

• extreme heat and increasing numbers of days above 30 C;
• heavy rainfall and flooding;
• drought and changing precipitation patterns;
• stormwater pressures;
• freeze-thaw cycles; and
• the increasing frequency and severity of climate extremes.

Brock contributed research expertise and a structured planning process that enabled municipalities to identify vulnerabilities, engage local stakeholders and develop locally relevant climate adaptation plans. The partnership created a regional community of practice intended to strengthen municipal capacity to manage climate risks and build long-term resilience.

The resulting plans continued to guide municipal action in 2025. Niagara-on-the-Lake’s approved Climate Change Adaptation Plan, developed through Niagara Adapts, was being implemented and monitored by the municipality’s Climate Change Coordinator. Implementation included actions related to renewable energy, electric and hybrid vehicles, invasive-species management and natural-asset management.

Brock also maintains an institutional all-hazards emergency-planning framework based on Ontario’s Incident Management System, including evacuation, shelter-in-place, emergency communications and planning for people requiring assistance.

Through municipal climate adaptation planning, regional knowledge sharing and institutional emergency preparedness, Brock contributes to coordinated planning for climate-related hazards affecting Niagara communities.

Brock University supports local governments in the Niagara region by providing research, climate-risk assessment, and evidence to help municipalities understand, monitor, and respond to climate-related risks. Through Brock’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC), researchers have worked directly with Niagara municipalities to translate climate science into locally relevant vulnerability assessments, adaptation plans, and monitoring frameworks.

Examples include:

• Niagara Adapts Climate-Risk Assessment: Through Niagara Adapts, Brock’s ESRC partnered directly with seven Niagara municipalities to undertake collaborative climate change adaptation assessment, planning, and implementation. The partnership examined locally significant climate hazards including increasing temperatures and extreme heat, summer drought, heavy rainfall, flooding-related pressures, and changing freeze-thaw cycles, helping participating governments understand how these risks are expected to change over time. These Niagara Adapts assessment resulted in some of the seven municipalities implementing ongoing climate monitoring as part of their municipal climate change action plan. The seven participating municipalities are Town of Grimsby, Town of Lincoln, Niagara Falls, Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Town of Pelham, City of St Catharines and the City of Welland.
• Climate Vulnerability Information for Municipal Governments: Niagara Adapts produced climate vulnerability information and adaptation resources designed to help municipal partners identify climate risks and incorporate those risks into local decision-making. Brock supported participating municipalities in moving from climate-risk assessment toward approved municipal adaptation plans and resilience strategies.
• Ongoing Monitoring of Adaptation Actions: The municipal adaptation planning supported by Brock continues to inform climate action in Niagara. In 2025, Niagara-on-the-Lake was actively implementing its approved Climate Change Adaptation Plan, which had been developed through the Niagara Adapts partnership, and was tracking progress toward adaptation targets. Current implementation includes natural asset management, invasive-species management, renewable energy initiatives, and consideration of additional electric-vehicle infrastructure.
• Regional Environmental Monitoring and Research: Brock also contributes research and monitoring expertise through its involvement with the UNESCO-designated Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Region. Brock’s UNESCO Chair and other University researchers contribute expertise related to climate change, biodiversity, ecosystem services, conservation and restoration, while the Biosphere research network supports regional research and education. Brock’s UNESCO Chair has specifically highlighted biodiversity monitoring as an important component of this work.

Through climate vulnerability assessment, municipal adaptation planning, environmental monitoring, and knowledge mobilization, Brock provides local governments and regional partners with evidence that helps identify changing climate risks, monitor environmental conditions, and inform long-term climate resilience planning.

Brock University collaborates with non-governmental organizations on research, education and knowledge mobilization related to climate adaptation and environmental resilience.

Examples include:

• WWF-Canada Partnership for Freshwater Resilience: Brock’s Environmental Sustainability Research Centre works with World Wildlife Fund Canada, a non-governmental organization, through a formal partnership focused on strengthening freshwater resilience in the face of increasing climate-related pressures. The partnership addresses growing threats to freshwater systems, including the increasing frequency and severity of flooding associated with climate change.
• Knowledge Co-creation and Mobilization: The partnership combines Brock’s expertise in environmental governance and water resilience with WWF-Canada’s conservation and applied-practice experience. Its objectives include co-creating knowledge at the interface of research and practice and developing evidence-based approaches to freshwater management and governance.
• Applied Climate-Adaptation Learning: Brock partnered with the NGO WWF Freshwater Division on a project focused on understanding how to build resilience in Canada, in the face of climate change caused increased threats to freshwater. Work initially focused on the Wolastoq/St. John River Basin, where communities face increasing flood risks and other climate-related pressures. Knowledge generated through the partnership is intended to inform decisions, strengthen stewardship and support resilience-building efforts that can be transferred to freshwater systems across Canada. [brocku.ca]
• WWF-Canada Living Planet @ Campus: Brock also works with WWF-Canada to involve students in environmental stewardship, volunteerism, conservation action and sustainability leadership, strengthening climate and environmental learning beyond the classroom.

Through its collaboration with WWF-Canada, Brock supports climate-adaptation education, research and practical knowledge development focused on strengthening freshwater and community resilience.

Brock University has established a public target to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and has developed a Carbon Reduction Plan outlining the operational and infrastructure changes required to reach that goal. The plan provides a long-term pathway for transforming Brock’s campus energy system from one dependent on fossil fuels to one that is more energy efficient and increasingly powered by low-carbon electricity and renewable energy sources.

Brock’s carbon-neutrality framework includes:

• Carbon-Neutrality Target: Brock has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
• Interim Emissions Target: The University has committed to reducing institutional greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030 relative to its 2013 baseline. Brock reported in 2025 that it had already reduced overall carbon emissions by 67%.
• Carbon Reduction Plan: Brock’s formal roadmap identifies six strategic actions, including transitioning away from on-site natural-gas electricity production, electrifying campus heating, reducing wasted building energy, aligning infrastructure renewal with decarbonization, strengthening policies and procurement, and engaging students in the transition.
• Scope Coverage: Brock’s plan addresses direct emissions from campus fossil-fuel use and indirect emissions associated with purchased electricity, supporting a target boundary that covers GHG Protocol Scopes 1 and 2.
• Implementation and Monitoring: Brock tracks energy consumption and greenhouse gas performance through its energy-planning and reporting systems. In 2025, the University began a major electrification project projected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 13,700 tonnes by 2030.

Through a public 2050 carbon-neutrality commitment, interim emissions targets, defined decarbonization strategies and ongoing performance monitoring, Brock demonstrates a long-term institutional commitment to reducing operational greenhouse gas emissions.

Brock University has publicly committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and reducing institutional greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030 (from a 2013 baseline). These targets are outlined in Brock’s Carbon Reduction Plan, which provides a roadmap for decarbonization through energy efficiency improvements, electrification, infrastructure renewal, and low-carbon energy strategies.

Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan