“It’s a bit tongue in cheek,” Ana Gonzalez Guerrero says of the title of Youth Climate Lab’s newest launch: Infiltration Manual: Pushing for ambitious climate action at the municipal level. 

“A lot of times, we want to be disturbing the status quo from the outside…but there is some value in understanding how existing systems work and pushing from the inside,” says Gonzalez Guerrero, co-founder of Youth Climate Lab. “We can operate from outside, we can operate inside, and all levels of intervention are really needed at this point.” 

Funded by the McConnell Foundation, Youth Climate Lab collaborated with Climate Caucus — a network of more than 300 locally elected officials committed to climate action — to write the manual. 

The idea came when “we were talking about how overwhelming and complicated local governments can be, yet it’s the first point of contact for a lot of folks, where you can see actual, meaningful differences happening,” says Gonzalez Guerrero. “Why are they so difficult to understand when there’s so much potential,” she wondered, for fast, effective climate action?

Gonzalez Guerrero says there can be an assumption that local-level action is less impactful than “going to the international climate conferences and to the federal policy level,” but that it represents a huge opportunity for collective action. 

While municipalities are largely focused on controlling the pandemic, climate change has not been put on hold — and the reality is that Canadian municipalities account for 50 percent of national greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists say the drop in emissions during the pandemic are a ‘tiny blip’ in what’s needed to curb the worst of climate change. 

Under municipal jurisdiction is transportation (which accounts for a third of those emissions), buildings (accounting for over half), local economic development that could be ‘greened’, waste management, greenspace and parkspace allocation — to name just a few areas where climate-friendly policy could make a tangible difference. The manual lists more than 30 actions that activists could push for at the municipal level. 

Gonzalez Guerrero says climate-oriented city councillors need this kind of engagement from citizens. A more informed and engaged public means much better chances for the policies they advocate for. 

The manual stresses this, too: “Getting to know what city staff and city councillors are working on and networking with them is not as intimidating as it may seem — they are human too and are genuinely seeking guidance in their work,” reads a quote from a member of the Peel Community Climate Council. “Most have loved seeing youth wanting meaningful political engagement and are eager to offer support.”

Gonzalez Guerrero says a lot of young people are already doing this local activism. “They’re on the streets with Fridays for Future, with Climate Strike, they’re outside city hall every week. So this is an avenue and an opportunity for other levels of engagement at the community level that maybe they haven’t thought of before.” And with pandemic restrictions changing the nature of public demonstrations, meeting virtually with local governments could be another effective way to push for change.

And social impact organizations can help. For the sake of pragmatism, Gonzalez Guerroero says organizations should make sure their local policy advocacy aligns with what community activists are already calling for. 

She points to an example in Whitby, Ontario, where the city recently implemented a new set of green building standards. The local chapter of Fridays for Future led the advocacy efforts around these standards, but community organizations put their organizational power and local sway behind the campaign to push it forward. “That can be really powerful,” she says, “particularly for those youth-led initiatives that are just starting to build that social capital or those relationships.”

Though Gonzalez Guerrero hopes the Infiltration Manual makes municipal climate action easier, she recognizes that it can be inherently taxing work. She emphasizes a note at the beginning of the manual that encourages readers to evaluate whether they personally feel safe taking local action. 

“It is important for us to recognize that the municipal system is rooted in colonialism and has historically and systematically excluded Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC)’s voices,” the note reads. “We recognize this isn’t always a space that feels welcoming or safe for folks that have been systematically left out…remember your wellbeing and safety should always come first.” 

There’s also a chapter at the end of the manual that helps young people identify when they’re being meaningfully consulted on municipal climate action — and when they’re not. “Youth are often included in the consultancy or decisionmaking process to hold a symbolic and superficial role in the name of incorporating ‘different voices’. This is tokenism,” it reads. 

Next up, Youth Climate Lab and Climate Caucus are collaborating again on a “territorial and federal-level policy toolbox,” Gonzalez Guerrero says. “This is an ongoing effort from Youth Climate Lab to really demystify how these spaces work.” 

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