Toronto - December 13, 2024
This week, the City of Toronto released its annual accounting of carbon emissions in the City, noting that emissions are once again on the rise. The report shows that Toronto is unlikely to meet its 2025 emissions target, and that the City needs to implement its TransformTO climate action plan faster to help meet its 2030 short-term goals on the way to Net Zero by 2040.
A separate, related report also sounds the alarm that Toronto will continue to get hotter and experience more extreme weather events like the flooding we saw this past summer.
“These reports show that Toronto needs to redouble our efforts and accelerate the City’s TransformTO climate action plan,” said How-Sen Chong, Climate Campaigner at Toronto Environmental Alliance. “That means we need to modernize both new and existing buildings, to make them more climate safe, better insulated, and shift away from fossil fuels. And it also means speeding up investments to make it much, much easier for Torontonians to walk, bike, and take affordable, reliable transit.”
A separate report, written for the City by climate experts from the Toronto & Region Conservation Authority, provides up-to-date temperature and weather projections that show that Toronto’s climate will get hotter, wetter, and wilder over the next few decades. For example, by 2100 Toronto could experience a sweltering 100 or more days of +30ºC temperatures in a high emissions scenario. This information shows exactly why Toronto must take stronger steps to protect residents from extreme weather, for example, through a maximum temperature bylaw for renters in hot apartments.
“The good news is that Toronto has strong actions on the table right now that could be implemented in 2025 if Council approves them,” says Chong. “These include new performance standards for existing buildings, setting green requirements for new buildings with the Toronto Green Standard, and setting maximum temperatures in rental apartments.”
“Cities around the world are finding that taking bold climate action is making their communities cleaner, safer, and more affordable,” Chong continued. “Toronto has a good climate plan. This week’s report shows that we just need to improve our efforts to implement the plan, and to make sure that Torontonians are protected from the extreme weather.”
More information:
The City of Toronto’s 2022 Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report shows that greenhouse gas pollution in the city increased 5%, or 0.7 megatonnes, in 2022. The report says that “it is clear that the current pace of emissions reductions is unlikely to meet the City’s 2025 emissions target.”[1]
Passed by council in 2021, the TransformTO Net Zero Climate Strategy sets short term goals for the City to meet on the way to Net Zero in 2040. Among the 2030 short term goals, TransformTO calls for all new buildings to be carbon free, cutting emissions from existing buildings by half, and for 75% of trips under 5km to be by foot, biking, or transit. [2]
Full reports can be found here:
2022 Sector based Emissions Inventory Report (Released Dec 2024)
https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/environmentally-friendly-city-initiatives/transformto/sector-based-emissions-inventory/
Toronto’s Current and Future Climate (Released Dec 2024)
https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/949f-TorontosCurrentandFutureClimate-REPORT-Final.pdf
[2] 5km is approximately the distance of a 15-minute bike ride