[GREN-Exec] GREN Comments on Region’s 5-year review of the Regional Official Plan and climate change policy paper

[Susan Koswan]

DRAFT - do not share

I did not want to put words in GREN's mouth before we actually write and 
agree on what we're submitting, so just threw in my 2 bits at the end.

This is the draft of what I'm submitting. If there's anything 
glaringingly missing, let me know by Sunday night.

Thanks,

Susan K


Deep Decarbonization

Submitted for Feb 18/21

By Susan Koswan

The flipside to the Deep Adaptation coin is Deep Decarbonization. That 
means both stopping the release of new greenhouse gasses and drawing 
down what we’ve already released. We can no longer afford incremental 
changes.

The Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii has been measuring 
<https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/seasonal-to-decadal/long-range/forecasts/co2-forecast-for-2021>carbon 
dioxide levels in our atmosphere since 1958. This year carbon dioxide 
levels are expected to reach 417 parts per million which is, “more than 
50% higher than when humanity began large-scale burning of fossil fuels 
in the industrial revolution in the late 18th Century.”

Anyone even still considering the goal of 350.org?

What about the goal of not exceeding a 1.5° or 2°C rise in global 
temperature? That is only possible if we reduce our greenhouse gas 
emissions 30 to 40 percent by 2030, 60 to 80 percent by 2050 and 100 
percent after that. So far, we’ve missed every target that’s been set to 
avoid climate breakdown.

In November 2020, the Trudeau government introduced Bill C-12 
<https://parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/bill/C-12/first-reading>the 
Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act with the goal to “achieve 
net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.” Net-zero or carbon-neutral 
does not mean eliminating greenhouse gas emissions; it means 
counterbalancing emissions against what we can absorb or sequester.

Climate Action Network Canada 
<https://climateactionnetwork.ca/2020/11/25/technical-recommendations-for-bill-c-12-the-net-zero-emissions-accountability-act/>has 
a good, high level analysis of the bill, and will provide updates as the 
bill makes its way through the legislature. They recommend improved 
accountability, a carbon budget, inclusion of Indigenous peoples and 
workforce, meaningful and actionable incremental targets and 
checkpoints, and robust and timely reporting. As well, the Advisory Body 
should be comprised of independent experts and de-politicized.

There is no end to expertise on what we need to do. A 2015 report 
<https://electricity.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DDPP_CAN.pdf>by the 
Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and Institute for 
Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) clearly laid 
out a plan for Canada to meet our targets. The Pathways to Deep 
Decarbonization in Canada named six pathways that were both “technically 
and economically feasible” now:

·Decarbonized electrification

·Improving energy productivity

·Reduce, cap and utilize non-energy emissions

·Move to zero emission transport fuels

·Decarbonize industrial processes

·Structural economic change

An interview 
<https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/mark-carney-investing-net-zero-climate-solutions-creates-value-and-rewards>with 
Mark Carney, former head of the Bank of Canada, was surprisingly 
optimistic. Now the Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance with the 
United Nations, Carney sees the dialogue in private finance shifting. 
The climate crisis is no longer considered a risk, but an opportunity, 
“to move our economies to net zero as quickly as possible.”

Based on the mantra of “what gets measured gets managed” Carney said 
measuring climate impact, with carbon budgets for example, has to be 
mandatory. Investors want to and have to know if their money is 
supporting the problem or the solution. As much as I dislike putting a 
dollar sign on everything, our economic system is a critical tool to 
achieving our goals. Like Cindy Lauper sang back in 1984, Money Changes 
Everything.

Carney emphasized that it is up to every single one of us to keep up the 
pressure and question our bankers, politicians and businesses to find 
out what they’re doing to get to net-zero.

A good place to start is the Region of Waterloo policy paper on climate 
action, that’s part of the five-year review of the official plan. You 
can comment 
<https://www.engagewr.ca/regional-official-plan/news_feed/climate-action-discussion-paper-and-survey>on 
the Engage Waterloo website until February 28, 2021. The goal is to 
reduce the region’s emissions 80 percent below 2010 levels by 2050. Bear 
in mind that our regional government’s power is limited to, “providing 
leadership; coordinating among stakeholders; developing and monitoring a 
clear and consistent policy framework; setting region-wide standards; 
and facilitating Regional and local action.”

Much of the paper is focused on urban densification with neighbourhood 
nodes that ideally provide most, if not all, the goods and services you 
need within 15 minutes; active and public transportation; and green and 
forested spaces.

Both ClimateActionWR 
<https://climateactionwr.ca/climate-action-plans/>and the grassroots 
www.50by30wr.ca <http://www.50by30wr.ca>are your local connections to 
climate action to learn how to be part of the solution not the problem.

But I fear, with transportation alone accounting for half of our 
greenhouse gas emissions (at least in Waterloo Region), we stand little 
chance of averting a climate crisis until we ban the sale and use of 
gas-powered vehicles. The Coltura 
<https://www.coltura.org/world-gasoline-phaseouts>website has a list of 
places around the world attempting to do just that.

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