Item - 2016.PE15.1

The Parks and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council add the following to the TransformTO Short-term Strategies, set out in Attachment A to the report (November 2, 2016) from the Chief Corporate Officer:

a. Consider biogas energy recovery and thermal hydrolysis process enhancements for Highland Creek Treatment Plant; and

b. Include the greenhouse gas reduction potential realized from diverting waste from disposal as a result of the Long Term Waste Management Strategy.

2.  City Council approve the TransformTO Short-term Strategies, as amended by Recommendation 1 and set out in Attachment A to the report (November 2, 2016) from the Chief Corporate Officer.

3.  City Council direct City Divisions, Agencies and Corporations with support from the Chief Corporate Officer, to develop business cases as part of the 2018 budget process to support the implementation of the strategies outlined in the TransformTO Short-term Strategies, as amended by Recommendation 1 and set out in Attachment A to the report (November 2, 2016) from the Chief Corporate Officer.

4.  City Council direct the City Manager to advocate to the Provincial and Federal governments for program funding, co-delivery opportunities and related policy and regulatory supports necessary to implement the TransformTO Short-term Strategies, as amended by Recommendation 1 and  set out in Attachment A to the report (November 2, 2016) from the Chief Corporate Officer and prepare the City for success in achieving the 2050 target.

5.  City Council authorize the City Manager or his/her designate to negotiate and enter into all necessary agreements, including funding agreements, to support the implementation of the TransformTO Short-term Strategies, as amended by Recommendation 1 and set out in Attachment A to the report (November 2, 2016) from the Chief Corporate Officer, in forms satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

The Parks and Environment Committee requested:

1.  The Chief Corporate Officer to report directly to City Council on December 13, 2016 with business cases for each of the actions set out in Attachment A - TransformTO Short-term Strategies to the report (November 2, 2016) from the Chief Corporate Officer. 

2.  The Chief Corporate Officer to submit the expected second report on TransformTO to the Parks and Environment Committee no later than May 2017 and include as part of the second report, as possible additions to the short-term strategies, an evaluation of:

a. A ban or restrictions on gas powered lawn and garden equipment;

b. By-law changes to encourage urban agriculture in new development;

c. Move to zero carbon district energy option;

d. Policies to reduce construction waste;

e. Feasibility of installing renewable energy on parking facilities; and

f. Requiring climate change warning labels at gas stations in Toronto, under the City of Toronto Act.

3. The Chief Corporate Officer, in consultation with the General Manager, TTC, to include as part of the expected second report to the Parks and Environment Committee on Transform TO, a review of the impact of TTC fare cost on ridership with a recommendation on how to achieve greater ridership on existing transit routes.

4. The Chief Corporate Officer to report to the Parks and Environment Committee by the end of the second quarter 2017 on:

a.  recommendations for new energy efficiency standards for new construction under Tier 1 of the Green Building Standards with the goal of net neutral buildings; and

b.  a strategy to expand the uptake of the Sustainable Energy Plan Financing loans and increase technical support for the Better Building Partnership.

The Senior Environmental Planner, Implementation and Support, Environment and Energy gave a presentation to the Parks and Environment Committee on TransformTO: Climate Action for a Healthy, Equitable and Prosperous Toronto.

Initiated in 2015, TransformTO is a community-wide, cross-corporate initiative designed to engage residents, experts, stakeholders and all City Divisions, Agencies and Corporations on how Toronto can achieve a low-carbon future that meets the needs of all Torontonians. In March 2015 the Parks and Environment Subcommittee on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation was created to guide and support the project. TransformTO is co-managed by the Environment and Energy Division and the Toronto Atmospheric Fund.

Between March 2015 and July 2016 over 2000 Torontonians participated in TransformTO conversations about our low-carbon future. TransformTO is undertaking comprehensive technical analysis of strategies and actions to get Toronto to our long-term low-carbon target of reducing emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.

Toronto will not meet Council's 2050 goal without significant action and investment. There is a 8.7 million tonne gap between our projected GHG emissions in 2050 and our low-carbon target. Over the next 34 years transformative changes to the City’s core urban systems - transportation, building design and operation, energy systems and waste management - will be necessary.

In 2007 City Council adopted the progressive Climate Change and Clean Air Action Plan, positioning Toronto as a leader and innovator in climate action. The programs and policies developed and championed here are emulated across North America and internationally.  Many of the programs and policies from the 2007 Climate Change and Clean Air Action Plan and the 2009 Sustainable Energy Strategy continue to reduce GHG emissions, however we will need to aggressively expand and enhance these while adding others over the intervening 33 years to meet the 2050 goal established by Council. To date, GHG emissions in Toronto have dropped by over 24 percent since 1990. TransformTO is the next step along Toronto's climate action path.

This report presents a package of short-term strategies to expand and accelerate our existing innovative programs and policies to maximize their emission reduction potential to 2020. In the short-term we need to exceed our 2020 target to put us closer to the necessary trajectory to Council's 2050 low-carbon target. This report also identifies the building blocks of our long-term low-carbon strategy as Council needs to align its decisions today with Toronto's long-term low-carbon goals.

Successful implementation of the proposed package of Short-term Strategies in Attachment A will lead to between 455,000 and 857,000 tonnes of additional GHG reductions by 2020, beyond the emission reductions already anticipated from Toronto's existing programs and policies (see Figure 1).

For further information see Figure 1 in staff report: Toronto's measured and projected GHG emissions to 2050 and impact of proposed TransformTO Short-term Strategies. 

The Parks and Environment Subcommittee on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation on November 14, 2016 considered a report (November 2, 2016) from the Chief Corporate Officer on TransformTO: Climate Action for a Healthy, Equitable and Prosperous Toronto.

The Parks and Environment Subcommittee on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation also:

1. Directed the Chief Corporate Officer to submit the expected second report on TransformTO to the Parks and Environment Committee no later than May 2017 and include as part of the second report, as possible additions to the short-term strategies, an evaluation of:

a. A ban or restrictions on gas powered lawn and garden equipment;

b. By-law changes to encourage urban agriculture in new development;

c. Move to zero carbon district energy option;

d. Policies to reduce construction waste;

e. Feasibility of installing renewable energy on parking facilities; and

f. Requiring climate change warning labels at gas stations in Toronto, under the City of Toronto Act.