toronto
The climate crisis grows more urgent every year. The window to make significant and lasting change is disappearing. Action must happen immediately and it must be at the necessary scale required to respond to this crisis.
In 2017, TransformTO was unanimously approved by the City Council demonstrating Toronto’s commitment to a global call for action to limit global temperature rise in line with international goals. Since 2017, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has shown that to limit global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius, cities globally need to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and halve global emissions by 2030.
City Council’s 2019 declaration of a global climate emergency shifts Toronto’s focus to align with the IPCC's recommended pathway - net zero by 2050 or sooner.
This Report recommends that Toronto adopt a new net zero by 2040 goal. By doing so, Toronto will ensure alignment with the 2030 trajectory to meet the necessary scientific based commitments to keep the planet's temperature habitable.
Technical modeling of Toronto's net zero pathway shows us that in order to reach net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 or sooner, Toronto must first be on the correct trajectory for achieving its 2030 City Council adopted goal of 65 percent emissions reduction from 1990 levels. Without aligning our action and implementation to that steeper trajectory, net zero by 2040 or 2050 will be out of reach.
The City is taking action to tackle Toronto's emissions through established programs and major policy achievement such as the Net Zero Existing Building Strategy, Net Zero Carbon Plan for City-owned buildings, an update to the Toronto Green Standard, the Electric Vehicle Strategy, advancing the City's Cycling Plan, and greening City and TTC fleets. Steady progress has been made to reduce emissions in recent years and community-wide GHG emissions have decreased since 1990. Toronto is on track to achieve its 2020 GHG emissions target of a 30 per cent reduction from 1990 levels.
Despite population growth, community-wide emissions continue to decline while Toronto's gross domestic product (GDP) rises. The decrease in GHG emissions in TransformTO: Critical Steps for Net Zero by 2040 Report Page 2 of 39 recent years can be attributed to a less carbon intensive electricity grid and lower transportation emissions from gasoline and diesel fuels.
Toronto's current 2019 greenhouse gas inventory shows that our emissions are currently tracking on the trajectory of an 80 per cent reduction by 2050, from 1990 levels, however, emissions have not decreased fast enough in recent years. Data shows that acting incrementally will not be enough to put us on the net zero trajectory. Rapid action to scale up existing programs, additional authorities for the City of Toronto (City) to implement nimbly and effectively, significant levels of investment and coordinated action with other levels of government will be needed to match City Council's ambition.