An ambitious plan

The city of Toronto has been talking about tackling climate change for a long time. It’s even had greenhouse gas reduction targets in place since July 2007.

But those targets are outdated, and the city has been lacking an ambitious plan aimed at reducing its contribution to climate change.

Following a unanimous city council vote this week, such a plan is finally in place. Torontonians should celebrate this as a step in the right direction.

The strength of the TransformTO climate-change plan, the second part of which was voted on Tuesday, lies in its broad scope. It sets specific greenhouse gas reduction targets for the many parts of this city that are responsible for emissions, including transportation, energy and buildings.

Overall, Toronto’s greenhouse gas emissions should be slashed by 80 per cent by 2050, if the plan is followed.

If the plan seems lofty, it is equally urgent. A 2011 study commissioned by the city concluded that climate change will likely bring about a vast increase in extreme weather events such as storms and high humidity in the coming decades.

In a year rife with stories about flooding and the damage it causes, Torontonians know all too well how costly and dangerous extreme weather events can be. That means the city has a vested interest in doing its part to tackle the most serious effects of the global phenomenon. Like anything, this comes with a price tag. The budget that accompanies the TransformTO recommendations will have to go through council’s yearly budgeting process before it is approved.

A motion proposed by Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon and passed by council directs city staff to put together business cases for each of the plan’s recommendations ahead of this process.

Staff will be asked to look at emissions reductions per dollar spent, and the likelihood of recommendations receiving external funding assistance from other levels of government or the community. This seems like a reasonable ask, especially given how tight Toronto is on cash.

But critics of the motion have reason to be skeptical of ranking TranformTO’s recommendations by priority along these lines. What happens to those at the bottom of the list?

Council must avoid the temptation to save money by limiting climate-change efforts only to those actions that promise the most bang for each buck.

Now that the city has put its support behind an ambitious plan, it should proceed with a thoughtful budgeting process that takes the seriousness of the risks of climate change into account.