Metro chair has climate nightmares
‘Complex’ problem will require collaboration from everyone, Dhaliwal says
The global climate crisis keeps Metro Vancouver’s chairman awake at night.
Sav Dhaliwal, elected last November, made his inaugural address to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade on Wednesday at a downtown Vancouver hotel. He gave an overview of Metro’s plans for the next five years, discussing major capital spending and the development of a new regional growth strategy for 2050.
Many times during the hourlong luncheon Dhaliwal turned to the issue of climate.
“We recognize that no matter how well we reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, our infrastructure must be able to withstand the inevitable impacts of climate change like rising sea levels, stronger and more frequent weather events and prolonged drought,” he said during his keynote speech.
Metro, which includes 21 municipalities, the Tsawwassen First Nation and Electoral Area A, is responsible for services such as drinking water, solid-waste disposal and sewage treatment for more than 2.5 million people. It also does work to improve air quality.
Dhaliwal praised Metro’s staff for improving livability in the region and said he was encouraged by multiple levels of government working to improve affordability and equity.
But he described climate change as a “complex” problem that will require collaboration among everyone living and working in the region. He cited recent reports finding that Canada is heating up at twice the global rate and that one million of Earth’s eight million species are at risk of extinction due to human activity. “These are critical, shocking findings by scientists,” Dhaliwal said. “The problem cannot be fixed by governments alone. All of us — the citizens, the businesses and the government — must be united in our resolve to combat climate change by taking bold action.”
During a Q&A after Dhaliwal’s speech, moderator Evi Mustel asked what issue “keeps him up at night” with worry.
He brought up affordability and the impact of population growth on Metro’s operations and infrastructure. (Metro expects growth of about 35,000 people annually through 2040, “like a new Port Moody” each year, Dhaliwal explained.)
But he quickly turned back to climate change.
“In 30 years, the world is supposed to also change dramatically,” he said. “Whether it’s the rising seas, whether it’s the earthquakes, all of it. Well, how do we make sure that systems, our pipes … and our facilities, our dams, can withstand (that)? That’s a big challenge.”
For Metro’s part, it’s increasing work to adapt to the changes and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Last year, it approved its Climate 2050 Strategic Framework, and over the next two years will develop its Climate 2050 Roadmaps, which will provide specific goals, strategies and actions for issues such as nature and ecosystems, infrastructure, human health, transportation and energy.
In 2020, Metro will complete an update of its Clean Air Plan. In 2021, it will develop its next regional emissions inventory to track emission sources and trends.
Dhaliwal said Metro has also been focused on building energy-creating facilities, replacing aging infrastructure with cleaner infrastructure, and steering local governments toward committing to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
“We’re taking it very seriously, to make sure that our planet is a little better than what it is now, 25 years from now,” he said.
Asked by an audience member how Metro was dealing with waste-management issues, Dhaliwal said it’s making progress, with diversion of waste from landfills reaching about 63 per cent in 2016, up from below 50 per cent 20 years ago, according to Metro. Still, diversion rates have fallen three to eight points short of targets in recent years.
Dhaliwal said single-family homes in the region are doing a “fantastic” job of sorting out their recycling and compost, but said multi-family homes need to improve, so Metro will guide cities to use education campaigns and bylaws to improve it.
“We recognize that what we bury today is going to hurt our children and grandchildren, and those who are not yet born,” he said. “So we
are very serious about that. We want to make sure that the landfill isn’t just to put any kind of thing … just absolutely minimizing what goes in there.”
Mustel capped the Q&A by asking Dhaliwal how he hopes to remember his one-year term when it comes to an end. “It would be to do some work (in a) more meaningful way on the climate-change strategy that we have, to actually set some plans into motion not just for ourselves but bringing everybody to the table,” he said. “This is way beyond Metro Vancouver.”
Meanwhile, Dhaliwal gave an overview of close to $5.5 billion in capital spending on infrastructure projects and upgrades, and another $5 billion on operations. Households in the region can expect an average cost increase of $43 per year.
Major spending on water projects — not the total cost of completing them — include the Annacis and Second Narrows water-supply tunnels ($217 million and $351 million, respectively); Coquitlam water main No. 4 ($236 million); and the Coquitlam reservoir intake No. 2 ($100 million).
Liquid-waste expenditures include the Annacis Island Stage 5 expansion and new outfall ($538 million) and northwest Langley waste-water treatment plant ($489.1 million).