Progress made in climate fight, but big costs are yet to come
Waterloo city hall says it has made big progress toward its climate goal, reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of city government by 40 per cent since 2010.
The decrease is largely attributed to cleaner Ontario electricity purchased by the city. But also, city hall cites steps to help save a warming planet that include adding electric vehicles, switching to cold water to make arena ice, reducing paper and travel, and switching to batterypowered generators for firefighting.
To fully achieve its goals, city hall must retrofit buildings to stop burning natural gas by electrifying heating and cooling at arenas, libraries, and sports complexes.
This requires switching to heat pumps that do not burn fuel. City council does not have all the funding it needs for this, after hiking a typical property tax bill by $373 between 2023 and 2026, an increase of almost 27 per cent.
“Future increased additional capital investment will be required to achieve the ambitious (greenhouse gas) emission reduction targets,” says a report to city council.
New reports estimate the cost to achieve climate goals at Waterloo city government at $18 million by 2030 to overhaul buildings, plus more spending for other green initiatives. A final price tag is undetermined. Part of this spending will
come from $10 million that city hall is borrowing to fight climate change. Other funding already budgeted for climate initiatives is estimated at $1 million or more per year.
Mayor Dorothy McCabe says it’s critical for city hall to continue to spend on fighting climate change.
However, the financial challenge deepened after the federal government, in February, rejected a city request for $25 million to help pay for retrofits at three facilities, including the RIM Park recreation complex.
“This is a significant setback for these three projects in terms of funding capacity,” a report warns council.
Waterloo city government accounts for a tiny fraction of overall community emissions at a portion of one per cent of more than four million tonnes emitted in 2019, according to a regional dashboard.
Regionwide greenhouse emissions were estimated to be down almost four per cent in 2019 compared to 2010. More recent results are not yet tabulated.
“What the heck is happening to the rest of the community?” environmental advocate Kae Elgie said after praising city hall for its progress. “We don’t even know if we’re making progress.”
City hall has pledged to reduce its planet-warming emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 compared to 2010. By 2050 it aims to eliminate almost all city hall emissions.
To reach its 2030 target, city hall must overhaul 11 or more facilities, according to council reports. This includes full electric conversions, partial conversions, or hybrid conversions that still use some natural gas, depending on factors such as the age of current equipment.
Other steps include tightening walls, windows and roofs to reduce energy leaks, optimizing operations, recovering energy that is lost and possibly generating rooftop solar power.
City hall has spent more than $1 million to help the community fight climate change. Steps cited by city hall include reducing speed limits, funding green grants, supporting scooters and composting dog waste by collecting it at receptacles.
City hall says it has helped residents adapt to climate change by adding shade and water to the downtown public square, adding lighting to the Laurel Trail, permitting residents to plant gardens on city boulevards and supporting more tree-planting, among other steps.