Ottawa’s climate change master plan forwarded to city council

The City of Ottawa's Standing Committee on Environmental Protection, Water and Waste Management is recommending City Council approve new targets to reduce emissions by 100 per cent as a corporation by 2040, and as a community by 2050.

It's detailed in a new Climate Change Master Plan, approved by the committee on Tuesday. 

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has called for a 100 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The city's plan would continue to implement Energy Evolution, develop a climate resiliency strategy, apply a climate lens to the new Official Plan and infrastructure, pilot corporate carbon budgets and encourage community action over the next five years. 

Staff would then come back to the Committee by mid-2020 with details on 20 additional projects to help reduce emissions.
 
According to the city’s latest greenhouse gas inventories, emissions decreased by 14 per cent in Ottawa between 2012 and 2018. The City’s corporate emissions, which account for about five per cent of Ottawa’s total emissions, decreased by 36 per cent. 

The master plan outlines that staff would provide annual reports on emissions, progress towards the carbon-neutral target.
 
The committee also recommended council approve the new Tree Protection By-law, which would come into effect May 2020. The new by-law would consolidate two existing by-laws, streamlining regulation and enforcement. Other changes include requiring compensation for permitted tree removals, implementing new fines for tree removal without a permit and changes to internal processes to ensure greater consideration of trees earlier in planning processes.
 
Two new forestry inspectors, funded through increased revenue from the new fees, would enforce the by-law and monitor tree protection, while a new forester would handle tree issues in infill development.
 
Staff would return to the committee in late 2020 with further recommendations to protect existing trees, along with reviewing the need for strategies to protect heritage trees and rural woodlands next to the urban boundary.
 
City Council will consider these items at its meeting on Wednesday, January 29.