United Nations puts spotlight on climate action in Canadian cities

Lisa Helps, Mayor of Victoria, B.C., speaks to the United Nations on Sept. 21, 2019 about nature-based solutions in urban areas. Photo by Fatima Syed

Could a governor of Papua New Guinea and the mayor of Victoria save the oldest, largest tropical forests in the southwestern Pacific from climate change?

It sounds unlikely but that’s the very serious conversation Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps found herself having on Sept. 21, at a dinner in New York with a Papua New Guinea governor and Nelson, B.C.’s Councillor Rik Logtenberg.

If the forest collapses in the climate crisis, the people of Papua New Guinea will not be able to survive, the governor told Helps, before making a direct plea for the help of western cities like Victoria and Nelson.

The dinner occurred hours after Helps pledged Victoria as the first Canadian city to participate in the United Nations Trees in Cities Initiative, which challenged mayors of cities around the world to boost their urban forests as a means to lower carbon pollution.

Standing with the mayors of Triana, Albania; Bonn, Germany; and Helsingbord, Sweden, Helps vowed to plant 5,000 trees.

It’s not a very ambitious goal, Helps admitted in an interview with National Observer in New York. “But the actual footprint of the city of Victoria is tiny — it’s just 20 square kilometers. So 5,000 is a good start,” she said. “My hope is that our residents will rally and will be able to plant 10,000 trees in one year.”

“Ten years ago, we didn’t think cities had the capacity and the ability to solve climate change. This is, I think, a new thing.” – Victoria Mayor @lisahelps

Helps doesn’t know how the city of Victoria and its more than 85,000 residents caught the attention of the United Nations.

But her pledge illustrated the marked shift at the United Nations Climate Summit this year that saw climate leadership represented mostly at the local and sub-national level. Cities, towns and regions around the world took the stage to discuss nature-based solutions and local climate financing efforts, while their federal and national counterparts came later for the UN General Assembly.

According to UN Habitat, cities consume 78 per cent of the world’s energy and produce more than 60 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. By 2050, cities will be home to two-thirds of the world’s population.

So, while Canada’s federal leaders took to the election campaign trail at home, mayors such as Helps, Valérie Plante of Montreal, Berry Vrbanovic of Kitchener, Ont. and Naheed Nenshi of Calgary took to the UN to listen, learn and promote best sustainable practices and nature-based solutions in cities.

Provincial environment ministers from British Columbia and Quebec were also present at the summit to boost their carbon-pricing plans — one of the four key focuses of the United Nations this year.

“One of the key shifts is that cities are now seen as key actors,” Helps said in an interview. “Ten years ago, we didn’t think cities had the capacity and the ability to solve climate change, This is, I think, a new thing. And it’s hopefully not only going to shift the dialogue at the summit, but also shift the kinds of actions that happen coming out of it.”

Lisa Helps – Victoria Mayor@lisahelps

Honoured to present at the UN Climate Summit on a panel Local Leadership for Climate: Solutions to the Climate Emergency. #mayorsbinder #yyj #climateactionsummit

4:41 PM – Sep 21, 2019

‘A reality check’

Helps was only invited a week before the Sept. 21 Climate Summit in a letter that touted the City of Victoria’s efforts in improving the management of trees on public and private lands through an annual $1-million investment in an Urban Forest Master Plan.

In 2019, the City of Victoria allocated nearly $3 million to maintain and enhance the city’s urban forest.

“I believe there is a lot we can learn from the progress your city has already achieved in this area, and I would like to help you share this achievement with other cities and allow them to learn from it,” Under-Secretary-General Olga Algayerova wrote in the invitation. MORE

Ottawa takes first step with climate emergency declaration, bold action must follow

Prince Edward Council has not declared a climate emergency. Why not? Do they really expect citizens to avoid climate change? Climate leadership is conspicuously missing.

How does this motion measure up to Extinction Rebellion’s core demands?

On April 24, Ottawa City Council voted in favour of an eight-point motion to declare a climate emergency.

Extinction Rebellion, an international grassroots climate justice group, argues that governments must declare climate and ecological emergencies, and work with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change. The Ottawa motion lacks language about communicating the urgency for change to the federal and provincial governments, as well as to city residents.

The group also demands that governments act immediately to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025. Ottawa’s motion only calls for the city to adopt a target of a 45 per cent reduction in 2010 levels by 2030.

Extinction Rebellion’s third core demand is the creation of a Citizens’ Assembly to lead decision-making and inform the government on climate and ecological justice. While the Ottawa motion calls for the establishment of a Council Sponsors Group, there is no clear indication of how the broader public would be able to meaningfully participate in this process.

What should the Council Sponsors Group, as created by the Ottawa motion, demand?

1. The City of Ottawa should commit to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, a key demand made by Extinction Rebellion.
2. The City of Ottawa should commit (as the City of Vancouver is considering) to a target of two-thirds of trips in the city to be taken by walking, cycling, and public transit by 2030.
3. Given that transportation accounts for more than 30 per cent of Ontario’s carbon footprint, the City of Ottawa should commit to improving public transportation across the city and piloting free public transit (as has been considered in other international cities, including Bonn, Essen, Herrenberg, Reutlingen, and Mannheim).
4. Given Ontario Premier Doug Ford has just cancelled the 50 Million tree planting program, the City of Ottawa should commit to an ambitious tree planting program. Paris committed to planting 20,000 trees between 2014 and 2020.
5. The City of Ottawa should endorse (as Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and numerous other cities have already done) the international Net Zero Carbon Buildings Declaration that pledges to enact regulations and/or planning policy to ensure new buildings operate at net zero carbon by 2030 and all buildings by 2050.
6. The City of Ottawa should explore innovative ideas being pursued by other cities including: green streets and pocket parks to catch and absorb excess rainwater (Copenhagen), initiatives to support energy-efficient retrofits (Melbourne), and the promotion of local food production (Quito has set a goal of producing 30-40 per cent of its food locally).
7. To pay for some of this, the City of Ottawa should send a climate accountability letter to Exxon, Chevron, Shell, and other fossil fuel corporations to demand they pay their fair share of the costs that cities are incurring because of climate change. The City of Victoria’s motion on this (passed in October 2017) called on other municipalities across Canada to pass similar resolutions.

It is also vital that the City of Ottawa find its voice on the issue of the approval and construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure. MORE

Planner makes valuable donation to city tree policy

Ruth Ferguson Aulthouse of RFA Planning Ltd. contributed a study on the state of Belleville’s urban forest to the city. INQUINTE.CA FILE PHOTO

A passion for a local businesswoman has become a valuable tool for the city of Belleville in developing a policy to protect and enhance its trees and natural vegetation. As noted in the report, a “healthy urban forest improves the quality of life of City of Belleville residents,” including the environment, the economy and the community.

The findings showed a six per cent reduction in cover which cost the city more than $100,000 in estimated environmental benefits. Aulthouse said the report shows the significant benefits to the community of having a progressive tree canopy program in place.

“It can make a big difference for a small cost,” she said of the program, which could require trees as part of new developments and ensure the city replants trees for those it removes. He said a key part of the community engagement and education portion is to show people the benefits of maintaining and adding to the city’s tree canopy.

Those benefits include environmental benefits such as improving air quality, economic benefits such as increasing property values and conserving energy, and community benefits such as improving walkability and making neighbourhoods more attractive.

She noted that part of the new focus of the city’s green efforts includes planting of edible trees, such as the three apple and two pear trees that have been recently planted at the Bayview Heights Community Garden. MORE