On January 29th, 2020, Council approved the Climate Change Master Plan and its goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 100 per cent – by 2040 as a corporation and by 2050 as a community. The new targets are in line with the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which has called for a 100-per-cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The Climate Change Master Plan would help Ottawa meet the new targets. Over the next five years, the City 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. Staff would 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. Staff would provide annual reports on emissions, progress towards the carbon-neutral target and the master plan.
Future climate projections for Ottawa – high carbon scenario (Source: Climate Atlas of Canada, March 2019)
