Bold Climate Action

The Challenge

In their 2022 Fifth Assessment Report, the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change confirmed climate change is happening quicker than predicted and with more catastrophic impacts. In Vancouver, we are already experiencing the devastating and costly effects of the climate crisis: nearly 100 Vancouverites died during last summer’s heat dome, we’ve had extensive tree die-off and blight, and experienced major winter storm damage to critical infrastructure including the Stanley Park seawall and Kitsilano pool. 

Green Councillors will relentlessly push for bold, science-backed measures to accelerate climate action in our city. Greens know we need to address the causes of climate change AND reduce our vulnerability to the effects of climate change. Greens will mitigate the climate crisis by more rapidly reducing our city’s urban emissions, and increase our resilience by transitioning to climate-smart and safe infrastructure and improving local food security.

Vancouver must also enable, encourage, and develop renewable green energy sources including solar, geothermal, wind and waste-to-energy district energy systems. Our city will not be able to meet our GHG reduction goals without an adequate supply of green energy. 

Top Priorities

  • Expand city-owned district energy systems powered by green sources such as waste-to-energy, sewage heat capture, solar, geothermal and wind.
  • Move from “solar-ready” to “solar-required” in the City’s Building Code, wherever sunlight permits. 
  • Prohibit gas hookups in all new buildings including for cooking and fireplaces not just for heating and hot water. 
  • Create safe havens in every neighbourhood for people to retreat to during extreme weather by retrofitting key public buildings with climate-smart heating and cooling systems.
  • Ensure edible food is donated and used, not thrown away. Explore partnerships with nonprofit food organizations as well as making donating surplus food a condition of business licenses.
  • Include food systems in Vancouver’s Climate Plan and establish food gardens in every neighbourhood. 
  • Reduce the city’s default speed limit to 30 km/hour (excluding arterials and thoroughfares). Transition on all residential streets and select commercial high streets (especially those with expanded patios) to pedestrian first.
  • Connect and complete Vancouver’s safe cycling networks within four years. Greens at City Council, Park Board, and School Board will work together to connect safe cycling routes to schools, community centres, parks, transit, and employment areas.
  • Sue Big Oil to recover taxpayer money the city spends to repair damage caused by climate change.
  • Include full lifecycle emissions in all staff reports to Council, including end-use, supply chain, and embodied carbon.

Solutions

CLIMATE SMART, SAFE, AND RESILIENT BUILDINGS

INCREASE LOCAL FOOD SECURITY

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION AND TRANSIT

RESPONSIBLE CLIMATE PLANNING

CLIMATE ADVOCACY

GREEN CLIMATE ACTION LAST TERM

CLIMATE SMART, SAFE, AND RESILIENT BUILDINGS 

By 2030, all new buildings in Vancouver will be net-zero emission. By 2040, all existing buildings will be retrofitted to zero or near-zero emission standards. These are important city requirements that Greens support. However, there are loopholes that allow the continued use of gas appliances. And the city is not developing nor requiring enough local renewable energy to increase climate resilience.  

NEW BUILDINGS 

Currently, efforts to build Zero Emission Buildings face unnecessary, costly delays securing building permits and sufficient electrical capacity. These wait-times and costs discourage early adoption and undermine the City’s sustainability goals. To overcome the administrative hurdles and ensure the best-possible standards for new climate-smart buildings, Green Councillors will champion:

  • Easier, faster permitting for new net-Zero Emissions Buildings.
  • Prohibit gas hookups in all new buildings including for cooking and fireplaces, not just for heating and hot water. 
  • Move from “solar-ready” to “solar-required” in the City’s Building Code, wherever sunlight permits, to reduce energy costs and increase climate resilience. We will also expand the Green Roof Program to incorporate solar panels and solar hot water. 
  • Expand green roof options in the building code for single family and duplex-zoned areas to absorb and reduce stormwater runoff and keep buildings cooler in the summers and warmer in winters. 

EXISTING BUILDINGS

Today, 57% of our city’s emissions come from energy-inefficient older buildings. Retrofitting existing buildings will greatly reduce Vancouver’s greenhouse gas emissions, create safe havens from extreme weather events, and save the public and residents money on energy costs. Greens have long championed energy retrofits for existing public facilities, as well as grants and other funding to help homeowners upgrade residential buildings. That work will continue with an emphasis on the following:

  • Create safe havens in every neighbourhood for people to retreat to during extreme weather by retrofitting key public buildings with climate-smart heating and cooling systems (e.g., Seniors’ Centers, Family Places, Neighbourhood Houses). Include educational displays of how much energy is produced, GHGs reduced, and money saved on energy bills.
  • Ramp up retrofits of all city-owned buildings to reduce emissions and save public money spent on energy. 
  • Create easier, faster permitting processes for building retrofits that reduce GHGs, especially to net zero, including for removing gas heating and appliances and provide modified requirements for older character buildings.
  • Pursue funding sources to help support energy retrofits of private buildings - such as Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing and provincial grant programs.
  • Make retrofitting easier for building owners by collaborating with the Metro Vancouver Zero Emissions Innovation Center to create resources such as how-to guides, comprehensive lists of grant and funding options, recognized/certified practitioners and trades companies. 

INCREASE LOCAL FOOD SECURITY

Global food production and transportation of food accounts for about one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change is threatening both global food production and food supply chains leading to food shortages that particularly impact the most vulnerable. Greens will lead the push to increase local and plant-based food production for both climate resilience and social equity. Here’s how:

  • Include food systems in Vancouver’s Climate Emergency Action Plan. Food systems (waste, production, transportation, and security) are not currently a part of our climate plan but need to be in order reduce emissions and increase local food security
  • Establish food gardens in every neighbourhood, with harvests going to benefit communities. Including through the Vancouver Plan’s re-purposing of at least 11% of neighbourhood streets for community use. 
  • Allow organic urban agriculture in residential zones. Audit the impacts.
  • Ensure edible food is donated and used, not thrown away. Explore partnerships with nonprofit food organizations as well as making donating surplus food a condition of business licenses.
  • Transition away from animal-based to plant-based food systems: prioritize local plant-based procurement, and sign Vancouver onto the Plant Based Treaty, to put food systems at the heart of combating the climate crisis.

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION AND TRANSIT 

A less congested, healthier, more livable city depends on less car-crowded streets. Currently, transportation accounts for 37% of Vancouver’s carbon emissions. Reducing GHGs from transportation, and improving movement throughout the City, requires switching from gas to electric vehicles and providing low-carbon alternatives to private vehicles 

Greens are committed to delivering “complete connected communities”,  where everyone can meet their daily needs within a 15-minute walk through traffic-calmed, slow neighbourhood streets. When complemented with plentiful EV charging, car or bike share options for private transportation, and public transit, we can take a bite out of our emissions and congestion, and make it easier and more pleasant for everyone to get from point A to point B. 

Here’s how Green Councillors will get us there:

  • Reduce the city’s default speed limit to 30 km/hour, (excluding arterials and thoroughfares) to better facilitate active transportation on shared multimodal routes and facilitate a friendlier, safer public realm. Transition on all residential streets and select commercial high streets (especially those with expanded patios) to pedestrian first.
  • Re-purpose 11% or more of neighbourhood streets for active transportation, amenities, and community use/benefits.
  • Improve, connect and complete Vancouver’s safe cycling networks & greenways. Greens at City Council, Park Board, and School Board will work together to complete a safe, green active transportation network in Vancouver that connects safe cycling routes to schools, community centres, parks, transit, and employment areas.
  • Expand Mobi bike share program to all areas of the city, starting with frequent transit corridors.  
  • Improve electric vehicle charging infrastructure by ensuring charging stations are available at every City-owned public-use building, every destination park and all shopping districts. 
  • Rapidly transition the City’s fleet to EV and phase out gas vehicles by 2030 at the latest.

Greens will work with partners and advocate for measures to support a shift towards electric vehicles and away from personal vehicles altogether. Specifically:

  • Fund and fast-track an inter-connected city-wide, zero-carbon, affordable, safe and frequent transit system (TransLink and senior governments) so that every resident can access transit within a five-minute walk.
  • Rapid busses on priority routes along key corridors equitably across the city by 2030. Advocate and work with TransLink to fast-track.     
  • Institute a pilot program allowing pets on transit. Work with TransLink to implement.
  • Consumer rebates on second-hand Electric Vehicles. Work with senior governments to fund.

RESPONSIBLE CLIMATE PLANNING

Vancouver’s greenhouse gas emissions were 57% from buildings, 37% from transportation and 4% from waste as last reported in 2020. The City is working to cut our emissions in half over 2007 levels by the year 2030. The timeline is tight, so Greens will accelerate the implementation of the City’s ambitious Climate Emergency Action Plan and ensure timely, accurate tracking of these metrics to keep the City on-pace to deliver.

B.C. Hydro currently estimates that, even with Site C dam, it only has enough electricity to meet consumer demands to 2030. An inadequate supply of green electricity and green energy will compromise the city’s ability to meet its GHG reduction goals. Vancouver must enable and encourage the development and use of renewable green energy including solar geothermal, wind and waste-to-energy district energy systems.

As climate leaders Green Councillors will push to:

  • Expand city-owned district energy systems powered by green sources such as waste-to-energy, sewage heat capture, solar, geothermal and wind.
  • Establish annual emission reduction goals and reporting to ensure we adjust plans as needed to meet our targets.
  • Include full lifecycle emissions in all staff reports to Council, including end-use, supply chain, and embodied carbon. 
  • Require all rezoning applications to report on GhG emissions.
  • Prioritize buying local in all procurement to reduce Scope 3 (supply chain) emissions

CLIMATE ADVOCACY

The climate crisis does not respect City limits. Greens are committed to working across municipalities and all levels of government to advance local and regional climate resilience to deliver Vancouverites the best possible climate response. Here are key ways Greens will advocate in and beyond our City:

  • Sue Big Oil. Collaborate with other B.C. municipalities in a joint action lawsuit to Sue Big Oil and recoup the approximately $155 million/year of taxpayer money currently being spent by the city to repair damages to our infrastructure caused by climate change.
  • Work with the Provincial and Federal governments for increased funding for energy retrofits including PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) financing, tax breaks, grants and low-interest loans. Prioritize purpose-built rental and co-op buildings and large industrial and commercial buildings. 
  • Explore the creation of a regional Carbon Trust with Metro Vancouver to collect carbon-offset money from business and community partners to fund regional GHG emissions reductions. 
  • Work with B.C. Hydro to guarantee needed power supply for Zero Emission Buildings (both new buildings and retrofits). 
  • Push B.C. Hydro to incentivize the independent production of green electricity (including by solar-voltaic systems) with higher feed-in tariffs (prices paid to private producers).   

GREEN CLIMATE ACTION LAST TERM

In 2018, Vancouver elected three Greens to Council who worked collaboratively across party lines and with city staff to move forward solutions to the climate crisis. Greens have worked hard this term for bold climate action. Unfortunately, too much of our important work has been slow to come back to Council or has not been implemented at all. We need more Greens elected to ensure our solutions are implemented in a timely fashion and in a way that best serves the people of Vancouver.