• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
Renewables ‘Set to Soar’ with 440 GW of New Installations in 2023: IEA June 4, 2023
Greek Industrial Giant Announces 1.4-GW Alberta Solar Farm, Canada’s Biggest June 4, 2023
Shift to Remote Work Cuts Commutes, Frees Downtown Space for Affordable Housing June 4, 2023
2.7M Hectares Lost, Nova Scotia at Ground Zero in ‘Unprecedented’ Early Wildfire Season June 4, 2023
Is Equinor’s Bay du Nord ‘Delay’ a Cancellation in Slow Motion? June 1, 2023
Next
Prev

Vancouver Passes $500-Million Climate Emergency Action Plan

November 20, 2020
Reading time: 3 minutes

dronepicr/wikimedia commons

dronepicr/wikimedia commons

9
SHARES
 

If Vancouver’s newly-minted Climate Emergency Action Plan goes well, 2030 will find 80% of all trips within city limits occurring by foot, bike, or transit, embodied emissions in new buildings reduced by 40%, and 50% of all kilometres driven on city roads emitting zero greenhouse gases.

Also included in the plan, reports Business in Vancouver (BIV): cutting carbon pollution from buildings by 50% from 2007 levels.

  • The climate news you need. Subscribe now to our engaging new weekly digest.
  • You’ll receive exclusive, never-before-seen-content, distilled and delivered to your inbox every weekend.
  • The Weekender: Succinct, solutions-focused, and designed with the discerning reader in mind.
Subscribe

But a key recommendation calling for a fee on vehicles entering the downtown core will be going out for further consultation before city council puts it to a vote.

Heralding the science-based plan as a path to a better quality of life for Vancouverites, and a road toward long-term savings of C$2.2 billion, city staff also described it as a plan “rooted in equity and justice for all people.”

However, they cautioned that the 371-page plan, adopted by city council on Wednesday, is still just a roadmap to guide more “analysis, consultation, and reports to council in the years ahead.”

The intent of the plan is to give Vancouver a direction forward, along with “plenty of time to work with the public,” said Doug Smith, director of the city’s sustainability group, in a separate interview with BIV.

Noting that meeting the city’s targets will require current and future councils “to push through a series of policies, bylaws, regulations, fees, and surcharges,” BIV adds that the C$500 million budgeted through 2025 will come from a range of sources, including additional funding from “senior governments.”

The plan also depends on residents and business owners investing $1.3 billion in energy-efficient technologies such as heat pumps and EVs.

While the three public meetings held in advance of the council vote revealed “overwhelming” support for the plan among attendees (who included doctors, parents, faith leaders, and environmentalists), a recommendation for transport pricing system produced significant backlash, especially from the business community.

“Downtown Vancouver relies on a regional customer base, they don’t rely on a Vancouver customer base exclusively,” said Charles Gauthier, president and CEO of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association. The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade and other business groups are worried that charging motorists a fee to drive into the city centre could prove a final hammer blow to businesses already reeling from the pandemic, BIV adds. In response to those concerns, the majority of city councillors directed staff to look into the costs and benefits of transport pricing and report back in 2022.

Other measures in Vancouver’s plan include a city-wide residential parking permit fee system, and charging drivers according to the carbon intensity of their wheels. “The measures correspond to staff’s evidence that 39% of Vancouver’s carbon pollution is generated from the burning of gas and diesel in vehicles, second only to emissions from burning natural gas for heat and hot water in buildings,” explains BIV.

The plan won’t take effect until 2025 at the earliest, with the next 18 months set aside for further public consultations.

The Georgia Strait has the full text of the city council motion.



in Auto & Alternative Vehicles, Buildings, Climate & Society, Community Climate Finance, Demand & Distribution, Ending Emissions, Legal & Regulatory

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

sunrise windmill
International Agencies & Studies

Renewables ‘Set to Soar’ with 440 GW of New Installations in 2023: IEA

June 4, 2023
109
Pixabay
Solar

Greek Industrial Giant Announces 1.4-GW Alberta Solar Farm, Canada’s Biggest

June 4, 2023
101
Oregon Department of Transportation/flickr
Cities & Communities

Shift to Remote Work Cuts Commutes, Frees Downtown Space for Affordable Housing

June 4, 2023
63

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

/MaxPixels

‘Substantial Damage’, No Injuries as Freight Train Hits Wind Turbine Blade

May 25, 2022
14.5k
Natural Resources Canada

2.7M Hectares Lost, Nova Scotia at Ground Zero in ‘Unprecedented’ Early Wildfire Season

June 4, 2023
124
sunrise windmill

Renewables ‘Set to Soar’ with 440 GW of New Installations in 2023: IEA

June 4, 2023
109
Pixabay

Greek Industrial Giant Announces 1.4-GW Alberta Solar Farm, Canada’s Biggest

June 4, 2023
101
Inspiration 4 Photos/flickr

Cooling Upper Atmosphere Has Scientists ‘Very Worried’

May 23, 2023
494
Equinor

Is Equinor’s Bay du Nord ‘Delay’ a Cancellation in Slow Motion?

June 1, 2023
851

Recent Posts

Oregon Department of Transportation/flickr

Shift to Remote Work Cuts Commutes, Frees Downtown Space for Affordable Housing

June 4, 2023
63
Clairewych/Pixabay

Demand Surges for Giant Heat Pumps as Europe Turns to District Heating

June 4, 2023
74
nicolasdebraypointcom/pixabay

Factor Gender into Transportation Planning, IISD Analyst Urges Policy-Makers

June 4, 2023
32
moerschy / Pixabay

Federal Climate Plans Must Embrace Community-Driven Resilience

June 4, 2023
41
debannja/Pixabay

Austin, Texas Council Committee Backs Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty

June 4, 2023
70
Ottawa Renewable Energy Co-op/Facebook

‘Hinge Moment’ for Humanity Demands ‘YIMBY’ Mentality: McKibben

June 1, 2023
75
Next Post

Front-Line Communities Are Driving Force for Biden’s Climate Transformation, Salazar and Goloff Say

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}