Urban dwellers hold key to climate-change goals: report

Consumption habits and energy use in Canada's cities must change dramatically to meet climate-change goals established by the Harper government, says a new report to be released today.

The research, produced by a coalition of stakeholders from industry groups, environmental organizations and the government, noted that nearly half of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions are coming from sources in cities, and that these urban communities could play a significant role in building a new economy if the right policies are in place.

The report, drafted by Ken Ogilvie, former executive director of Pollution Probe, also suggests that reducing carbon-dioxide emissions from industrial sectors and energy supplies -- which it describes as "decarbonization" -- will not be enough to meet the government's target of reducing Canada's greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels by 2020.

"Urban areas must be part of the solution," said the draft report that will be discussed at a workshop in Victoria this week by dozens of stakeholders.

"Decarbonizing Canada's energy supplies by 2020 cannot be accomplished in time on the scale required, and cannot by itself meet this (emissions) target."

The research was spearheaded by the Canadian Gas Association, and the participants are hoping to build a consensus across Canada to develop a blueprint for what they are calling Quality Urban

Energy Systems of Tomorrow.

"Most people take (energy) for granted," said former British Columbia premier Mike Harcourt, who is chairman of the group. "You turn on the light switch and on comes your lights, you go for a shower or wash your clothes. People don't realize how scarce energy is in a lot of parts of the world, particularly in the peak oil period that we're entered into."

The Harper government's climate change plan hinges on a regulatory framework that would set caps on the growth of pollution from large industrial emitters to establish a price on emissions and a market for buying and selling permits to pollute. However, the government has not yet introduced the regulations or explained details of how its overall target will affect the lifestyles and cost of living for average Canadians.

The group has suggested there are four possible scenarios for the future. Three of the scenarios suggest the possibility of either failing to meet targets to reduce pollution or failing to build systems to adequately support economic prosperity. Harcourt said urban dwellers in the future are likely to find themselves living and working in more compact green buildings, relying less on cars and shifting from gasoline-powered vehicles to hybrid or plug-in electric cars.

"If I can paraphrase Bill Clinton when he said 'it's the economy, stupid,' I would say it's sustainable cities, stupid because 80 per cent of us ... live in cities," Harcourt said. "I think within 10 years, people are going to realize that you got to be economically nuts not to be living (with more sustainable practices), because you will be saving $1,000 to $1,500 of after-tax income because you don't have to have a car or two cars."

more from the Edmonton Journal