“The Science is real, the problem is urgent. Global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 50% by 2030 to avoid climate catastrophe”. Those were the words from David Miller, the keynote speaker at the Ontario Climate Summit held at the University of Toronto this past weekend, attended by four members of the BEA Board, Polly, Rhythm, Dayle and David.

David Miller is the Managing Director of the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. The C40 Centre provides mayors, policymakers and city practitioners with the evidence, analysis and policy guidance needed to implement progressive and equitable climate action.

Mr. Miller went on to say that 80% of the people surveyed in Canada want governments to take stronger climate action, that people believe in the science but vastly overestimate the number and strength of the opposition. He said only 17% are climate deniers, the “drill baby drill” folks, but that their oversized voices tend to sway political discussions and policy making.

David said that cities are where the climate problem exists. Cities consume 75% of the world’s energy, with buildings, transportation, energy production and waste management being the largest emissions contributors. But cities are also the largest economic engines and therefore have the wealth to contribute to climate solutions. Ninety-seven cities account for 20% of the global economy.

According to David, climate solutions are popping up all over the world. Tokyo created a carbon cap and trade system for emissions from buildings, Rio de Janeiro has mandated that all electricity will be generated from renewable sources. Oslo has instituted a carbon budget meaning that every city decision needs to account for both climate impacts as well as financial costs. The cities of Los Angeles and Singapore have established the Green and Digital Shipping Corridor (GDSC), a partnership between the Port of Los Angeles, Port of Long Beach, and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore to establish a green shipping route connecting the two port complexes via the Pacific Ocean.

In some cases solutions were started for reasons other than to fix the climate. For example, the City of London has electrified over half of its fleet of black cabs primarily to improve air quality. The City of Shenzhen in China mandated their fleet of 16,000 buses to be electrified along with 22,000 taxis with the aim of reducing smog. The City of Freetown in Sierra Leone is paying people, as part of the “Freetown to Treetown” initiative, to plant and monitor trees, with the aim of reducing poverty and improving slum living conditions.

David indicated it doesn’t matter what is the catalyst for change so long as we make it happen and quickly. He said, “we already have the tools to solve the climate problem. Around the world, cities are making innovative climate solutions work; we just need to be doing more of these actions everywhere”. More examples are included in David’s book “Solved, How the World’s Great Cities are Fixing the Climate Crisis.

David concluded his talk by emphasizing the important role that Ontario based climate advocacy groups play in raising the awareness of climate issues in Ontario and encouraging conversation and debate about climate policy at all government levels.

The Saturday portion of the summit consisted of 5 Plenary breakout sessions discussing subjects including, the power of Municipal Government-level climate action, Buildings and the Built Form, Building Power in the Inner Suburbs , Organizing to win better public transport and, Collaboration Across Communities and Sectors among others. Our team couldn’t attend them all but we will consolidate our notes over the next few weeks and publish another post summarizing what we learned from these sessions.

A key takeaway for us from the summit is that the biggest challenge for local climate advocacy groups is to communicate the messages about the climate emergency in a way that doesn’t turn people off, focusing on stories and positive progress rather than on using fear tactics or negative messaging. For the BEA it means continuing our efforts, expanding our audience here in Brampton, and creating more opportunities for discussion. As always we are interested in your feedback. Feel free to send us your comments info@bramptonea.org #elbowsupfortheclimate.