Council Report Section

One tool to support Council decisions is to include climate change considerations into Council reports. An example of a municipal best practice is from the City of Burlington. The City of Burlington declared a climate emergency in April 2019. City Council then directed staff to apply a climate lens to decision making documents including Council reports and budgets. The City of Burlington Council reports now have a sub-heading titled Climate Implications, where staff are to consider climate change mitigation, adaptation, cost/benefit analysis and co-benefits. To aid staff in preparing this section, a Climate Lens guidance document relevant to City staff was created.

Alternatively, climate change can be reviewed under the current risk section of the Council reports. Requiring Administration to consider climate change under the risk section can be an easy and quick action to integrate climate change into City decisions. To do this effectively, a climate lens document would be developed and distributed to all staff responsible for preparing council reports. This climate lens document would include a checklist to determine if addressing a climate risk (mitigation/adaptation) is warranted.

Long-term planning documents

A number of recent long-term planning documents have included considerations of climate change (Appendix C). It is recommended that any new or updated master planning documents include considerations for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The intent of master planning documents is to develop a long-term vision for the service in question. A changing climate may impact that long-term vision. By identifying possible impacts early, the plan can address future risks. The plans should also include considerations for climate change mitigation to reduce emissions and energy use where possible.

Carbon Budget

Globally and internationally, carbon budgets are being established. A carbon budget is essentially the upper limit of total carbon dioxide emissions remaining before a specific global average temperature is reached. Global emissions budgets are calculated according to historical cumulative emissions from fossil fuel combustion, industrial processes, and land-use change, but vary according to the global temperature target that is chosen (ex. 1.5°C or 2°C), the probability of staying below the target and the emissions of other greenhouse gases.

In 2017, C40 Cities published a report in which they assessed the contribution of the C40 cities to the COP21 Paris Agreement’s aspirations of limiting climate change to 1.5 and 2 degrees respectively. Specific GHG emissions reduction trajectories were identified for each of the C40 cities, as well as potential actions to achieve those trajectories. C40 is a network of the world’s megacities committed to addressing climate change.