City of Saskatoon should aim for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050: city report

A City of Saskatoon committee is recommending that council toughen its target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

On Tuesday, the city's environment, utilities and corporate services committee approved a recommendation in a report that says the city should aim to be net-zero in its operations by 2050.

In 2017, city council approved a recommendation for a 40 per cent reduction in the city's operations emissions by 2023 and an 80 per cent drop by 2050. The recommendation used 2014 emissions as a baseline.

The report the committee received Tuesday shows that the city is not on target to meet its 2023 goal. In 2021, city operations emitted 217,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents — a decrease of just three per cent from the 2014 baseline. 

Climate models have been updated since the original targets were set, which indicate more aggressive action is needed, according to the report.

Ward 7 Coun. Mairin Loewen, who sits on the environment committee, says the new net-zero target is essential. 

"It's critical that cities continue to lead in this space, and our results are only as good as the work that we put in," Loewen said.

"The strength and the potential of cities working on climate is that everybody does what they say they are going to do, and we have some work to do to actually fulfil our commitments."

The federal government and the City of Regina have already set a goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

According to the new report, the original Saskatoon community-wide target of reducing emissions by 15 per cent of 2014 levels by 2023 is currently on track.

Other cities declare climate emergency

The report states that 125 Canadian local governments and jurisdictions have declared climate emergencies, including the federal government and municipal governments in Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.

Amber Weckworth, the manager of climate strategy and data with th city's sustainability department, says Saskatoon should do the same.

"They kind of use that in their branding and say, 'This is an emergency that the city needs to react to,'" Weckworth said.  

The report states that Saskatoon could declare a climate emergency through a city council motion.

"Being one of the only cities not declaring a climate emergency might be something that tarnishes our reputation a little," Weckworth said.

The city's 2019 low emissions community plan said that plan should be updated every five years. 

The environment committee is recommending that the city use a science-based approach to set interim targets through the 2024-25 refresh of the plan, and that $250,000 from the city's environmental sustainability reserve be used to fund the update.

The 2024-25 plan would include modelling a net-zero scenario showing the trajectory for reductions over time and the actions needed to achieve interim and 2050 targets, the report says.

That would include removing any actions that are not feasible and adding additional action required to meet updated targets.

"I think the refresh is essential. I think the retooling of our target is very timely and wise," Loewen said. 

"I think the funding source makes complete sense, but I think we also need to turn our attention in what is a very challenging environment fiscally to ensure that we can make meaningful progress going forward."

Those recommendations were also approved by the committee. All three recommendations will be brought forward to city council to vote on.