Edmonton fails to meet climate targets 2 years after launching carbon budget

The City of Edmonton is falling short of its greenhouse gas emission targets, two years after the municipality introduced its first carbon budget. 

As a whole, the city emitted an estimated 16.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2023 — higher than the 13.4 million tonnes it was aiming for, the 2023-2026 carbon budget update report shows. 

"If Edmonton's current emission trajectory continues, Edmonton's GHG reduction targets will not be achieved," the report states.

Like any other budget, a carbon budget determines how much the city can spend over a time period — only instead of money, it's budgeting greenhouse gas emissions.

The city aims to become a carbon-neutral community by 2050. 

Melanie Hoffman, co-chair of the city's independent Energy Transition Climate Resilience Committee, said the news is disappointing.

"We are not on a trajectory to change that," Hoffman said in an interview Tuesday. 

To get on track, emissions would need to go down to 12.7 million tonnes or less in 2024.

"The trend for this year indicates that this target will not be met and there are no current initiatives or actions that will allow the necessary reductions to meet the target," the report says.

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The city's new zoning bylaw aims to help support the climate goals by introducing mixed-use zones, expanding neighbourhood business opportunities and enabling a greater variety of housing forms to create a compact city, the report says.

Hoffman said she appreciates efforts to stop urban sprawl and create more livable neighbourhoods "where I don't have to travel as far to get a jug of milk or a coffee as I do currently," but the city also needs expanded transportation options.

"I want to be able to safely ride my bike to the rec centre. Currently not a great choice from where I live." 

The city can help develop programs for heat pumps and neighbourhood-level solar, Hoffman added. 

Ward Dene Coun. Aaron Paquette said he wasn't surprised at the emissions update and noted the city has created policies aimed at curbing emissions. 

For example, policies promote more energy-saving buildings, installing solar panels and transitioning from diesel to hydrogen or electric buses, he said. 

The city declared a climate emergency in 2019, one year after it hosted the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2018. 

Political will

Hoffman said the problem is political will, as changes and programs cost money. 

"Council makes these decisions and council is going into [an] election next year, so if people don't want to pay then council is not going to say 'Yes, we can do this.'" 

Paquette said the tax rate is already high, with the city's finance department now proposing an 8.1 per cent increase in 2025. 

"We'd like to lower it. The public absolutely wants us to lower it," Paquette said. 

• City of Edmonton proposes 8.1% tax hike in 2025 to cover higher costs

Council and administration will need to look at what the city is allowed to offer, under the Municipal Government Act, beyond core services, Paquette said.

"That leads us into an area of what I believe will become intense debate among the public about what a city should or shouldn't do and what sort of resources a city should allocate to things that aren't core services."

The city is facing a $34-million deficit by the end of the year, the city's finance department said in its fall budget adjustment update.

It proposes to cut the Community Energy Transition Strategy Program — an action plan that outlines ways to create healthier neighbourhoods — by $1.8 million.

That will set the city back in its goals, Hoffman said. 

The city's carbon budget update notes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2023 report cautions that GHG emissions will cause global warming to accelerate, likely reaching 1.5 C between 2030 and 2035

"Edmonton's 2023 GHG emission results show Edmonton is contributing to this warming," the city's report says. 

A city perception report found that 74 per cent of respondents agree climate change is a concern, and 73 per cent of respondents agreed immediate action is needed, and must be considered with all of the competing priorities.