Item - 2021.IE23.2

City Council considered Items IE23.1 and IE23.2 together.

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:  

1. City Council receive the report (June 18, 2021) from the Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management for information.

The Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management gave a presentation on an Overview of the Net Zero Carbon Plan.

In 2016 City Council adopted TransformTO, the City of Toronto's (the "City") comprehensive climate action strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Further, in 2019, City Council declared a climate emergency and adopted a stronger emissions reduction target for Toronto, net zero emissions by 2050, or sooner. This report outlines Corporate Real Estate Management's Net Zero Carbon Plan (the "Plan") for the City's building portfolio in response to this declaration.

The Plan provides a road map to achieve net zero emissions in City buildings, first and foremost through changes to facility utilities[1] consumption. It offers seven initiatives to reach this goal, including, fuel switching and efficiency retrofits, lower-carbon new builds, strategic divestment, on-site renewables and storage, training and education, enhanced use of building performance data and carbon offsets and off-site renewables. The Plan focuses on making the right investments into City buildings in order to meet the targets set by City Council. The Plan would be delivered by Corporate Real Estate Management in collaboration with other City Divisions and City Agencies[2].

This report, based on the Plan, includes cost estimates associated with achieving net zero emissions in City buildings, using fuel switching and efficiency retrofits as the primary means to achieve a reduction of facility utilities consumption and thereby, emissions reduction. The estimated cumulative investment required to achieve the City's net zero emissions targets over the next 20 to 30 years ranges from $2.6 billion to $4.1 billion, depending on how quickly the City is able to support the investment.

Under a business as usual scenario, by 2040, the City will see an estimated 14 percent increase in annual carbon emissions, and 16 percent increase in annual operations costs (due electrical grid changes, rising carbon prices, and planned energy reduction efforts across its assets). However, in implementing the Plan, the City would realize at least an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gases (from its buildings) by 2040. With further investment, the City has the potential to achieve net zero status by 2040. As the Plan aligns with the City's climate-action work under TransformTO, the City would be contributing to Toronto's overall climate resiliency, improved local air quality, less overall reliance on fossil fuels, and the opportunity to contribute to the creation of jobs in the community and economic growth. Approximately 2000 to 4000 new jobs would be created in the City, along with the generation of approximately $6 to $8 billion in gross domestic product.

The Plan was developed in partnership with City stakeholders from 29 different Divisions and Agencies, using a third-party consultant, and aligns with the overall TransformTO Net-Zero Strategy that will be brought forward to City Council in the fourth quarter of 2021. 

 
[1] Utilities under the Plan include electricity, heating and cooling.
[2] The Plan excludes City corporations, including Toronto Community Housing Corporation and Exhibition Place.