Calgary's new mayor wants to declare a climate emergency. What could it mean for Canada's energy capital?

Jyoti Gondek may have raised a few eyebrows when she said her first order of business as Calgary's new mayor would be to declare a climate emergency in the city.

It might have surprised some onlookers because declaring a climate emergency was not listed as a top priority in her mayoral campaign's platform priority web pages. It did however, have a section devoted to taking action on climate change, including promises to set clear targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to a changing climate through flood protection and more resilient building materials, and Gondek did say declaring a climate emergency was a priority in interviews and debates including a mayoral debate online.

Now that she's been sworn in, the mayor's office confirms there is no higher priority right now than declaring a climate emergency as Gondek's first task. The idea will be formally tabled before the city's executive committee next week and then brought to full council for debate on Nov. 15, the new council's first meeting.

Hundreds of Canadian cities have already declared a climate emergency, including Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, something that was done more than two years ago.

Calgary's new mayor says it's time to do the same in Alberta's biggest city, which 1.3 million people call home. But she's signalled it's not just about lowering greenhouse gas emissions. It's also about attracting investment and creating jobs.

"What we need to do now is recognize that we are in a climate emergency so we can continue to attract capital to our city," the mayor told reporters at city hall last month.

So what could happen in Calgary after a climate emergency is declared? Other cities have done it, what's been their experience? Will it help reverse the damaging effects of climate change and create jobs? Or will it be a blow to Canada's oil and gas capital?

What can cities actually do?

Advocates and experts say a climate emergency declaration must be followed by measurable actions to ensure the move isn't just a symbolic gesture — and they say cities can pull a lot of levers to reduce carbon emissions.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities says cities account for roughly half of all greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, through transportation and the energy used to heat, cool and light homes and buildings.

"The statement itself isn't going to change anything, but it does showcase a priority," said Brendan Boyd, an assistant professor in the department of anthropology, economics and political science at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton.

"I wouldn't say necessarily that, you know, you declare an emergency and all of a sudden everything changes and this is now a totally new world. But it's part of the long process of building political support for taking action that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions,'' he said.

Calgary already has a Climate Resilience Strategy that was passed unanimously by council in June 2018. But last year's annual report showed greenhouse gas emissions have fallen less than half a percentage point below 2005 levels. The report also contained an admission that the city is not on track to meet its goal of cutting emissions to 80 per cent of 2005 levels by 2050.

The Environmental Law Centre says declaring a climate emergency can be an important signal as to what a community's priorities are, but it must be followed by action to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Brenda Heelan Powell, a lawyer with the organization, says cities can reduce their own carbon footprints by changing vehicle fleets and making buildings more energy efficient.

From a planning perspective, cities can determine where and how things get built.

"The city could put into place requirements for things like zero-net emission buildings," said Heelan Powell.

She says the city can also make significant changes to the way citizens get around by designing more walkable communities, improved bike routes and public transportation networks — and it can also contain urban sprawl, which could reduce the amount of time people spend driving around.

How much is this going to cost?

Like most cities across the country, Edmonton and Vancouver declared climate emergencies more than two years ago — and have committed to spending hundreds of millions of dollars to tackling the problem.

In Edmonton, the city has committed millions of dollars to a number of programs for home and building owners to help cover the costs related to retrofitting less energy efficient homes or installing solar panels. The city claims per capita greenhouse gas emissions have fallen from 25.6 tonnes per capita in 2005 to 15 tonnes per capita in 2020. Calgary's most recent figure is from 2019 and is 14.5 tonnes per capita.

In Vancouver, the climate emergency was declared in early 2019. City staff were given 90 days to come up with a plan to "ramp up" the city's action on climate change.

Council approved $500 million over five years to transition the city's fleet to electric vehicles, to eliminate fossil fuels as a heating source for its buildings and an incentive program for the private sector to do the same. Some of the money will be spent on upgrading sidewalks and improving pedestrian flow to improve walkability.

Vancouver's climate policy manager says council's decision to declare a climate emergency was partly symbolic, but it came with an action plan.

"There was also a very specific direction to staff to start doing more to respond to that emergency," said Matt Horne.

Horne says his advice to Calgary city council is not to get "bogged down" in the symbolism of declaring a climate emergency.

"Calgary is already doing good work. I think it's just, get down to ramping up and get going," he said.

"Because so many of these changes also lead to better outcomes at a city level, like better air quality, quieter streets, all sort of things we value."

Homebuilders caution greener homes cost more

As Vancouver transitions to cleaner, greener methods to heat buildings and homes, Calgarians could see a similar shift depending on whether city council moves on a new climate action plan.

The homebuilding industry says a lot of work is being done around building codes, not just how existing and new homes become more energy efficient, but how do they withstand more volatile weather events brought on by climate change.

The CEO of the Canadian Home Builders Association is hoping for some harmonization across the country when it comes to municipalities that have declared climate emergencies and are looking to change the way homes are made.

"We need some harmonization in all of this," said Kevin Lee.

"Cities have gone ahead and declared these climate change emergencies — that's one thing," he said.

"It's another thing to try and undertake all of this by yourself as a municipality, if you will, as a city. Because changes to the building code, you know, there's a lot of work going on, it shouldn't be done hodgepodge."

"Cities don't have the capability to do all of this, and nor should they try, and every city shouldn't be doing it separately."

Lee cautions the other aspect is affordability, as homes that are more energy efficient tend to cost more than homes with traditional sources of heating and cooling.

"We have a housing affordability crisis in Canada, and a lot of things about changing how we build often lead to more expensive construction. So how do you handle that?"

Climate emergency can lead to opportunity

Mayor Gondek's messaging so far on declaring a climate emergency includes praise for Alberta's oil and gas industry and, as mentioned, a nod to new investment opportunities.

"There are groups like BlackRock and, you know, banks worldwide, that are interested in focusing on investing their dollars into cities that recognize we have work to do on the climate."

"The energy sector is strong in Alberta. What we need to do is show that we are also strong in production method transition," she said last week.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers declined to comment on the mayor's pledge to declare a climate emergency and instead said it intends to "engage" with her first.

'Job creation machine'

The Alberta Ecotrust Climate Innovation Fund is part of a federally funded program that helps Calgary and Edmonton cut carbon emissions.

The program director describes efforts to lower emissions in Alberta's biggest cities as "a job creation machine."

"All of those jobs are retrofitting our buildings and they're hyperlocal," said Mike Mellross.

"You're working on the ground, you can't outsource them to other countries, you have to do that work right here. And it's a monumental undertaking to get to carbon neutrality by 2050. It's probably about a 10 times increase in our renovation churn rate in order to achieve that," he said.

He says there can be multiple benefits to taking action on climate change.

"Jobs, gross domestic product increase, climate change action, solving social objectives, social issues — all of those things together need to be part of a holistic package," he said.

He says the mayor is right when she identifies the opportunities that could be unlocked by declaring a climate emergency.

"The other thing it can do, which I think is very exciting for Calgary, is it positions you with those other leading global cities. They are all speaking that language, and it can actually become an industry attraction," he said.

"It creates new business, it recruits new young talent that is interested in building their businesses and their lives in the city, because they're looking for that kind of an approach being taken by the municipality," said Mellross.

Hoping for action, not symbolism

A Calgary company that has developed a small scale carbon capture and storage system for older buildings that use natural gas as a heating source is hoping a possible climate emergency declaration will lead to meaningful change and more opportunities for his company to expand.

Jaeson Cardiff started CleanO2 in his basement and has now taken over 12,000 square feet of space in an industrial park in southeast Calgary. 

Employees there are busy making hand and body soap, one of the byproducts his company makes from the carbon that was captured in their Calgary-made devices.

"Drawing attention to this issue associated with emissions coming from municipalities puts us front and centre of being able to provide a shovel-ready product, that we can go out and start addressing those carbon emissions," said Cardiff.

"I'm hopeful that this proposed declaration will be more than just talk, it'll be action, it'll be actionable items," he said.

Bryan Labby is an enterprise reporter with CBC Calgary. If you have a good story idea or tip, you can reach him at bryan.labby@cbc.ca or on Twitter at @CBCBryan.