Environmental advocates are urging city councillors to show some "spine" as they usher Ottawa toward a cleaner, greener future.

At its meeting Tuesday, the city's committee on environmental protection, water and waste management endorsed tough new targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as a new climate change master plan.

"The work laid out in this plan is enormous, but is in keeping with the enormous scale of work to be done," Sharon Coward, executive director of EnviroCentre, told councillors.

The staff report sets out a climate road map to 2050. A list of specific carbon-cutting projects, their price tags and how they rank as priorities will follow in the spring.

Much will depend on how much upper levels of government are willing to kick in, but the new plan improves the city's odds of getting those grants, said Steve Willis, general manager of planning, infrastructure and economic development.

Raymond Leury of the Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa likes the idea of setting a "carbon budget" and deciding how to "spend" limited emissions.

"If managers are compensated and measured on carbon budgets as well as they are on financial budgets, that will incent them to do what they can to reduce the amount of carbon that's emitted."

Leury said to hit those targets, the city will need to convert its fleet of vehicles to electric, starting now. The city may also look at allowing electric vehicles in high-occupancy vehicle lanes, and installing charging stations in community housing buildings.

For years, advocates have been calling on the city to take an urgent approach to climate change, but staff have recommended only minimal spending.

"We've come a long way," said Robb Barnes of Ecology Ottawa, who believes the road map is directly linked to the declaration of a climate emergency in April.

Barnes and others urged the city to move even faster on climate change. But emissions from city buildings, vehicles and landfills represent only a small part of the picture.

Ninety-five per cent of emissions generated in Ottawa don't stem from city operations, and they edged upward in 2018.

Joan Haysom works with builders and the private sector on energy efficiency at J.L. Richards and Associates, and called on the the city to nudge them to do more than the status quo.

"I encourage the city to show leadership and strength and a spine to create an environment where we build a better city," Haysom said.