Transcript A Lot of Hot Air? Measuring the Climate Change Elizabeth Schwartz

A Lot of Hot Air?
Measuring the Climate Change
Initiatives of Canadian Cities
Elizabeth Schwartz
University of British Columbia
Climate Change and Renewable Energy Policy in the EU and Canada
Carleton University
October 2, 2015
What is Climate Policy?
• Setting GHG emission reduction targets?
• Participating in intergovernmental networks such as
Partners for Climate Protection?
• Creating a Climate Change Action plan?
• Buying hybrid vehicles for the city fleet?
• Asking people to turn out their lights for Earth Hour?
• Requiring new condo towers to be built to LEED Gold
standards?
Dimensions of “Likely Impact”
• Ambition
• Settings, levels
• Scope
• Community or corporate emissions
• Coerciveness
• Policy instrument
(Information/Voluntary Action < Subsidies < Taxes/Regulation)
Measuring Climate Policy
Deductive Inventories
• Advantages: simple; reliable; relatively easy data collection
• Disadvantages: unweighted; may overlook policies not
anticipated in advance
Inductive Inventories
• Advantages: simple; sensitive to context
• Disadvantages: unweighted; may overlook policies not
explicitly labeled as relating to climate change
Starting Deductively
Policy Area
Transportation
Procurement
Buildings and Planning
Waste
Energy
Other
Specific GHG reducing activities
Cycling
Walking
Transit
Cars
Goods movement
Roads
General
Fleet
Zoning
Green roofs
Building standards (e.g., LEED certification)
Brownfield redevelopment
Site-specific projects
Other
Landfill gas capture
Electricity conservation
Electricity generation
Other
Green business promotion
Adding More Detail
Scope
City
Toronto
Vancouver
Montreal
Edmonton
Calgary
Ottawa
Winnipeg
Hamilton
Mississauga
Québec
City
Brampton
# of
Actions
25
23
20
20
20
17
16
15
13
Coerciveness (Community)
Service
Voluntary/
Tax/
Provision
Corporate Community
Information
Regulation
/ Subsidy
5
21
5
12
3
7
16
5
8
3
8
12
3
7
2
5
15
8
6
1
7
13
7
6
0
4
13
6
6
1
4
12
6
5
1
5
10
4
6
1
4
9
4
4
1
10
6
5
1
3
1
9
3
6
2
3
1
Sources: Official websites of the municipalities, 2011
Looking to the Future
• What we measure matters
• Targets and actions are not equivalent
• All actions are not equal
• Cities have a lot of potential
• In Canada it has largely not been realized
• This doesn’t mean that all is lost
• But there is a lot of work to be done
Elizabeth Schwartz
Department of Political Science
University of British Columbia
[email protected]