While Canada's emissions have slightly decreased, London is struggling to meet targets (Credit: Ontario Bike Trails)
According a new report from the Canadian Climate Institute, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Canada went down slightly in 2023.
The reports says that an increasing population as well as economic growth pushed emissions up, but changing climate policy and clean energy initiatives were able to bring the numbers back down to the negatives.
But, while Canada is seeing emissions go down on a national level, London is seeing less progress.
According to a report from London’s Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee, released last summer, the city is struggling to meet its emissions targets for 2030.
The city may be on track to meet its emissions goals for the city administration and local businesses, but the trouble is trying to get individual households to change their habits, according to Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis.
“I think there’s some reasons to be understanding of that,” Lewis says. “You can’t force people to spend money to adopt climate measures that might not be in their budget right now.”
Lewis says that with increasing costs for households, like groceries and bills, it is a difficult time for Londoners to make the necessary changes to help lower GHG emissions. While programs exist, like the Greener Homes Loan Program, which helps households switch to more climate-friendly appliances, like heat pumps, Lewis says that not everyone can get that help.
“(The Greener Homes Loan Program) has been pretty much filled now, so other people are going to have a harder time accessing that until the federal government, hopefully, renews the program.”
In the meantime, Lewis says that household heating and cooling is the second highest contributor to emissions in the whole city, behind transportation.
Another factor that cannot be ignored is London’s population growth, which creates a push-and-pull effect, Lewis says.
“We are already at a population that was not projected, for London, until 2023,” he says. “With those population projections…people need housing, people need to be able to get to work and to school–and people do equal emissions.”
