Resilient St. John's Climate Plan

Climate change is an urgent, complex, and global crisis, with many of its impacts already affecting our community and more expected to become a reality before children born in 2021 become 30 years old. However, its relatively long timeline and the required level of community-wide change makes it a challenge to rapidly transition to a society and economy that can limit climate change's impact to reasonable levels (to 1.5 C). Collective effort across our community is needed to contribute our part to limiting climate change to 1.5 C. This can be done by improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions which would improve our current energy poverty issues while preventing the worst projected changes in climate from becoming a reality. 

Currently St. John's emits 789,417 tCO2e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent). Modelling results show that if no additional policies, actions, or strategies to address energy use and emissions are implemented other than those currently underway or planned, this total decreases to 573,307 tCO2e. The decrease results from fuel efficiency standards in vehicles, planned renewable energy of the provincial electricity grid, and reduced heating needs as the climate warms. St. John's needs to reduce its annual emissions to 380,000 tCO2e by 2030 to align with efforts to reduce global warming by 1.5 C and to Net-Zero by 2050 at the latest.

The local analysis shows that this transition provides an opportunity to create an economic net benefit of $5.4 billion including new business opportunities, 1,800 new jobs, improving built environment, reducing household energy costs by up to 50%, while stimulating innovation and improving health outcomes. The investment required across our community would be the equivalent of 6.7% of our provincial GDP or 12% of the St. John's CMA's GDP per year. Climate action is not just about avoiding the human and environmental crisis of climate change; it's about cashing in on significant new local, national, and global economic opportunities. 

Five key focus areas for action in the Resilient St. John’s Community Climate Plan to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions were identified through a combination of consultation with the public and through technical modelling. 

These include: 

1. Municipal leadership and planning 
2. Affordable and efficient buildings for all 
3. Transportation transformation 
4. Clean energy for resilience 
5. Low-waste future 

Review the report including the proposed actions within these themes and have your say in the discussion below. 

Climate change is an urgent, complex and global crisis, with many of its impacts already impacting our community and more expected to become a reality before children born in 2021 become 30 years old. The City of St. John’s undertook a strategic risk assessment and planning process to inform how changes in climate may impact our community and what actions we can collectively take to address them. The assessment identified 55 unique impacts across the infrastructure, people & economy, and the natural environment of our community. 

Infrastructure - Sea level rise is anticipated to increase erosion and likelihood of storm surges flooding coastal infrastructure. Precipitation changes are expected to increase stress and maintenance requirements on stormwater infrastructure and buildings (e.g., mould, leaks), while water crossings may experience increased vulnerability and potential for failure. Similarly, sport fields may see an increase in required maintenance due to flooding. Warmer summers will increase energy use for cooling, and demand for cooled venues for youth and vulnerable populations, as well as opportunities for gardening. Meanwhile, the increase in winter freeze-thaw cycles may increase maintenance requirements on roads. Increased extreme weather may lead to more frequent outages in communications and power. 

People and Economy - Climate change will have direct impacts on St. John’s socioeconomic system. Impacts to our transportation systems (roads, public and active transportation) can impact the local economy by causing delays and disruptions to business operations. Similarly, impacts to the marine ecosystems, agriculture, and energy use can change the food security future of our community. Increased infrastructure maintenance and repair can lead to changes in servicing costs. Health impacts form climate change have been identified. This includes changes to winter leading to less opportunities for winter activities, increased incidence of vector-borne diseases, injury from extreme weather events, exacerbations to weather dependent health conditions (e.g., respiratory and cardiovascular conditions), and psychological effects of extreme weather impacts

Natural Environment - Warmer temperatures are expected to impact the freshwater and sea temperatures leading to changes in both ecosystems, as well as terrestrial ecosystems, including invasive species. These changes may also impact migratory birds and fish, which can have an impact on recreation and fishing activities. Temperature and precipitation changes are expected to create an extension to the forest fire season. The longer growing season also is expected to bring more pest management demand, but also provide an opportunity for gardening and food production. The impact of wind is uncertain, but if winds do increase (along with intensity of storms) it is expected that more tree blowdowns may take place (contributing to fire risk), and that wind would also impact the number of viable fishing days.

Four key focus areas for action in the Resilient St. John’s Community Climate Plan to adapt to its impacts on our community  were identified through a combination of consultation with the public and through technical modelling. 

These include: 

1. Smart Growth
2. Resilient Natural and Built Infrastructure
3. Thriving Natural Environment and Agriculture
4. Disaster Resilience and Emergency Preparedness

Review the report including the proposed actions within these themes and have your say in the discussion below.