SvN’s Post Carbon Research team prepared and submitted the following report to City council on December 14th, 2021 urging the City of Toronto to rethink our Official Plan and implement a post carbon lens to policy moving forward. It highlights key opportunities, challenges and recommendations to inform the ongoing Municipal Comprehensive Review process and help transition the Official Plan from a land use focus to a zero carbon focus.

We identified five priority areas that must be addressed. These include the following:

• Accelerating the Development of Low Carbon Buildings
• Implementing the 4Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Retrofit
• Enhancing the City’s Role as a Carbon Sink
• Building Community Resilience
• Advancing our Transportation Goals

We believe the City of Toronto’s Official Plan needs to re-centre its purpose by adopting climate-positive policy as the foundational element of all planning. Climate change knows no boundaries, and affects everyone. The house is on fire, and we need to act like it.

Thank you!