Open in full screen mode The City admits being far from its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 in a report published Tuesday. (Archive photo) Speech synthesis, based on artificial intelligence, makes it possible to generate spoken text from written text. City of Greater Sudbury admits it is not on track to meet its ambitious carbon neutrality goals by 2050. In the very first annual update of the City's net zero emissions plan since its adoption, we note an improvement in the City's electricity use thanks in particular to logistical changes such as the use of lamps energy-efficient streets and the electrification of public transport. In addition, the report highlights an increase in the use of liquid fuels, as gasoline and diesel. The report also indicates that natural gas consumption has declined irregularly since 2016, due in particular to the increase in travel needs for several services, including emergencies.
Paul Lefebvre perceives the report as a benchmark for better action. (Archive photo)
Mayor Paul Lefebvre welcomes the update as a guide to doing things better.
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I think that's an observation. With old buildings, cars that still emit carbon with their gasoline engines, it becomes difficult.
A quote from Paul Lefebvre, mayor of Greater Sudbury
But I believe that as technology advances, we will have to invest and adopt it in order to adapt, he adds.
In order to achieve carbon neutrality objectives by 2050, the analysis suggests modernizing more than 500 municipal buildings and equipment by making them energy efficient, and therefore prioritizing renovations over new construction.
< p class="StyledBodyHtmlParagraph-sc-48221190-4 hnvfyV">It is also proposed to provide incentives to residents for achieving community-wide goals.
Cathy Orlando, Director of Programs for the organization Citizens Climate International, for its part thinks that the City should focus more on community awareness, which according to it is the key to achieving the set objective.
Cathy Orlando admits that the objective cannot be achieved without provincial and federal assistance. (File photo)
We can plant as many trees as we want, but if we continue to use fossil fuels, we will fry the planet, she argues.
For his part, David St-Georges, spokesperson for the reThink Green organization, wants the Municipality to talk about its evolution in carbon emissions, which, according to him, would encourage local businesses to take action.
Seeing the City take the lead in reducing and managing carbon emissions will push me to do the same, he says.
Furthermore, all the recommendations made in the action plan require financial resources that are difficult to access for municipalities, as indicated by Jean-Thomas Bernard, specialist in energy issues.
Jean-Thomas Bernard believes that the City's objective is far too ambitious for the moment. (File photo)
Their control tools are still very limited. Even for heating, upgrading a building in terms of energy efficiency is still very expensive, so we don't undertake these operations on a regular basis, he says.
It takes relatively large investments when we want to update a municipal building, we talk about millions of dollars.
A quote from Jean-Thomas Bernard, professor in the Department of Economic Sciences at the University of Ottawa
The expert, just like Mayor Lefebvre, affirms that the Municipality needs help from other levels of government to become carbon neutral by 2050.
We need help from the federal and provincial levels because, whether we like it or not, we all have a role to play. The Municipality's means are quite limited to make these changes, declares Mr. Lefebvre.
Moreover, Mr. Bernard thinks that even with the means that 'it is necessary, the objective remains much too large for the current era.
80% of the energy we currently consume is fossil energy, so oil, natural gas, coal, 80%. Replacing that with renewable energy is a laudable goal, but unattainable, he emphasizes.
A new update on the City's environmental progress in 2023 will be delivered to the City Council by the end of the year.
With information from Bienvenu Senga
- Orphée Moussongo ( View profile)Orphée MoussongoFollow