Earth Hour Tour: Cities Leading the Way

WWF Canada

On March 7, 2014 WWF’s David Miller moderated a panel discussion with a variety of experts, hosted by the City of Edmonton, Canada’s 2014 Earth Hour City Capital, and the University of Alberta. The topic: visions for a future where climate change is no longer a threat. We know that future is possible, and that the solutions are all around us – including in Edmonton. And we want all of Canada to learn from their successes. We asked panelists to answer a critical question: what is the one thing we need to do today to achieve that vision? Here is one of the answers we received.
Written by Barbara Daly, City of Edmonton, Office of Environment
Cities can lead the way to a low-carbon future. As a city, Edmonton has coordinated research for what our municipality must do to reach a low carbon state by 2050. The Way We Green, the City of Edmonton’s Environmental Strategic Plan, has a sweeping inventory of recommendations that covers energy, quality of life, innovation, cultural diversity and environmental responsibility. It’s a plan worth following. The City is now fleshing out the recommendations with specific supporting plans, deepening citizen engagement, monitoring progress, adjusting as we go, continuing with what works, and setting us on a path where we will thrive into the future. Following the vision of The Way We Green has implications for all of us in the way we live, breathe and flourish.

solar panels
© Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), Edmonton AB

Citizens, communities, businesses and municipalities can embrace a low carbon future through a variety of actions and by showing support for initiatives, including:

  • Renewable energy on City property
  • Renewable energy on your home and businesses
  • Cogeneration and district energy
  • Sustainable design, like the Blatchford Redevelopment
  • Infill development
  • Public transit
  • Hybrid and electric cars
  • Car sharing
  • Taking your bike out for a spin … often
  • Walking…..with your dog!
  • Energy-efficient appliances
  • Insulation for your home
  • Lowering your house temperature (put on a sweater)
  • Switching off and unplugging appliances when not in use
  • Local businesses
  • Locally grown food
  • Reducing, reusing, recycling – in that order 

Leadership is key at all levels. The community has shown great leadership: from individuals who follow sustainable lifestyles and share their views at public forums, to groups of citizens who take action at the neighborhood level and support solar energy for their community buildings, to corporate leaders who provide residents with sustainable and energy-efficient choices and give back to the community in so many ways. The City also shows leadership in the numerous initiatives already undertaken, such as work around renewable energy, and plans under development, such as Edmonton’s Energy Transition Plan. Edmonton’s successes in waste management are now being shared among cities around the world.  Every level of government in every jurisdiction, locally and globally, needs to show leadership and share responsibility for our energy and climate challenges. The journey has already begun with small and large steps. As an entire community, let’s further commit to a low-carbon future and move us further along a sustainable path.
Barbara Daly is a project manager within the Office of Environment, City of Edmonton. With a focus on renewable energy and brownfield redevelopment, she works on creating and delivering programs that promote renewable energy and redevelopment of contaminated sites within Edmonton’s municipal boundaries.
Interested in participating in the Earth Hour Tour: Out of the Dark, Into the Future? We’re coming to Halifax on Friday, March 21 and Toronto on Tuesday, March 25.
Celebrate Earth Hour, 8:30-9:30 p.m. on March 29, and let us know what you’ll be thinking about during your #momentofdarkness at wwfcastg.wwf.ca/earthhour.