Understanding the HalifACT 2050 Climate Plan
By Sabrina Guzman Skotnitsky, NSEN Information and Communications Manager
Sabrina is a climate justice organizer and has worked on campaigns for fossil fuel divestment, Stop Alton Gas, a Canadian Green New Deal, and Just Recovery from COVID-19 for all.
In 2019, along with hundreds of municipalities across Canada, Halifax declared a Climate Emergency. Then this year on June 23rd, the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) released their plan to address the climate crisis, entitled HalifACT 2050: Acting on Climate Together Plan. The plan is 52 pages long with 6 chapters discussing the climate challenges and opportunities facing the HRM. The Plan presents 46 actions the municipality intends on taking between now and the year 2050 to combat climate change. This blog will take readers through the plan, defining important terminology, breaking down the strategy, and highlighting certain actions we think have great significance and relevance to NSEN organizations and community members. HalifACT 2050 is an ambitious and holistic approach to climate action, and will require the participation of government, nonprofits, and residents to make possible.
To read the full plan, download it here: https://www.halifax.ca/about-halifax/energy-environment/halifact-2050-acting-climate-together
Why is it important for the HRM to take action on climate change?
Before we get into the plan, it's important that we are all on the same page as to why such a plan is urgently needed. While Canada is generally better off than many other places with high climate vulnerability, such as island nations like Tuvalu, as a province surrounded by water Nova Scotia is posed by various threats. Page 8 of the plan discusses how “Halifax will experience higher temperatures, more heat waves, more rain and snow and an increasing number of more severe storms, flooding events and wildfires.” Furthermore, extreme weather tends to exacerbate other climate hazards “such as sea level rise, decreased snowpack and unpredictable runoff, and increases in invasive species and vector-borne diseases”. While it is possible to implement adaptive measures to climate change, they are often costly and only accessible for certain sections of the HRM. Mi'kmaq people, African Nova Scotians, and people with low-income are more vulnerable to climate change than other sectors of the population because of systemic and historical discrimination (for more see Dr. Ingrid Waldron’s work on environmental racism). Importantly, the HalifACT 2050 Plan recognizes the inequitable access to nature and climate change adaptation measures, and aims to take an intersectional approach, engaging the most marginalized communities in implementation of the plan.
Understanding the Plan:
Here is the Important terminology you’ll need to know in order to read the plan:
Net-zero emissions: we will achieve net-zero emissions when any remaining human-caused green house gas emissions (i.e. carbon dioxide, methane gas) which contribute to climate change are balanced out by removing GHGs from the atmosphere in a process known as carbon removal. Planting trees is one simple example of a way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, as trees naturally convert CO2 into oxygen.
1.5°C/low carbon pathway: In 2018, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading scientific body on climate change released a report titled Global Warming of 1.5°C. “The report indicated that the risks of climate change can be substantially reduced by limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (°C) above pre-industrial levels. If the world continues to emit its current level of greenhouse gases (GHGs), we will breach the limit of 1.5°C of warming in just ten years.” (8) The 1.5°C pathway refers to the plan which, if followed, will keep HRM’s emissions under or at the level to which a maximum of 1.5°C degree celsius increase would happen.
Carbon Budget: How much carbon dioxide we are allowed to emit to still stay on the low carbon/1.5°C pathway.
Just Transition: In order to stay on the low carbon pathway, workers in highly carbonized sectors, such as coal and oil will need to transition to low-carbon, green jobs such as renewable energy. “A just transition is an approach that aims to minimize the impact on workers and communities, and to engage with the individuals and organizations who are impacted.” (13) The goal is to support individuals are they re-skill and train for these new jobs, such as by providing income assistance.
Business As Usual (BAU) scenario: a scenario showing the expected amount of emissions and increase in global temperatures if we were to continue as before, without making any changes to our consumption, emissions etc... A Business as Usual Scenario is what the HRM is trying to avoid by implementing this plan, as if we continue as before we will overshot the 1.5°C increase in global temperatures which will lead to cascading negative impacts.
Retrofit: refers to the addition of new technology or features to older systems. In many cases, it is more environmentally friendly to retrofit existing buildings and electrical systems rather than tear them down and rebuild from scratch. The new technologies added to the existing system often increase energy efficiency, decrease water use, improve insulation (therefore decreasing use of oil/electricity to heat the building), and many other advantageous features.
Actions that the Municipality Commits to taking:
HalifACT 2050 contains a total of 46 proposed actions, grouped by three main themes: decarbonized and resilient infrastructure, prepared and connected communities, and governance and leadership. On page 52 are the seven priority action which the HRM commits to taking in the next five years:
Retrofit and renewable energy programming
Retrofit municipal buildings to be net-zero ready and climate resilient
Electrification of transportation (make all HRM transit, including buses and ferries, run on electric power rather than oil)
Net-zero standards for new buildings (the amount of emissions caused by the construction/operation of the buildings must equate to amount of emissions removed)
Framework for assessing and protecting critical infrastructure
Capacity building for climate adaptation; and,
Financing strategy to operationalize the HalifACT 2050 plan over 30 years.
These are effective priority actions because earlier in the plan, the HRM shows that a large proportion of their GHG emissions come from inefficient buildings, electricity systems and transportation. NSEN agrees that these are great starting places for the municipality, but we also want to highlight other actions that are particularly related to the work of NSEN and our members. The actions I discuss below are also great opportunities for community members to be involved, whether through volunteering, lobbying the city to follow through with these commitments, or participating in consultation processes to inform policy.
What Actions are Relevant for NSEN and our Members?
NSEN is a member of Our HRM Alliance, a group of environmental organizations who worked hard to create and pass the Halifax Green Network Plan (GNP). The GNP aims to create a greenbelt in the HRM, which means regulating development and limiting urban sprawl so we can maintain the surrounding wilderness areas and ensure connectivity. NSEN is thrilled to see that Actions 20 and 26 refer specifically to the GNP, and think this a great opportunity for NSEN members and the public to push for its implementation. Implementing the GNP would include protecting wilderness areas such as Blue Mountain Birch Cove Lakes and Sandy Lake from further development, and rezoning various areas in the HRM so only certain types of land use are permitted.
You can learn more about Our HRM Alliance and the Green Network Plan here: http://ourhrmalliance.ca
The community capacity action provide great intervention points for the public to get involved as they specifically mention emergency management training (action 32) and climate planning sessions (33) with community organizations and businesses. As mentioned earlier, due to environmental racism and structural discrimniation in Nova Scotia toward Mi'kmaq and African Nova Scotian communities, they are more vulnerable to climate change impacts. That is why action 34 is critical in ensuring that no one residing in the HRM is left behind.
Lastly I wanted to highlight action 38-40 because this climate plan cannot be actualized to its full extent without the financial and political backing of powerful decision makers. Community buy-in is important, but without the government putting money where its mouth is many of these actions will be very hard to achieve. This section gives me hope that this plan will be followed through with and effective in achieving its goals.
Have more questions/comments about the HalifACT 2050 Climate Plan?
Drop us an email or comment below!
We also recommend this article breaking down the plan:
A Climate Plan That Actually Meets the Crisis: Halifax Leads the Way by Stephen Thomas