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In a win for Toronto environmentalists, last week Canada’s largest city endorsed the call for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, and approved a new green building standard and net zero existing buildings strategy, both of which will put the city “on a solid path to a net zero future,” according to independent regional climate agency The Atmospheric Fund. 

Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty

Though no such treaty or official draft thereof exists, a group of over 400 civil society organizations is campaigning for one to be adopted by the global community. The treaty is envisioned to:

• end all efforts to expand oil, gas, and coal extraction and production;

• phase out existing fossil fuel activities in an organized and equitable manner; and

• direct investments toward a 100% renewable energy future and just transition. 

Toronto’s City Council voted 22-2 to endorse the call for such a treaty. One of the only two city councillors to vote against the measure was - perhaps unsurprisingly - Michael Ford (Etobicoke North), nephew of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford and his infamous late brother, former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. Councillor Ford’s mother, Kathy Ford, is their sister.

Toronto’s endorsement follows that of Vancouver, which became the first city in the world to endorse the call for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty in October 2020. Los Angeles and Barcelona are also on the list of cities that have likewise endorsed the treaty call.

(Green Economy Law Professional Corporation has also officially endorsed the call for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. Other parties interested in endorsing the call for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty can do so here.)

Green Building Standard Version 4, Net Zero Existing Building Strategy

The Toronto Green Building Standard Version 4 builds upon the city’s previous green building standards and will raise sustainability-related requirements for new building construction in the city. Among the new standard’s noteworthy aspects are requirements for electric vehicle charging infrastructure and building construction material carbon assessments for all new buildings, and net-zero design for all new city-owned buildings starting in 2022. 

The Net Zero Existing Building Strategy is a plan to develop emission performance standards and reporting requirements for Toronto homes and buildings, and otherwise generally incentivize retrofits and other actions to lower Toronto’s building-related emissions. The plan also aims to retrofit all city-owned buildings to be net zero by 2040.