1. A Lot of Hot Air? Measuring the Climate Change Initiatives of Canadian Cities Elizabeth Schwartz University of British Columbia Climate Change and Renewable Energy Policy in the EU and Canada Carleton University October 2, 2015

2. What is Climate Policy? Setting GHG emission reduction targets? Participating in intergovernmental networks such as Partners for Climate Protection? Creating a Climate Change Action plan? Buying hybrid vehicles for the city fleet? Asking people to turn out their lights for Earth Hour? Requiring new condo towers to be built to LEED Gold standards?

3. Dimensions of “Likely Impact” Ambition Settings, levels Scope Community or corporate emissions Coerciveness Policy instrument (Information/Voluntary Action < Subsidies < Taxes/Regulation)

4. Measuring Climate Policy Deductive Inventories Advantages: simple; reliable; relatively easy data collection Disadvantages: unweighted; may overlook policies not anticipated in advance Inductive Inventories Advantages: simple; sensitive to context Disadvantages: unweighted; may overlook policies not explicitly labeled as relating to climate change

5. Starting Deductively Policy AreaSpecific GHG reducing activities Transportation Cycling Walking Transit Cars Goods movement Roads Procurement General Fleet Buildings and Planning Zoning Green roofs Building standards (e.g., LEED certification) Brownfield redevelopment Site-specific projects Other WasteLandfill gas capture Energy Electricity conservation Electricity generation Other Green business promotion

6. Adding More Detail ScopeCoerciveness (Community) City # of Actions CorporateCommunity Voluntary/ Information Service Provision / Subsidy Tax/ Regulation Toronto255215123 Vancouver23716583 Montreal20812372 Edmonton20515861 Calgary20713760 Ottawa17413661 Winnipeg16412651 Hamilton15510461 Mississauga1349441 Québec City 1065131 Brampton936231 Sources: Official websites of the municipalities, 2011

7. Looking to the Future What we measure matters Targets and actions are not equivalent All actions are not equal Cities have a lot of potential In Canada it has largely not been realized This doesn’t mean that all is lost But there is a lot of work to be done

8. Elizabeth Schwartz Department of Political Science University of British Columbia bschwar@mail.ubc.ca