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96 results
Tracking the SDGs in Canadian Cities: SDG 3
The document tracks health and well-being indicators for Canadian cities against UN SDG 3 targets. It finds significant progress in neonatal mortality, chronic disease mortality, smoking rates, and health worker density. However, it notes rising trends in heavy drinking and HIV mortality in specific cities like Regina and Saskatoon, and an overall national increase in suicide and self-inflicted injury mortality, despite declines in several major cities.
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Document type: Briefing
The Carbon-Free City Handbook
The Carbon-Free City Handbook outlines a strategic framework for cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through immediate, economically viable actions. It categorizes recommendations into buildings, transportation and mobility, electricity, industry, and biological resources, emphasizing the importance of setting bold 100% targets to drive transformational change rather than incremental progress.
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Document type: Guide
Tracking the SDGs in Canadian Cities: SDG 1
The document tracks SDG 1 progress in Canadian cities, finding that while child poverty is declining and social assistance coverage is increasing, overall poverty rates have risen in most cities, deviating from 2030 targets. It highlights significant regional disparities in poverty rates and municipal budget allocations for social services.
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Document type: Briefing
Cities and Smart Grids in Canada
The report examines the intersection of urban growth, aging electricity infrastructure, and climate change in Canada, arguing that the deployment of smart grid technologies is essential for decarbonization and grid resiliency. It identifies a significant financing gap for modernization, estimating a need for CAD 350 billion in investment over 20 years. The document outlines four emerging business models—Energy Service Provider, Customer Energy Marketplace, Local Balancing Authority, and Smart City—and notes that their adoption varies by region. It highlights barriers to smart grid deployment, including technical complexity, cyber security risks, and regulatory frameworks that treat smart investments as traditional capital infrastructure. The report concludes by calling for a National Vision on Grid Modernization to coordinate stakeholders and align the energy transition with mid-century climate goals.
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Document type: Report
Cities – The engines for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals
The briefing argues that cities are critical for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and presents an IISD tool that uses official Statistics Canada data to monitor SDG indicator trends in 13 major Canadian cities. Because global indicators cannot be directly applied to cities due to data limitations, the initiative identifies 12 specific indicators to track progress from 1995 to 2030. The tool aims to help policy-makers identify performance gaps, assess the feasibility of targets, and facilitate cross-scale coordinated action between municipal, provincial, and federal governments.
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Document type: Briefing
Prescribing Active Travel for Healthy People and a Healthy Planet
The document argues that promoting active travel—defined as walking, cycling, and public transit—creates a 'quadruple win' by reducing chronic disease, improving air quality, slowing climate change, and increasing health equity. It provides a framework for health professionals to encourage patients to integrate physical activity into their daily routines and to advocate for urban planning policies, such as the '5 Ds' of community design (density, land use diversity, design, destination accessibility, and distance to transit). A significant portion of the guide focuses on the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe in Ontario, explaining how intensification and complete community planning can facilitate a shift away from automobile dependence.
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Document type: Guide
2017_lancet_canada_brief-d5b350a3c2f6d2aa.pdf
The document outlines the intersection of climate change and public health in Canada, highlighting risks such as extreme heat, wildfires, and food insecurity, particularly in the Arctic and among Indigenous populations. It advocates for a rapid phase-out of coal-powered electricity by 2030, the implementation of a National Active Transport Strategy, and the integration of Health Impact Assessments into federal environmental processes to mitigate health risks and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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Document type: Policy brief
Building a Climate-Resilient City: The built environment
The document argues that current building codes often fail to account for climate change, leaving urban infrastructure vulnerable to increasing temperature variability and extreme weather. It advocates for the adoption of robust design protocols like PIEVC and CCHIP, the mitigation of the urban heat island (UHI) effect through strategic green space planning, and the use of resource-efficiency certifications such as LEED and the Living Building Challenge to create a more resilient urban fabric.
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Document type: Briefing
Building a Climate-Resilient City: Transportation infrastructure
The document outlines how urban transportation infrastructure in Alberta is vulnerable to rising temperatures and extreme weather, such as flooding and heat waves. It argues that resilience can be achieved through 'robustness' (using tools like the PIEVC protocol and green infrastructure), 'redundancy' (diversifying transportation modes and fuel sources), and 'resourcefulness' (engaging citizens via mobile apps and supporting shared mobility). The briefing recommends that Calgary and Edmonton undertake full vulnerability assessments, promote compact urban forms, and implement multi-modal networks to mitigate climate risks.
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Document type: Briefing
U.S. Coast Guard sued for failing to release public records of shipping incidents in the Salish Sea • Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth has sued the U.S. Coast Guard for failing to provide records of shipping incidents in the Salish Sea from 2009 to 2014. The organization argues that this data is essential for an ongoing vessel traffic risk assessment, particularly as pressure increases to export more oil via the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which could increase tanker traffic from one per week to one per day.
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CDBC’S GREEN AND SMART URBAN DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES
The guidelines establish a 'first green, then smart' approach, where smart technologies are used to optimize the outcomes of sustainable urban design. The framework covers six smart categories: telecommunications, mobility, governance, energy management, safety, and public services, supported by global case studies to demonstrate economic and environmental viability.
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Document type: Guide
CITIES FOR PEOPLE IN PRACTICE
The report examines three 'gold' rated transit-oriented developments—Hammarby Sjöstad in Sweden, Quartier Vauban in Germany, and Liuyun Xiaoqu in China—to illustrate the practical application of 'The 8 Principles' for sustainable urban design. These principles emphasize walking, cycling, high-quality transit, mixed-use zoning, density, and compact growth to reduce car dependency. The findings show that such designs lead to significant environmental benefits, such as lower emissions and water use, and economic gains, including higher property values and strong market demand, while only marginally increasing construction costs compared to traditional methods.
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Document type: Report
TomorrowNow— Manitoba’s Green Plan: Toward a New Provincial Climate Change and Green Economy Plan Consultations Background Paper
The document outlines the current state of greenhouse gas emissions in Manitoba, identifying the transportation sector as the largest source at 38% of total emissions in 2012. It highlights the vulnerability of provincial infrastructure to extreme weather, such as the CAD$1.2 billion cost of the 2011 flood and the instability of winter roads. The paper reviews climate policies from other jurisdictions—including electric vehicle programs in Vancouver and green trucking in Quebec—to provide a basis for developing a new integrated plan that balances mitigation and adaptation while fostering a green economy.
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Document type: Briefing
The Path to Paris, Part 1: Bonn Climate Change Conference
The March 2014 Bonn Climate Change Conference served as a critical session for the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) to define the elements of a post-2020 universal climate agreement. A primary point of contention emerged regarding the scope of intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs), with developed nations viewing them as mitigation-only commitments while the G77/China sought to bundle them with adaptation and finance. The session also included technical workshops on renewable energy and energy efficiency to address the pre-2020 ambition gap and encourage subnational engagement.
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Document type: Briefing
TomorrowNow— Manitoba’s Green Plan: Toward a New Provincial Climate Change and Green Economy Plan Consultations Background Paper
The document outlines Manitoba's current emissions profile, the shortcomings of its previous 'Beyond Kyoto' plan, and the goals for a new integrated approach to climate mitigation and adaptation. It emphasizes the role of the energy and building sectors in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing resilience to extreme weather. The paper also reviews climate policies in other Canadian jurisdictions and proposes guiding principles for the new provincial strategy, including the development of mandatory GHG reporting for large emitters.
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Document type: Briefing
Policy Tools That Support Transition Into a Green Economy
The document examines how regulations and standards can be used to foster a green economy by either mandating transitions or removing regulatory barriers. It highlights Vancouver's "Green Tape Review" as a successful example of removing obstacles to green technologies, such as green roofs and urban agriculture, through zoning bylaw amendments. The text suggests that a similar proactive review in Manitoba could identify and remove sustainability barriers with minimal opposition compared to imposing higher mandatory standards.
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Document type: Briefing
Toolkit on Internet Public Policy Dialogue
The document argues that Internet policy must move beyond technical management to include broad societal impacts on rights, security, and sustainable development. It advocates for a multistakeholder model involving government, the private sector, civil society, and academia to ensure legitimacy and effectiveness. The toolkit details eight specific tools—ranging from expert roundtables and policy mapping to online surveys and public forums—designed to generate evidence and foster public consent. It emphasizes 'adaptive policy making' and the principle of subsidiarity, suggesting that policy action should occur at the lowest jurisdictional level consistent with effectiveness.
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Document type: Guide
Harnessing the Power of Public-Private Partnerships
The report analyzes public-private partnerships (PPPs) as a tool for sustainable development, arguing that while PPPs can mobilize private capital and innovation for public goods, they often prioritize short-term financial value over long-term environmental and social stewardship. Through global context and case studies from Australia, Sweden, Ireland, Canada, and Morocco, the document highlights the necessity of strong public sector capacity, detailed contractual specifications, and a shift toward 'whole of life' value assessments to ensure PPPs contribute to sustainability rather than merely serving as off-balance sheet financing tools.
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Document type: Report
Getting to Zero: A Pathway to a Carbon Neutral Seattle
The report outlines a pathway for Seattle to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. By implementing aggressive strategies across transportation, buildings, and waste, the city could reduce per capita core emissions by 91% relative to 2008 levels. Key drivers include a massive shift toward electric vehicles, deep energy efficiency retrofits in the built environment, and a transition to low-carbon energy sources like biomass-fired district energy. While the scenario achieves a 90% reduction in core emissions, the report notes that the final 10% may require offsets or sequestration.
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Document type: Report
Clean Energy and Climate Action: A North American Collaboration
The report outlines the results of expert dialogues held between 2009 and 2010 focused on North American energy and climate collaboration. It highlights a period of significant political uncertainty, particularly regarding U.S. federal legislation, and argues that Canada and Mexico must engage actively in policy discussions to avoid becoming "policy takers." Key areas for cooperation include carbon pricing, renewable energy investment, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and transportation fuel standards. The document emphasizes that while a unified "North American Bubble" for emissions targets is unlikely, pragmatic, sector-specific coordination and the harmonization of technical standards offer viable paths forward in the absence of a continental regulatory framework.
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Document type: Report