Mayor John Tory joined other city mayors and business leaders in Copenhagen, Denmark at the C40 World Mayors Summit this past week to acknowledge the scale of the climate crisis and highlight how cities are taking action.
Mayor Tory presented to hundreds of attendees on Toronto’s plan to address climate change and demonstrated Toronto’s leadership in the fight against this global emergency. During the presentation, the Mayor pushed for collaboration between cities and a shared responsibility for finding solutions. The Mayor focused on Toronto’s newly launched Green Will Initiative, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in public and private buildings across Toronto.
The City continues to demonstrate its climate leadership through the TransformTO Climate Action Strategy, which has led the city to exceed its 2020 emissions reduction target. Joining other global cities, Mayor Tory also declared a climate emergency in Toronto and a net zero greenhouse gas emission target for the city.
At the summit, Mayor Tory joined mayors from cities around the world in supporting the Global Green New Deal to reduce emissions. Through the Global Green New Deal, C40 mayors reaffirmed their commitment to protect the environment, strengthen the economy and build a more equitable future by cutting emissions from various sectors including transportation, industry, buildings and waste.
During the green business mission, Mayor Tory also promoted Toronto and the green/clean technology sector to the global business community. He was joined by three of Toronto’s green companies (ecobee, Morgan Solar and Centre for Social Innovation), which attended a summit side event for businesses.
Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson (Ward 21 Scarborough Centre), Chair of the City’s Economic and Community Development Committee, Councillor Jennifer McKelvie (Ward 25 Scarborough-Rouge Park), the Mayor’s Resilience Champion and Vice-Chair of the City’s Infrastructure and Environment Committee, and Councillor Mike Layton (Ward 11 University-Rosedale), Vice-Chair of The Atmospheric Fund, also joined Mayor Tory at the summit.
Quotes:
“I was honoured to represent Toronto and our commitment to addressing climate change at the C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen this past week. This summit was an opportunity for cities to share experiences, learn from each other and find ways to work together on our shared focus on tackling the global climate emergency. Toronto is committed to working with our residents, businesses and the federal and provincial governments to address the impact of climate change. The low-carbon transformation of key sectors is well underway and is creating jobs and improving prosperity for Torontonians.”
– Mayor John Tory
“At ecobee we are committed to advancing sustainability and community through smart technology solutions. It was an honor to join the City of Toronto on the mission to C40. We’re thrilled to have had the opportunity to showcase the solutions we’ve successfully deployed in Toronto, and across North America, on a global stage and look forward to continuing our work with the City. Together, we can work to make our homes and buildings more sustainable and help deliver a clean energy future for all.”
– Stuart Lombard, ecobee Founder and CEO
“Morgan Solar has thrived in Toronto, with a talent pool of highly trained professionals to draw upon, local partners committed to developing net zero buildings and support from all levels of government, including the City of Toronto. We look forward continuing to work together to achieve sustainability.”
– Nic Morgan, VP Business Development at Morgan Solar
“Working with the City of Toronto spans everything from a loan guarantee that enabled us to buy our first building to support social enterprise and position Toronto as an innovation hub. Our work on climate change started in 2010 and has evolved to include Climate Spark, Transform Toronto, a deep relationship with The Atmospheric Fund and now Climate Ventures. The Centre for Social Innovation looks forward to continuing to work with the City and address climate solutions to help us build the next economy that puts people and planet first.”
– Tonya Surman, CEO and Co-Founder of the Centre for Social Innovation
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