Susanne Jakobsen Project…

Susanne Jakobsen Project Manager Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change Climate Change and Environmental Policy Division Strategic Policy Branch 77 Wellesley Street West, Floor 11, Ferguson Block Toronto Ontario M7A 2T5

January 18, 2018

Dear Susanne Jakobsen,

We are writing to enthusiastically voice our support for the province’s proposal to establish a centralized climate change organization to support climate change adaptation and resilience. Ontario has the advantage of learning from many other countries and regions that have established similar institutions in recent years (1).

We share the governments view that training is an essential step in preparing Ontario to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. In particular, we are encouraged to see that “the organization will work with decision-makers in communities, private businesses, and government to facilitate adaptation learning…” and that “training and regional workshops on climate data, risk assessment processes, and adaptation planning” are being considered as key services that the organization will offer.

This past summer, we submitted a grant proposal to the provincial government’s Partnerships in Climate Action Program outlining our vision for accelerating the adoption of low-carbon and climate resilient urban design and infrastructure through a specialized education and training program, “Urban Design for a Low-Carbon Future (UD4LC)”. In 2013, buildings contributed to 19% of Ontario’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and these emissions are forecast to increase over the next several years (2). Now is the time to establish best practices that avoid locking in carbon-intensive choices in infrastructure and that lock out less carbon-intensive and climate-resilient alternatives.

As we stated in our proposal, to bring about such change in Ontario, we identify several barriers that need to be overcome, the first of which the province’s proposed climate change organization seeks to remove: availability of relevant information and data on carbon targets, climate change impacts, and health and well being; understanding of climate-resilient and human-centred principles in sustainable design; and ingrained practice in architecture and engineering.

Specialized education and training in sustainable architectural and engineering practice and climate change impacts on urban infrastructure will help Ontarians understand how their designs contribute to climate change and climate vulnerability, and how climate change will impact the built environment. The main barriers to sustainable practice we identify are 1) that too few practitioners are trained in sustainable architectural and engineering principles accounting for climate change and its impacts, 2) that in current training, specialized knowledge remains siloed in each domain, and 3) that the absence of practical experience in sustainable design is slowing adoption of low-carbon design.

The transition to the low-carbon future requires knowledge exchange across disciplinary boundaries. We request that the MOECC strongly consider a key component of the proposed climate change organization to be focussed on training and facilitated knowledge transfer in the urban infrastructure sector. Our view is that training and services that accelerate the adoption of sustainable and climate-resilient urban design and infrastructure choices is a win-win-win use of provincial resources, addressing climate change mitigation, adaptation and human well-being.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Prof. Karen Smith University of Toronto Scarborough Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences

Prof. Paul Kushner University of Toronto Department of Physics

Prof. Terri Peters Carleton University Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism

Prof. Oya Mercan University of Toronto Department of Civil Engineering

(1) Brasseur, G. P. and L. Gallardo (2016): Climate services: Lessons learned and future prospects. Earth’s Future, 4,79–89. (2) Ontario Climate Action Plan

[Original Comment ID: 212109]