Benefits of Actions to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Toronto: Health and Health Equity (conducted by the Canadian Urban Institute)

Opportunities to Improve Equity:

• Quantification of co-benefits:
  • The quantification of health equity co-benefits of GHG-reduction actions is an emerging and growing field of study
    • The City has the opportunity to lead by example and develop a "made in Toronto" approach
• Linking emissions reductions to benefits:
  • The quantified health equity co-benefits of GHG-reduction actions identified in other jurisdictions cannot be directly applied to Toronto without using local data
    • However, trends were observed in the research which link GHG-reduction actions and health and health equity co-benefits; these linkages could be expected to exist in Toronto
• Impact statements:
  • The City can demonstrate the expected health benefits of TransformTO initiatives by using research-supported general linkages (impact statements) that connect GHG-reduction actions with health and health equity co-benefits
• Reporting progress:
  • The City can explore existing data sources and the possibility of conducting an original research study with partners to quantify the potential health and health equity impacts of GHG-reduction actions in Toronto and establish a baseline for reporting progress on TransformTO

The Report includes a complete list of impact statements (explaining the linkages between emission reductions and health equity) related to:

• Building retrofits
• Toronto Green Standard
• District Energy System (DES) installations
• Decentralized renewable energy
• Active Transportation infrastructure
• Public transit infrastructure/investments
• Electric vehicles

Benefits of Actions to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Toronto: Prosperity and Socio-Economic Equity (conducted by the Pembina Institute)

Key Findings:

Climate action can generate economic benefits in the following ways:

• Generating direct, indirect and induced jobs
• Lowering household and business energy demand, thereby saving costs, freeing disposable income for re-investment in the economy and improving business competitiveness
• Protecting households and businesses against energy price volatility
• Generating overall economic output (GDP) and associated tax revenue
• Mitigating future climate impacts that will be costly to society and reducing the cost of adaptation by acting early
• Improving public health, and therefore, productivity, through improved indoor and outdoor air quality, reduced noise, improved building comfort, etc.

Climate action presents opportunities to develop a more equal and inclusive city by directing economic benefits to equity-seeking and vulnerable groups, including by:

• Generating jobs or job training opportunities for groups with a lower socio-economic status
• Ensuring that household cost savings and health benefits accrue to groups with a lower socio-economic status by directing climate investments toward participants in existing support program
• Recognizing that socio-economic conditions are not equally distributed in the City of Toronto, and directing climate investments to geographic areas of the city that will benefit most

Read the full report for economic and socio-economic equity benefits related to:

• Buildings (building retrofits, green building standards)
• Energy systems (district energy systems, decentralized renewable energy)
• Transportation (electric vehicles, public transit infrastructure and investments, Active Transportation infrastructure)