It may not be on the formal agenda as the new council takes office, but it’s likely to become an increasingly significant issue over the four year term and well beyond. The blunt and frightening report issued in October by climate scientists confronts every level of government on the planet. The one released last week in the US provided more detail on what cities are facing.
In what’s being called “a final warning” to humanity, the report of the authoritative United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in early October effectively ended thoughts that the planet can be allowed to heat by up to two Celsius degrees. In the IPCC’s considered evaluation, that is simply too dangerous.
It also made clear that stopping at 1.5 Celsius will require slashing global carbon emissions nearly in half over the next dozen years – a task that it believes is still “technically possible” but also “the largest project that humanity has ever undertaken”.
The new council takes office on December 3 and before the end of the year will need to review and adopt the capital and operating budget for water, sewer and stormwater. Upgrading these piping systems to reduce flooding risks is a growing financial burden because of more frequent extreme rain events.
That budget will also include assistance to flooded homeowners and subsidies to install backflow valves on private residences. If past practice is followed it will raise water rates by four to five percent. It’s scheduled to be approved on December 14 or 15.
January to March at least will be dominated by debate over the rest of the city’s budget. That’s expected to include a new special reserve to cover the unexpected costs of extreme weather events in the wake of a decision last May.
The 2019 budget could also see a renewed demand that all staff reports have a climate change lens. The idea was pushed last year by Matthew Green with support from Mayor Eisenberger and others, but not actually adopted.
While councillors frequently argue that municipal governments can do little to reduce carbon pollution, the city’s website notes that cities “contribute to about 70 percent of world wide emissions and use two-thirds of the total energy”. It goes on to acknowledge that “urban households, industries, transportation and infrastructure within cities are key sources of greenhouse gases.”
Those features also make Hamilton and other Ontario cities particularly vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather and other climatic effects. What that looks like can be extrapolated from the United States National Climate Assessment released last week, and in particular its predictions for cities in the north east region adjacent to southern Ontario.
“Northeastern cities, with their abundance of concrete and asphalt and relative lack of vegetation, tend to have higher temperatures than surrounding regions due to the urban heat island effect,” warns the assessment. “During extreme heat events, nighttime temperatures in the region’s big cities are generally several degrees higher than surrounding regions, leading to higher risk of heat-related death.”
Specific predictions are included for individual cities like Pittsburgh where days over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 C) to climb sharply from an average of seven in the last quarter of the twentieth century to up to 50 in the 2036-2045 period and double that again by the end of the century.
The report also emphasizes the threat to urban infrastructure – a crisis that Hamilton council is facing even without climate complication in the form of a $3.5 billion shortfall in maintenance of existing roads, pipes, buildings and other city facilities.
“Urban areas are at risk for large numbers of evacuated and displaced populations and damaged infrastructure due to both extreme precipitation events and recurrent flooding, potentially requiring significant emergency response efforts and consideration of a long-term commitment to rebuilding and adaptation, and/or support for relocation where needed,” says the US climate assessment report. “Much of the infrastructure in the Northeast, including drainage and sewer systems, flood and storm protection assets, transportation systems, and power supply, is nearing the end of its planned life expectancy.”