Toronto is being honoured as a finalist in the upcoming C40 Cities Awards, planned to take place on December 3rd 2015 in Paris during the COP21 climate negotiations. The awards, a program of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, will recognize global cities with policies in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while improving sustainability. Toronto's finalist designation in the Finance and Economic Development category will be The Toronto Atmospheric Fund (TAF), an agency focused on providing funding for action on climate change. Toronto will compete against finalists London and Johannesburg at the competition.
The TAF was inspired by an international climate conference held in Toronto in 1988, and has since grown to develop a track record for ushering in innovations that have helped our city achieve a city-wide 25 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels. Over the course of its 25-year history, the company has supported initiatives like the creation of the world's largest lake-fed deep water cooling system, the creation of Autoshare, installation of LED traffic signal lights, and the Windshare turbine at Exhibition Place.
Windshare turbine at Exhibition Place, image by Jack Landau
Over the past 4 years, TAF has also devised a new approach to financing effieciency-related retrofit projects for large structures, and has also funded an inititiative called Move the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, along with 12 civic groups aiming to lever provincial support for local transit investment.
Mayor John Tory's statement reads "When Toronto City Council established the Toronto Atmospheric Fund in 1991, it was the first municipal agency of its kind in the world. We are a world leader when it comes to building a sustainable city, and I’m so proud of the hard work and foresight that earned Toronto this important global recognition.”
Additional information about Toronto's finalist profile can be found here.