Skip to main content

Climate Change Action Strategy

About

The City of Surrey’s Climate Change Action Strategy (CCAS) serves as a unifying call to action, inspired by the collective voice of concerned residents seeking bold leadership at all levels of government to tackle the climate crisis. Effective climate action that addresses the scale of this challenge requires coordinated action by all levels of government, society, businesses, and the community.

Vision

The overall 2050 vision for Surrey is a zero-carbon, climate-resilient city. This vision encompasses the 2050 and interim greenhouse gas (GHG) targets and integrates climate adaptation.

Climate Action Framework

The CCAS is organized around a long-term vision of a zero-carbon climate-resilient city in 2050, supported by six components, or critical areas of action:

Our 2050 Vision for a Zero-Carbon Resilient Surrey

Each component includes the following hierarchy, illustrated below:

Framework Pyramid Figure D.1

Without taking decisive action, Surrey’s community carbon pollution is expected to decrease slightly to around 2 million tonnes per year by 2050 as a result of federal and provincial zero emission vehicle regulations. However, this level of emissions is still consistent with dangerous levels of climate disruption at the global scale, reflecting the urgent need for mitigation measures.

To transition to the net zero pathway, the City must quickly phase out fossil fuel combustion, particularly from transportation and buildings, which are the community’s two largest sources of emissions. This process primarily involves shifting to sustainable transportation, concentrating new growth in areas well-served by transit, and electrifying both vehicles and buildings.

Projected Community Emissions

Climate action means more than just reducing carbon pollution. It can also yield multiple community benefits, including those listed below.

  • Equity - Equity is both a guiding principle of this strategy and a potential outcome when thoughtfully integrated in policies and actions. As climate change is inherently unfair, thisstrategy seeks to relieve the burden on vulnerable individuals and populations.
  • Health - The health benefits of climate action are real and significant, such as enhancing local air quality, cooling the surrounding environment, and improving physical and mental health.
  • Resilience - The CCAS includes actions that will reduce risk to the organization and the community and improve resilience to climate impacts such as extreme heat, flooding, storms, sea level rise, and wildfire smoke.
  • Prosperity - The CCAS's commitments to action and leadership can help to attract investment and businesses that seek to align with the emerging zero-carbon economy, in addition to spending public money wisely.