The Pulse: April 13, 2021

Council's executive committee endorsed a revised climate plan on April 12, which includes a $100 million annual investment into energy-efficient buildings, active and mass transportation, and green incentives for businesses and individuals.

"We are going to need to unleash all of the economic capacity ... to make this transition," said Mayor Don Iveson.

The revision to the Community Energy Transition Strategy was based on the International Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) goal of limiting the global average temperature increase to 1.5 C. In 2019, the city declared a climate emergency, which included a commitment to align the city with this goal.

This chart shows several projections of Edmonton's community emissions outlined in the revised strategy. The new plan puts Edmonton on the bottom path, while the initial Energy Transition Strategy, approved by council in 2015, leaves the city well above the IPCC's targets. The third projection would align the city with the softer goal of limiting global warming to 2 C, as outlined by The Paris Agreement.

Deputy city manager Stephanie McCabe said the 1.5 C goal is critical to protecting the city's ecological systems.

“Our risk of urban flooding may double, we’ll experience more frequent and intense weather events and our ecosystem will change,” she said.

The committee voted unanimously to endorse the revised strategy, and it will head to council for final approval next week.

This chart is part of Taproot's contribution to Covering Climate Now, a global journalism initiative committee to more and better coverage of the defining story of our time. For more discussion on the local response to this issue, sign up for our listening session on April 22.

• The City of Edmonton will provide free menstrual products in its public bathrooms following a successful pilot in 2019.
• Albertans who are eligible for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine can now walk into some pharmacies to book appointments.
• Organizers with Free Transit Edmonton delivered a petition with 1,400 signatures to City Hall on April 12 demanding city council freeze public transit cash fares.
• A new footbridge that would "connect Edmonton and Strathcona County is being proposed to improve access and connectivity towards a multi-use trail system," CBC News reports.
• Protestors gathered at the Alberta Legislature on April 12 to call on the provincial government to remove current COVID-19 restrictions.
• The provincial government has tabled legislation which would see mandatory vaccinations and other measures currently in the Public Health Act that are meant to manage health emergencies, dropped.
• The Edmonton Folk Music Festival has cancelled its 2021 festival citing safety concerns with the ongoing pandemic.

Downtown Dining Week is going ahead this month despite indoor dining restrictions that took effect on April 9.

The annual event, which had already been pushed back from March, will run April 13-25 with 48 participating restaurants.

Because of the restrictions, some of the restaurants have had to change course and adjust menu offerings, shared Tracy Hyatt, marketing and communications manager for the Downtown Business Association which organizes the event.

Most menus have been redesigned for take-out, while three restaurants are offering the specials through delivery as well. In addition, the event has accelerated the timeline for al fresco options.

“The restrictions and Downtown Dining Week have also made a lot of participating restaurants open up their patios ahead of the normal patio season,” Hyatt said. “Twenty-six restaurants are offering some form of outdoor dining.”

TEC Edmonton is winding down over the next couple of months, and will fully shut down by June 30.

The business incubator, which is jointly run by the City of Edmonton and the University of Alberta, has "provided a wide array of expertise and resources, such as technology evaluation and protection, mentoring, licensing support, potential funding opportunities, and physical space."

With the aim to support an evolved regional innovation ecosystem, the partners "will develop transition plans for TEC Edmonton programs, services and spaces, while developing a new, expanded innovation partnership that continues to drive economic diversification and growth while best meeting the evolved landscape and needs," writes Michael Brown on the U of A blog, The Quad.

Health City chair and CEO of DynaLife, Jason Pincock, said it will be difficult to see the organization cease operations because of the role it has played for 15 years in the development and translation of ideas to technologies and companies.

"TEC was the catalyst in Edmonton for all the rich programs we have today and for that reason it is difficult to see it transitioned away. TEC put Edmonton and Alberta on the map. The challenge for all of us now in Edmonton’s rapidly growing and developing start-up ecosystem will be to make real that vision that the founders of TEC created so many years ago," said Pincock.