The Way Forward: Leaders Not Laggards
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In 1998 Sustainable Calgary’s first State of Our City Report identified 2 critical issues that needed attention – overconsumption of resources and socio-economic inequities in our city. Twenty-two years later, the evidence suggests that the state of these critical domains has only worsened. Calgary has seen a lot of progress in those 22 years and we remain a city with a very high quality of life, but an assessment of the 40 social, ecological, and economic indicators clearly demonstrates that the lifestyle we enjoy in Calgary is less sustainable than it was 22 years ago.
The first 20 years of this millennium are Calgary’s lost decades with respect to action on sustainability. In large measure, our failure to meet the sustainability challenge can be traced to dysfunctional decision-making processes – elaborated in a set of Governance indicators that we introduce for the first time in this report.
As we went to press, we found ourselves in the grip of a global pandemic with the novel corona virus (COVID-19). The pandemic reinforces the urgency to act on the recommendations contained in this report to improve social equity, protect ecological integrity, create an inclusive and resilient economy, and act decisively on climate change.
As a society, we are responding in both predictable and unpredictable ways – some moving us toward a just transition, some moving us further away. On the one hand, we are thinking more seriously about what a city designed for people looks like. On the other hand, the pandemic is amplifying existing inequalities.
Air pollution, along with air and automobile traffic, is drastically reduced. There’s a shift toward active transport and a growing appreciation for the parks and pathways in our city. Existing roads and pathways are being restructured to facilitate local leisure activity. We need to invest in extensive active transport networks to provide safe, healthy travel choices to all Canadians, during this pandemic and beyond, while reducing our carbon footprint.
We have seen how disadvantaged groups are particularly vulnerable in this crisis. We are experiencing record high unemployment, especially among low-income earners, leading to an even larger gap in income inequality. At the same time, we have become acutely aware that the most vulnerable in our society need protection. We see evidence around the world that where good governance prevails, societies are faring much better. We see that women leaders are taking centre stage in the response to this unprecedented crisis: the women at the forefront of Canada’s coordinated national and provincial health care response are an inspiring example.
This pandemic crisis is a precursor to more enduring emergencies – the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. We now know that we do have the capacity to act quickly and decisively, to radically reorganize society on a more sustainable foundation, and to take care of each other in the transition.
There is a moral imperative for Calgarians not only to step up to the plate as members of the global village and to pull our weight, but to show leadership – to become first responders. For too long, we have been counted as laggards. What do we need to do? We’ve put together a list of 9 priorities below. Can we do it? Heck yes. The State of our City report shows that when we put our minds to producing less waste, we prevailed. Successes not in this report include reducing acid rain and ozone-eating CFCs. In both cases, we absolutely crushed it.
Let’s do it again. Let’d be leaders, not laggards.
What to we need to do?
We need to acknowledge that while fossil fuels built our city, our future is elsewhere, and we need to direct all of our collective energies to building the new Calgary.
We need to take care of the most vulnerable first. How well we do so is a measure of the character of our society. There is no reason we cannot provide affordable shelter for all Calgarians. All citizens who contribute their labour to our economy should expect, at the very least, a livable wage in return. The vulnerable among us who need income support should not be condemned to live in poverty.
We need to design a steady state economy that is, above all, fair and just and that allows us to live within our means economically and, more importantly, ecologically. Our indicators suggest that over the past 20 years, we have experienced what ecological economist Herman Daly has referred to as uneconomic growth – growth that makes us worse off.
We can follow the lead of places like Iceland and New Zealand and commit to redesigning our economy to focus squarely on well-being and to retool planning for the transition to a healthy, sustainable, circular, and relocalized economy.
We need to resist the temptation to dismantle the systems that are the foundation of our well-being – health and education. We need to protect and grow our social capital.
We need to stop the outward expansion of our city. We need to invest in transit and active transport infrastructure. We need to build a city where walking, biking, and public transit are the norm and the private automobile is a tertiary mode.
We have the seeds of opportunity for the transition – young, vibrant, highly educated people and a culture of learning personified in the new Central Library. With respect to energy, we are on the cusp of a final transition once we tap our tremendous renewable energy resources. We have a growing design culture and expertise endowed from years of prosperity. We need our buildings, neighbourhoods, transportation, the city, and the region designed for sustainability – there is no reason to settle for anything less.
We need to welcome those from all over the world who are willing to contribute. We are a country, province, and city of immigrants. During the Syrian refugee crisis, Calgarians answered the call and demonstrated what is our better nature. Continuing to welcome new people, new ideas, and new energy from all corners of the world will make life better for all of us.
We need to get our political house in order and restore trust in our systems of governance: get money out of politics, and reinvent our democracy with fairness at the core.