ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a snapshot of municipal climate initiatives and policies in Toronto—the largest city in Canada and the fourth largest city in North America—as an example of the possibilities and challenges inherent in addressing climate change equitably at the local level, where inequities abound. It explains about efforts to ensure climate justice at the local level in a relatively prosperous global city. The lack of consideration for social issues, such as climate change adaptation in vulnerable communities, increasing poverty in the city, and increasing unaffordability, highlights Toronto’s neoliberal problem. In 2011, the non-governmental organization United Way Toronto looked into unaffordability in the city and its correlation with building disinvestment. The City of Toronto needs updated information about poverty and its interaction with other services that are crucially important for climate change adaptation. Toronto is an example of a former leader in municipal environmental policy.
