Calgary’s climate emergency,
what it actually did.

The declaration was not just a statement. It came with a list of directives to administration. Council strengthened them five weeks later, on 20 December 2021, with a follow-up motion that added accountability and measurement. Together these are what the city actually committed to do — quoted verbatim from the carried motions in the council minutes.

1. 01
   Declare a climate emergency

   Council formally declares that Calgary is in a climate emergency.

   verbatim · EC2021-1525 · 2021-11-15

   That The City of Calgary declares a climate emergency;

2. 02
   Join global city climate networks

   Sign Calgary on to international city-climate networks (Global Covenant of Mayors, Resilient Cities Network, Race to Zero) and adopt their practices.

   verbatim · EC2021-1525 · 2021-11-15

   That The City of Calgary will become part of the global community (not-for-profit, public and private sectors) taking action on climate change through international initiatives such as the Global Covenant of Mayors, Resilient Cities Network, and Race to Zero, by adopting best practice and leveraging capital investment with the goal of becoming a global center of excellence in climate adaptation and mitigation, and energy transformation;

3. 03
   Make climate a strategic priority and adopt net zero by 2050

   Treat climate as a strategic priority, accelerate emissions cuts, and adopt a net-zero-by-2050 target consistent with limiting warming to 1.5 °C.

   verbatim · EC2021-1525 · 2021-11-15

   That The City of Calgary makes climate change a strategic priority by accelerating the timelines for climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, updating the city-wide and corporate greenhouse gas reduction target to be net zero emissions by 2050 to help limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius;

4. 04
   Engage First Nations through the Indigenous Relations Office

   Work with First Nations through the Indigenous Relations Office to integrate traditional knowledge into the city's climate strategy.

   verbatim · EC2021-1525 · 2021-11-15

   That The City of Calgary engage with First Nations, through the Indigenous Relations Office, to foster relations, ensure collaboration, integration of traditional knowledge and ensure intersectional Climate Change strategies;

5. 05
   Build emissions and risk priorities into business plans and budgets

   Have every department's strategic plan and budget identify and invest in high-priority emissions cuts, climate-risk reductions, and a carbon budget.

   verbatim · EC2021-1525 · 2021-11-15

   That The City of Calgary develop strategic business plans and budgets across all departments that identify, invest in and accelerate ideas such as high priority emissions reduction, climate risk reduction opportunities, and implementation of a carbon budget;

6. 06
   Update civic-partner agreements to align with emissions targets

   Rewrite the city's agreements with civic partners and subsidiaries so they support Calgary's emissions targets.

   verbatim · EC2021-1525 · 2021-11-15

   That Council direct that The City of Calgary to update agreements with civic partners and subsidiaries to support and ensure alignment with Calgary's emissions reductions targets; and

7. 07
   Advocate to other governments for climate funding

   Advocate to the federal and provincial governments for funding to cut emissions, reduce climate risk, deliver Bow River flood and drought mitigation, and build community resilience.

   verbatim · EC2021-1525 · 2021-11-15

   That The City of Calgary will advocate for funding from all orders of government for the purposes of accelerating immediate and near-term actions to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce climate risk to public built and natural infrastructure, deliver upstream flood and drought mitigation on the Bow River, build community resilience, seek disaster risk reduction from climate change and support strategic opportunities for Calgary's economy.

8. 08
   Build a measurement framework and report annually to Audit Committee

   Build a framework to measure and publish what climate work costs and what it delivers, and report it to Audit Committee on an ongoing basis.

   verbatim · EC2021-1698 · 2021-12-20

   That Council direct Administration to develop a framework to measure and report on the Climate Strategy actions, budget and annual spend. That Council direct Administration to provide ongoing expenditure reports to be submitted to Audit Committee;

9. 09
   Update GHG targets and set sector-specific interim targets

   Update the city's net-zero-by-2050 target into administration's operating plan and set sector-specific interim milestones so progress is measurable.

   verbatim · EC2021-1698 · 2021-12-20

   That Council direct Administration to update the city-wide and corporate greenhouse gas reduction target to be net-zero emissions by 2050 and set sector specific interim targets to ensure accountability and benchmarking;

10. 10
    Publish a retrofit plan for city-owned assets and carry carbon targets into 2023-2026 budgets

    Produce a retrofit plan for city-owned buildings and operations with timelines and a costs/savings analysis, and require every business unit to build carbon targets into the 2023-2026 budget.

    verbatim · EC2021-1698 · 2021-12-20

    That Council direct Administration to present a plan to retrofit and update all City owned assets with clean energy infrastructure and improvements that exceeds current energy standards; The Plan should include anticipated timelines, a costs/savings analysis, and an action prioritization of City-owned facilities and operations. Each Business Unit to build carbon targets and actions into their 2023 – 2026 business plans and budgets.

11. 11
    Re-direct civic partners to align with climate-risk and emissions targets

    Push the civic-partner alignment work from Nov 15 forward, explicitly including the new interim emissions targets.

    verbatim · EC2021-1698 · 2021-12-20

    That Council direct Administration to work with civic partners and subsidiaries to ensure alignment with Calgary's climate risk reduction goals and emissions reductions target, including the interim targets.

12. 12
    Run a community outreach and education campaign on net zero

    Run an outreach and education campaign with community partners so Calgarians can act on the city's net-zero target.

    verbatim · EC2021-1698 · 2021-12-20

    That Council direct Administration to connect with community partners in an outreach and educational campaign that will empower all Calgarians to play their part in meeting the City's net-zero target and reduce climate risk in our communities;

13. 13
    Report progress by end of Q3 2022 to inform the 2023-2026 budget

    Report progress on the above directives by end of Q3 2022 so it can be considered in the 2023-2026 budget cycle.

    verbatim · EC2021-1698 · 2021-12-20

    Due to the urgent nature of the Global Climate Emergency, Council directs Administration to pursue and report on the progress on the above actions, to be reported on by the end of Q3 2022, in order to be considered during the 2023-2026 Budget Cycle.

The 2023-2026 Climate Implementation Plan organises that work into nine focus areas. Every dollar of climate spending is attached to one of them, and progress is reported against each one annually.

• 01
  Governance, Capacity Building & Reporting

  Supporting the implementation of our climate strategies and plans and maintaining accountability to our climate commitments.

• 02
  City Design & Development

  Integrating climate considerations into city planning, urban design and city building.

• 03
  Buildings & Homes

  Achieving improved energy performance, carbon reduction and climate resilience of buildings and homes.

• 04
  Energy

  Increasing green and low-carbon energy sources, systems, and infrastructure.

• 05
  Mobility

  Supporting active transportation, public transit services, low-carbon vehicles, and transportation infrastructure to reduce GHG emissions.

• 06
  Waste & Consumption

  Reducing GHG emissions through waste reduction and diversion, reduced resource use and supporting the circular economy.

• 07
  Water

  Protecting our watersheds and water resources and reducing flood and drought risk.

• 08
  Nature & Ecology

  Protecting and enhancing ecosystems, biodiversity, natural infrastructure, and green space.

• 09
  People

  Improving equity, access to information, education, and the health and wellbeing of Calgarians to support community climate action and resilience.

The four-year cross-corporate climate budget totals roughly $432.7M. The bulk is capital, and the bulk of capital sits in Mobility — driven by the $165M electric bus program line added in November 2023. That $165M line corresponds to a Canada Infrastructure Bank loan; on top of it, the bus program also drew a $325M federal Zero Emission Transit Fund grant. The next figure breaks funding down by who is actually paying — and how little of it is local property-tax money.

A common objection to climate work is that “taxpayers are paying for it.” In Calgary’s case, the receipts say otherwise. The recurring city tax-base contribution to climate work over 2023-2026 is $3.5M total — about $0.88M a year for a city of 1,422,800 people (2023). Roughly $0.62 per person, per year. The rest is outside money: federal grants (especially the $325M Zero Emission Transit Fund grant for electric buses), provincial grants, and a federal Canada Infrastructure Bank loan for the EV bus program.

Notes: figures are gross commitments through end-2023, in CAD millions. Federal-loan money (the Canada Infrastructure Bank line) must be repaid, but it is not local tax money — it is federal financing on terms the city could not access on its own. The $259M “mixed grants” line covers everything the 2023 Climate Progress Report flagged as provincial+federal grants secured (active transportation, natural areas, EV charging, energy efficiency, composting), excluding the EV bus program. The EV bus program reconciles to $590.2M ($325.2M federal Zero Emission Transit Fund grant + $165M Canada Infrastructure Bank loan + $80M city capital + $20M from the Centralized Climate Fund) per the carried motion on EC2022-1338. The $20M EV bus allocation is shown separately from the rest of the Centralized Climate Fund so the two figures do not double-count the same dollars.

One year into the four-year Implementation Plan, the city reported that 80% of climate actions were in progress or complete. The Progress Report did not publish a finer split between “in progress” and “complete”, so the figure here is shown as the two buckets the report itself uses.

The 2023 Climate Progress Report measured Calgary’s greenhouse-gas emissions against a 2005 baseline. Total community emissions were only slightly lower than 2005, but Calgary’s population grew about 45% over the same period — so per-capita community emissions fell by about a third. The city’s own operations cut emissions roughly twice as fast.

The long-term target set in Pathways to 2050is net-zero community-wide emissions by 2050, with an estimated $87B in cumulative economy-wide investment ($3.1B per year) needed to get there. That figure is the cost to the Calgary economy as a whole, not the city’s budget.

Four years after the declaration, Council was asked to undo it. Notice of Motion EC2025-0859 (Sept 2025) proposed rescinding the declaration and ordering a value-for-money audit of climate-related spending, citing Alberta’s Bill 18 (which prohibits municipalities from negotiating directly with the federal government) as a reason the original rationale no longer held. The rescission clause was defeated 4-10. All six audit directives also failed; only a procedural motion to attach the Climate Advisory Committee’s letter to the Corporate Record carried. The declaration, the Implementation Plan, and the climate budget all remain in force.