City’s greenhouse emissions rise, councillor says net-zero still within reach

City of Winnipeg operations created more greenhouse gases in 2025 than they did one year earlier, despite its target to hit net-zero emissions by 2050.

Last year, city operations caused 324,638 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions — 1.6 per cent or 5,159 tonnes, more than what was emitted in 2024.

Vehicles, buildings and waste from landfills were the highest emitters, says an annual report on Winnipeg’s climate action plan that’s set to be presented to council’s water, waste and environment committee next week.

“While the city continues to advance actions across governance, policy, transportation, waste, and resilience, corporate (greenhouse gas) levels will need to decline faster to meet the city’s targets,” writes Becky Raddatz, manager of the city’s office of sustainability, in the report.

Regardless, the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 is still within reach, said water and waste committee chairman Coun. Ross Eadie.

He pointed to the approval in April of the city’s building emissions reduction strategy, which recommends millions be invested in retrofits to reduce emissions, and the long-awaited curbside composting program set for 2030.

“There’s a lot of things that are still coming along that will contribute to our ability to meet those goals by 2050,” Eadie (Mynarski) said.

“There’s nothing in that report that’s saying that at the rate we’re going, we won’t achieve it, we have some big things coming.”

The municipality should “set the tone” for green initiatives in Winnipeg, said James Wilt, policy development manager at Climate Action Manitoba.

“This is the product of choices that are being made by city hall, and, really, inaction when it comes to the things that we know we need to be doing to reduce emissions,” he said.

He noted that while 2050 is decades away, the climate action plan, launched in 2018, also committed to a 20 per cent reduction in city emissions relative to 2011 levels by 2030.

Proven solutions, including electrification of Winnipeg’s vehicle fleet, improving Winnipeg Transit conditions, and installing better insulation in buildings are available, but the city needs to prioritize their implementation through its budget, said Wilt.

“This is really the product of short-term thinking, and also a refusal to grapple with the urgency of the climate crisis,” he said.

Meanwhile, there was a small decrease in the amount of waste generated in 2025. The number of visits to 4R Winnipeg Depots decreased 1.5 per cent and residential waste generation decreased by 1.6 per cent.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca