A climate policy advisor urged the city to balance urban density with its comprehensive plan goal to expand Vancouver's tree canopy from 19% to 28% by 2030. To reach this target, he recommended adopting updated tree ordinances aligned with the Urban Forestry Management Plan. He also advocated for offering developer incentives to plant new trees and preserve mature native trees across the urban area.
Forests_green_space
Vancouver City Council · Aug 24, 2026 · 10:24–10:36 · Watch on CVTV ↗
Keywords: tree canopy Urban Forest Forestry parks trails
What was said
9:23 in climate resiliency. The city's 20-year comprehensive plan calls for increasing Vancouver's current tree canopy from 19%, where it's at now, to 28% by 2030. And that's gonna require a substantial increase in tree planning, preservation, and long-term maintenance. But it's also gonna require alignment with the various different frameworks, city ordinances, and incentives for sound development to increase density within the, excuse me, within the community. That was my call to wake up, I guess. So canopy expansion by 10% offers a real powerful combination of climate, environmental, and community benefits, including lower carbon emissions and building energy savings, climate change mitigation, air quality and public health, ecosystem and biodiversity support, and community and economic benefits. And while it may represent a drop in the bucket
10:22 as it was discussed today, there are indirect impacts of tree canopy even on energy efficiency in the built environment. And our letter gets into some details about that, and I'll leave that for you. We really urge the city to adopt tree ordinances and update its regulations to support tree canopy goals and sustainable management as recommended by the Urban Forestry Management Plan, and that aligns with the urban growth and energy use studies and guidelines. But we are particularly supportive of developer incentives and policies for tree preservation and planting, and protecting mature native trees through the urban area that are protected through the heritage tree regulations. So again, we appreciate your serious consideration of our suggestions, the details are in the letter, and we hope that it'll be entered into the public record. Thank you for your time. - Thank you, Mr. Meyer. Closing the community communication,
11:20 I do not have any additional individuals. Let's go ahead and move into the consent. Councillors, you have three items in the consent agenda. Are there any items you'd like to pull? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion for the three items.
Evidence (1 match)
direct keyword 10:24–10:36 tree canopy, Urban Forest, Forestry, parks, trails
ergy savings, climate change mitigation, air quality and public health, ecosystem and biodiversity support, and community and economic benefits. And while it may represent a drop in the bucket as it was discussed today, there are indirect impacts of tree canopy even on energy efficiency in the built environment. And our letter gets into some details about that, and I'll leave that for you. We really urge the city to adopt tree ordinances and update its regulations to support tree canopy goals an