Can Vancouver become the world's greenest city in just over a decade?

Mayor Gregor Robertson believes it can.

Robertson revealed the "Vancouver 2020: A Bright Green Future" report Tuesday morning at the opening of an environmental conference at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

The document, which was produced by his Greenest City Action Team, outlines 10 goals the city can take to make it the most environmentally sustainable in the world by 2020.

Robertson says while Vancouverites often think of themselves as green, there's still work to do.

"Despite decisions made decades ago to protect our watersheds, and our agricultural land surrounding the city we are still far too reliant on cars, from food from far away.

Everyday we produce too much waste, we consume too much energy and too much water - there's a lot of room for improvement."

Robertson's platform into office last year focused heavily on homelessness and making Vancouver a greener city. He established the Greenest City Action Team in February to draft a plan to make the city the world's greenest.

The report lists 10 goals separated into three broad categories: Green Economy, Green Jobs, Greener Communities and Human Health.

Its specific goals are:

  • Create 20,000 green jobs
  • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent from 2007 levels
  • Improve efficiency of buildings by 20 per cent; make all new construction carbon neutral
  • Make more than half of all trips on foot, bicycle and public transit
  • Reduce solid waste
  • Every person lives within a five minute walk of a park, beach, greenway or natural space
  • Reduce water consumption, food and ecological footprint by 33 per cent

Related: Read the full report

Robertson says the goals are achievable. He has not said how the city will pay for the changes.

"Ten years seems like a reasonable time for a city that is generally considered to be in the top 10 around the world," he said.

Vancouver city council approved the report's recommendations Tuesday afternoon. Staff will now report back on the next steps towards meeting the 2020 targets.

City councillor Andrea Reimer helped draft the report and says it will make Vancouver an example for cities around the world.

"I have no doubt in my mind we will meet these and exceed the goals," she told ctvbc.ca in a telephone interview.

"To see a mayor that is willing to set this goal is incredible. A lot of these reports end up on shelves."

Later this week, Robertson will visit London Mayor Boris Johnson to speak about how the English city compares to B.C. for green initiatives -- and what the cities can learn about each other.