Region of Waterloo recognized as a GHG Reduction Champion
FCM celebrates 20 years of Local Action
CHARLOTTETOWN – The Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) today celebrated the 20th anniversary of its Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program by recognizing five more communities that have excelled in meeting the initiative’s goal of raising awareness of climate change and taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The five communities are: Bathurst, NB; Guelph, ON; London, ON; Waterloo Region, ON; and Metro Vancouver, BC.
“The municipalities we are recognizing today are champions in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and they serve as an inspiration to other communities concerned about climate change,” said FCM president Claude Dauphin. “As a result of their efforts, they now have the capacity to monitor their respective community’s emissions and report results, which are vital elements of climate protection.”
FCM held a recognition ceremony today, honouring the 5 communities, as part of FCM’s Sustainable Communities Conference in Charlottetown, PE, under the theme ‘Sink or Swim: New Approaches to Adaptation and Resilience.’
Municipalities have direct or indirect control over approximately 44 per cent of Canada’s GHG and, since 1994, have been at the forefront of efforts to reduce GHGs through programming like PCP. The PCP program is a voluntary, results-oriented network of Canadian municipal governments. Member municipalities progress through a series of steps designed to build their capacity to reduce GHGs locally by creating a GHG emissions inventory; setting reduction targets; developing a local action plan; implementing the plan; and finally, monitoring progress and reporting results. The municipalities being recognized today join an elite, but growing list of communities who have worked through the PCP’s five-milestone framework.
Since 2008, PCP member municipalities have voluntarily reported on over 800 projects to reduce GHG emissions. These projects represent more than $2.3 billion in local investments and over 1.8 million tonnes in annual GHG reductions. Results are tracked and reported annually in the PCP National Measures Report. PCP is the Canadian component of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives’ (ICLEI) Cities for Climate Protection network, which involves more than 1,100 communities worldwide. The program receives financial support from FCM's Green Municipal Fund. PCP’s more than 250 members represent over 80 per cent of the Canadian population.
“Climate change is a long-term problem that requires constant attention,” added Mr. Dauphin. “For two decades, local governments have been leaders in addressing this challenge and we are committed to doing the same for the next two decades and beyond.”
Milestone Five Community Profiles:
Waterloo Region
A relatively new member to the PCP program, since April 2010, the regional municipality has worked hard to develop a comprehensive climate action strategy for Waterloo Region. In October 2013, the Region achieved milestones four and five for corporate operations — a new record for completing the PCP milestone framework. The Region released its community-wide action plan shortly after, earning milestone three for the community in December 2013. As an upper-tier regional municipality, Waterloo’s approach to reducing GHG emissions has emphasised collaboration and shared objectives by working closely with local municipalities as well as several community partners. The Region is relying on initiatives such as a new bus rapid transit and light rail transit service, a regional network of electric vehicle charging stations, and green bin organics diversion to reduce methane generated at the regional landfill to achieve a community-wide reduction target of six per cent below 2010 levels by 2020.
Metro Vancouver
A member of the PCP program since November 1996, Metro Vancouver is also a signatory to the Province of British Columbia’s Climate Action Charter. One of the regional district’s responsibilities is to provide air pollution control and air quality management services across the Greater Vancouver region. As a result, much of its early work on climate change was under the banner of air quality control. Recognizing the strong connection between air quality and climate change, the Metro Vancouver Board adopted the new Integrated Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Management Plan in October 2011. Metro Vancouver’s approach to reducing GHG emissions has also emphasized regional collaboration and is guided by a Board of Directors consisting of mayors and councillors from member municipalities that are key partners for most of the GHG reduction initiatives. Notable initiatives include a Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise GHG Reduction Program, which has engaged more than 500 local businesses in identifying GHG reduction projects.
City of London
London's greenhouse gas reduction efforts can be traced back as far as its Vision '96 — Planning for Tomorrow activities and more recently to its 2003 Air Quality in London — Moving Forward Locally air quality plan. The latter strategy was part of a broader environmental program encompassing all areas of sustainability, and is encapsulated in the city's 2011–2014 Strategic Plan. The strategy is complemented by Rethink Energy London, a program that supports community and corporate energy initiatives, and by the Mayor's Sustainable Energy Council, a 30-member expert panel that supports local sustainable energy projects. Reducing energy use and costs drives many of London's initiatives. Among these are a building retrofit program, a landfill gas capture system, LED traffic signals, and partnerships with local utilities and homebuilders to help residents lighten their carbon footprint. The city is aiming to achieve the Province of Ontario’s GHG reduction targets of six per cent below 1990 levels by 2014, 15 per cent by 2020, and 80 per cent by 2050.
City of Bathurst
Since joining the PCP program in April 2001, Bathurst has used its partnership with non-profit organization Bathurst Sustainable Development (BSD) to move its environmental goals forward. As joint signatories to the PCP resolution, the city and BSD have been able to bring different resources, funders, knowledge and skills to the table. For example, a BSD project with Natural Resources Canada's Sustainable Communities Initiative was used to study the feasibility of public transit and mapped every home and building for solar potential —data that will be valuable for years to come. Other core initiatives include municipal building retrofits and residential tool kits. A declining population, rising energy costs, sea level rise and coastal erosion, and financial hurdles have posed many challenges along the way. But despite an increase in overall emissions, Bathurst has been able to reduce the rate of emissions growth and manage those increases through operational efficiencies to achieve its corporate reduction target of 20 per cent below 1995 levels by 2010 and its community reduction target of six per cent below 1995 levels by 2010.
City of Guelph
Guelph’s designation as a provincial growth area was a key factor in developing the city’s Community Energy Initiative (CEI). The city knew that to accommodate growth in a sustainable way, it needed a complete picture of its own resources. A consortium of city, community and business partners came together to study options, set goals and targets, and make recommendations. The resulting CEI identifies assets and resources, and shows how sustainable growth can be supported through careful energy use planning. From the beginning, the plan was integrated throughout city departments and the community, with individual sector targets feeding into the overall goals. The CEI aims to reduce energy use in buildings, industry and transportation by 50 per cent and GHG emissions by 60 per cent by 2031, based on 2006 levels. A PCP program member since 1998, the city received grants from FCM’s Green Municipal Fund to prepare a local growth management strategy, undertake the energy planning process, and conduct a district energy feasibility study.
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For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Maurice Gingues, media relations officer, 613-907-6399, mgingues@fcm.ca.
FCM has been the national voice of municipal governments since 1901. It fosters the development of sustainable communities to improve quality of life by promoting strong, effective and accountable municipal government.