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Climate Action

Climate Action in the City of Courtenay

1. Become carbon neutral in respect to municipal operations by 2012;
2. Measuring and reporting on the community’s GHG emissions profile;
3. Creating a complete, compact, and more energy efficient community.

• to develop strategies and take actions aimed at reducing GHG emissions;
• to become carbon neutral in respect to municipal operations by 2012;
• to remove barriers such as existing policies and procedures that impede taking action on climate change;
• to encourage infrastructure and a built environment that supports economic and social needs of the community while minimizing environmental impacts.

 The charter itself does not specify a reduction target for municipal operations; however, the Charter does refer to other commitments that the Province has made which include the target to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 33 percent from 2007 levels by 2020.  

Corporate Climate Action Strategy 

The City has made a commitment to use the City’s influence to reduce both corporate and community emissions by signing on to the Climate Action Charter. The Charter commits local governments to develop strategies and take action to become carbon neutral in respect to municipal operations by 2012. The completion of this Corporate Climate Action Strategy is a key component to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as much as possible before being required to offset corporate emissions in 2012.  

The City completed the first step toward achieving this goal by completing a Corporate Energy and GHG Emissions Inventory in October 2008. The Inventory determined that the City’s corporate GHG emissions, currently applicable to Climate Action Charter carbon neutrality commitments, are estimated at 869 tonnes. The implementation of this Corporate Climate Action Strategy is a key component to becoming carbon neutral in respect to municipal operations by 2012. The other key component of the Climate Action Charter is the completion of a Community Climate Action Strategy. 

Corporate GHG emissions are the emissions generated by the energy consumed during the delivery of municipal operations. Community GHG emissions result from all of the energy consumption activities generated by on-road transportation, buildings, and solid waste from within the entire community. This strategy focuses only on corporate emissions, as the completion of this strategy will give the City an opportunity to “get its own house in order” and lead by example before tackling emission reductions in the broader community. This strategy should be considered a living document and annual reviews are recommended to ensure that new ideas and opportunities are incorporated.  

What exactly are carbon neutral operations? The goal of the Charter is for local governments to achieve carbon neutrality by reducing GHG emissions that are associated with operations as much as possible, and by offsetting the remaining emissions. GHG offsets enable individuals and businesses to reduce their GHG emissions they are responsible for by offsetting, reducing or displacing the GHG emissions in another place, typically where it is more economical to do so.  GHG offsets usually include investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation projects. The Province of BC has set up the Pacific Carbon Trust, a provincial Crown corporation, to identify credible GHG offset projects that are located in BC on the Province’s behalf. 

From here, the City must adopt and implement the corporate strategy and then embark on the larger community component of the Climate Action Charter. 

Strategy Goals

By implementing the Corporate Climate Action Strategy, the City of Courtenay will meet the goals of the Climate Action Charter relating to municipal operations. By pursuing the actions outlined in this strategy, the City of Courtenay has the opportunity to lead other organizations within the region and the community as a whole.  By signing onto the BC Climate Action Charter, the City agreed to the following goals:

• To develop strategies and take actions aimed at reducing GHG emissions;
• To become carbon neutral in respect to municipal operations by 2012;
• To remove barriers such as existing policies and procedures that impede taking action on climate change;
• To encourage infrastructure and a built environment that supports economic and social needs while minimizing environmental impacts.

Corporate Climate Action Targets

Establishment of clear targets provides focus for the achievement of the Strategy’s objective. Establishing and agreeing to specific, clear targets indicates that the City will provide the support and commitment necessary to achieve the targets. The combination of baseline data and targets provide a framework for measuring and reporting which encourages accountability. 

Target 1:

A 33 percent reduction of corporate GHG emissions from 2007 levels by 2020 (in support of the Province of BC province-wide reduction target): In order to achieve this target, the following annual reductions are recommended: 

• A 5% reduction from the 2007 corporate GHG emissions annually in 2009 and 2010.
• A 5% reduction of the 2010 adjusted baseline that incorporates contracted waste removal services 2011 and 2012.
• A 2% GHG reduction of the adjusted 2010 baseline GHG emissions annually throughout 2013 to 2019. The above noted annual targets may have to be adjusted based on annual performance measurement and evaluation in order to meet the primary target of a 33 percent reduction by 2020. 

Target 2:

All new City buildings must meet the requirements of LEED^TM Silver (or equivalent) and demonstrate energy performance that is 25 percent better than the Model National Energy Code for Buildings. 

Target 3:

To decrease the annual energy consumption of the City’s large energy consuming facilities by a minimum of 20 percent from 2007 levels by 2012.  

Areas for Corporate Climate Action

The Corporate Climate Action Strategy focuses on energy and emissions associated with municipal operations. This Strategy includes a wide range of actions to address the City’s GHG emissions. Through review of the Energy and GHG Emissions Inventory, and analysis undertaken throughout the development of this strategy, the following areas have been identified as priorities for action: 

1. Fuel-efficiency and green fleet management;
2. Energy efficient retrofits for facilities;
3. Green design for new and replacement City buildings;
4. Behavioural change to reduce energy demands;
5. Energy efficient street and park lighting.

 Reducing energy consumption in the City’s major facilities and reducing the fuel consumption of our fleet have been identified as the highest priorities. The City’s major facilities, including the Lewis Centre recreation facilities, are responsible for 53 percent of GHG emissions. The City’s vehicle fleet produces 42 percent of GHG emissions.

View the complete Corporate Climate Action Strategy