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Reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Last updated on January 24, 2024

Almost all local governments in B.C. are signatories of the BC Climate Action Charter and have committed to: 

  1. Becoming carbon neutral in their corporate operations
  2. Measuring and reporting on their community’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
  3. Creating complete, compact, and more energy efficient rural and urban communities

As committed to in the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, the Province recently announced the Local Government Climate Action Program to provide predictable, long-term funding to local governments and Modern Treaty Nations as they plan and implement climate actions. On this page, you'll find resources and information on actions like waste reduction and diversion, land use and transportation planning, low-carbon buildings and the creation of community energy projects.

Integrating actions that reduce emissions with those that support climate preparedness and adaptation will create more resilient communities. For data, resources and information focused on preparing for and adapting to climate change, visit our section on local government climate adaptation.

On this page

A computer with graph.

Emissions data and planning

Local government and community data can help to identify sources of emissions. This first step lays the foundation for setting reduction goals, developing energy and emissions plans, taking action and monitoring progress.

 

Community Energy and Emissions Inventory (CEEI)

The CEEI provides community GHG emissions data for buildings and waste (up to 2018) and transportation (up to 2012).

Data is broken down by residential and groupings of commercial and small industrial use. 

Access the data inventory

 

Working with emissions data

Local governments can use GHG emissions inventory data to develop both their corporate and community climate action plans and strategies.

For example, updated community GHG inventories were integral to the District of Saanich’s award-winning 2020 Climate Plan. The plan was developed through engagement, climate change risk assessments, the modelling of strategies and incorporating best practices in addition to considering key data.

Monitoring and reporting on emissions levels will be key to staying on track and meeting the plan's overarching goals.

Climate Action Planner 

The Climate Action Planner is a simple, interactive tool developed by B.C.’s Community Energy Association (CEA). It helps B.C. communities assess:

  • Current GHG emissions
  • Projected emissions with no actions taken
  • Results of actions to reduce emissions

This planner is valuable for interpreting emissions data and planning GHG reductions and climate action projects.

How B.C. communities are using the Climate Action Planner

 

Key Resources

  • BC Community Climate Funding Guide is an all-in-one resource for Indigenous communities and local governments to support community climate action projects
  • Community Energy Association (CEA) provides local governments with coaching, support with planning or implementation to help communities transition to a low-carbon, resilient economy
  • BC Hydro Sustainable Communities program  helps local governments improve their energy efficiency and reduce emissions by providing education, financial incentives and expertise, including funding 50% of a Community Energy Manager’s salary

 

A government building.

Local government corporate operations

In alignment with the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, many local governments have set up systems to monitor and reduce emissions from their corporate assets and activities.

 

Carbon neutral local government

As part of their commitment under the BC Climate Action Charter, many local governments in B.C. have been working towards corporate carbon neutrality.

Key resources

Find more resources to help achieve carbon neutrality, including approved reduction project calculators, project profiles, templates and webinars, on the BC Climate Action Toolkit website.

 

Reducing emissions from corporate assets and operations

You won’t need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to reducing emissions in your local government buildings and fleets. Actions under the CleanBC Roadmap, like the commitment to going electric to reduce emissions from fleet vehicles, will get us 100% of the way to our climate goals. Incentives are available under CleanBC to support local governments in making this change.

Many local governments are in the process of leveraging support from the CleanBC Go Electric Fleet Charging Program and are taking advantage of the CleanBC Go Electric EV Charger Rebate program. For local governments in search of flexible, long-term funding, Budget 2022 announced the Local Government Climate Action Program and a commitment of $76 million for communities over three years.

Several local governments are also taking advantage of CleanBC Better Buildings incentives to help cut emissions in municipal buildings, such as community centres.

With funding from the CleanBC Communities Fund, local governments are improving services and cutting emissions. For example, the Fraser Valley Regional District is installing a geothermal heat recovery system in Hope’s recreation centre, and Kamloops is making energy efficiency upgrades to the Kamloops Canada Games Aquatic Centre.

Key resources

Vehicles

Buildings

​​Various projects

 

An electric car.

Land use and transportation

A significant portion of emissions in communities come from transportation. As a way to reduce emissions on the road, the Province aims to have 90% of all new car sales be ZEVs by 2030. By 2035, the aim is to have 100% of all new car sales be ZEVs. These targets are outlined in the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 as part of B.C.’s commitment to zero emissions.

Complete, compact communities can create more walkable environments and allow for a range of transportation options for all residents. Official community plans, zoning and the integration of transportation planning with land use planning can better support complete, compact community outcomes.

 

Strategies and guidance

 

Grants and funding

 

Tools

 

Buildings.

Buildings in your community

Local governments can influence the energy efficiency and emissions of buildings in their communities through development planning, regulation and building permit approvals.

For new buildings, the B.C. Energy Step Code sets energy-efficiency performance standards that go beyond the requirements of the base BC Building Code. For existing building retrofits, additional resources are available.

 

New construction

B.C. Energy Step Code

Under the Roadmap to 2030, B.C. will add a new carbon pollution standard to the BC Building Code, to make all new buildings zero carbon by 2030.

The B.C. Energy Step Code provides an optional compliance path that local governments may use to encourage a higher level of energy efficiency than the BC Building Code in new construction.

Many local governments now reference the Step Code in a policy, program or bylaw. Some are taking a phased approach. Others are integrating the Step Code with incentives or training programs, and many are doing both. 

Working with partners

Local governments are partnering with federal and provincial governments and other organizations to support energy-efficient buildings in their communities.

For example, the Town of Smithers, in partnership with BC Housing and the Dik Tiy Housing Society, built a 19-unit affordable housing project to Passive House standard, which is equivalent to the highest step of the B.C. Energy Step Code.

With funding from the CleanBC Communities Fund, the Kanaka Bar Indian Band is using a combination of solar panels, small wind turbines and micro-hydro to maximize the use of clean electric space and water heating in affordable community housing.

 

Renovate and retrofit existing buildings

There are many strategies for local governments to encourage cleaner buildings in communities, from development policies and energy labeling and benchmarking, to taking the lead in corporate operations and modeling the way.

Financing and incentive programs can also help large building owners, households and businesses switch to high-efficiency heating equipment, make building-envelope improvements or use cleaner fuels. For example, the City of North Vancouver offers a $2,000 top-up to a CleanBC Better Homes’ heat pump incentives.

In Vancouver, the Seven Maples 38-unit public housing building was recently renovated under BC Housing’s program to include building envelope and mechanical system upgrades, including new air source heat pumps to supplement the existing solar system on site. This one renovation alone provides significant energy and emissions savings yearly. 

Key resources

Recycling bins.

Circular economy and waste

In B.C., it is estimated that over 40% of material sent to landfills is organic waste. This includes paper and paperboard, compostable organics such as food scraps, as well as wood and wood products from construction, demolition and renovation projects. Organic waste decomposes in landfills, causing methane production, a greenhouse gas more than 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

In addition to these organic waste streams, plastics are also a major contributor to our landfills.

In the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, the Province committed to having a circular economy strategy in place. Reducing waste and moving to a circular economy not only reduces direct emissions, it also increases the lifespan of landfills and reduces the emissions associated with production of new materials.

 

Municipal solid waste

Approaches for zero waste and a circular economy aim to prevent and eliminate waste, while ensuring valuable materials such as organic waste are diverted from landfills.

The 5 R pollution prevention hierarchy (reduce, reuse, recycle, recovery, residuals management) is a useful planning tool for moving towards zero waste.

Key resources

 

Organic waste

Preventing and diverting organic waste from entering landfills can save landfill space, recycle nutrients and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

According to United Nations data, approximately, one-third of all food produced in the world is lost or wasted every year, as are the resources that are required to grow, manufacture and distribute it. This equates to a global carbon footprint of approximately 4.4 billion tonnes of CO2 annually.

Key resources

 

Single-use plastics

More than 40% of plastic is used only once, and the production and manufacturing of plastic packaging and products generates greenhouse gas emissions.

In April 2022, the province released a single-use and plastic waste prevention intentions paper, with a proposed regulation for certain single-use and plastic items. Under the work of the CleanBC Plastics Action Plan the Province has already approved over a dozen local government plastics bans and created a new regulation (Part 3) under the Community Charter to allow local governments to ban certain single-use plastics. 

Other initiatives underway that are supporting the CleanBC Plastics Action Plan include:    

  • The CleanBC Plastics Action Fund is launching a second intake distributing over $9 million to innovative projects across the province that prevent plastic waste and develop B.C.’s circular economy for plastic. The first intake of funding distributed nearly $5 million to nine projects that turned used plastics into new products, supported the circular economy of plastics, increased local processing capacity for recycling and create new jobs
  • The Clean Coast, Clean Waters Initiative Fund has provided more than $19million for projects to clear B.C.’s shores of marine debris and derelict vessels, removing more than 1000 tonnes of marine debris.
 

How recycling supports a circular economy

Preventing waste can help transition the province to a "circular economy," where resources are never discarded, but instead are reused, repaired, recycled and reintroduced as new products. A circular economy is truly efficient, adding value and jobs all along the supply chain.  

For example, B.C.’s Recycling Regulation sets out requirements for product stewardship in B.C. The responsibility is shifted more to industry for managing the lifecycle of designated products and consumer packaging they create and distribute. This Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) approach creates efficiencies and raises awareness about producing items that don't harm the environment.

Key resources

 

A person rides a bicycle outside a house.

Community energy opportunities

B.C. has potential to grow its renewable energy sector beyond clean hydroelectricity into other established and emerging areas. These could include capturing waste heat from sewage or buildings, or using solar, hydrogen, wind or smaller scale hydro.

Community energy projects not only help reduce emissions, but also create new local jobs and reduce waste and costs.

Projects can vary in scope and purpose. For example, district or neighbourhood energy systems use locally available renewable resources to provide heat and cooling to nearby buildings through a centralized network. Other projects focus on providing heat only to one building and may use biomass, waste heat capture, use geo- or air-exchanges to reduce emissions. 

 

Key resources

 

A magnifying glass and documents

Programs for residents

Many of the actions local governments take to reduce emissions from buildings, transportation and waste, have corresponding actions that can be taken by community residents. Often, a local government can provide information or incentives to encourage those individual actions.

Residents can play a key role in achieving local government emission reduction plans and goals.

 

Ideas from other communities

 

 

Options for residents

Choose your action area, find the resources and funding and bring your residents onside.

Go Electric B.C.

Replacing conventional cars and trucks with electric vehicles can reduce carbon pollution while helping people save on fuel and maintenance.

  • Rebates and funding for buying a zero-emission vehicle (ZEVs), home and work charging stations, hydrogen fuelling stations and more are available under CleanBC Go Electric programming 
  • Scrap-It offers rebates for the purchase of a new electric bike or BC Transit pass for people who scrap their old vehicles

CleanBC Better Homes

Other resources

  • Go By Bike BC promotes bicycle commuting through events like Go By Bike Week