Carbon Neutral Government – Program Requirements
Five-Step Process
Under B.C.’s carbon neutral government program–legislated under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Targets Act (GGRTA) and the Carbon Neutral Government Regulation–all public sector organizations (PSOs) follow a five-step process to achieve carbon neutrality:
- Measure greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from buildings, vehicles and paper use
- Reduce emissions by conserving electricity and fossil fuels
- Offset remaining emissions by purchasing an equivalent amount of high-quality, made-in-B.C. carbon offsets
- Report annually on progress through the Carbon Neutral Action Report (CNAR)
- Verify data and emissions
Detailed step-by-step information is available in Becoming Carbon Neutral (PDF, 1 MB).
Timeline for the 2017 Reporting Year
Early 2018: Receive reporting materials
- Receive email from the Climate Action Secretariat (CAS) containing:
- The CNAR Overview Instructions & Template or the Small Emitters Form
- A link to the CNAR Survey Form
- The Self-Certification Checklist
April 30, 2018: All data due
- Deadline to load 2017 building, fleet and paper data into SMARTTool
May 15, 2018: Self-Certification Checklist due
- Email the signed checklist to Carbon.Neutral@gov.bc.ca to attest to the accuracy and completeness of the uploaded data and the adequacy of supporting business processes
- Receive an offset invoice with the final emissions numbers and the amount of offsets to be purchased for the 2017 reporting year
May 31, 2018: Final CNAR or Small Emitters Form due
- Email the signed, completed forms to Carbon.Neutral@gov.bc.ca
- Submit the online CNAR Survey* form (CAS will provide link)
- Submit payment for offset investment
*Note that PSOs submitting the Small Emitters Form are not required to complete the CNAR Survey
June 30, 2018: Post reports and retire offsets (CAS)
- Climate Action Secretariat posts all PSO CNAR reports
- Climate Action Secretariat retires sufficient offsets to achieve carbon neutrality for 2017
Fall 2018: Verify reports (CAS)
- Climate Action Secretariat engages an accredited, independent third party to verify a sampling of PSO emissions reports
Self-Certification Templates
- Self-Certification Checklist (PDF, 130 KB) – due May 15, 2018
- Cascading Sign-Off Checklist (DOC, 64 KB)
- Error Log (DOC, 43 KB)
- Training Log (DOC, 46 KB)
- Roles and Responsibilities (DOC, 51 KB)
- Sample Organization Flowchart (DOC, 67 KB)
Archived Guidance Documents
- 2014 & 2015 BC Best Practices Methodology for Quantifying GHG Emissions (PDF, 956 KB)
- 2013 BC Best Practices Methodology for Quantifying GHG Emissions (PDF, 1.1 MB)
- 2012 BC Best Practices Methodology for Quantifying GHG Emissions (PDF, 993 KB)
- 2011 BC Best Practices Methodology for Quantifying GHG Emissions (PDF, 537 KB)
- 2010 BC Best Practices Methodology for Quantifying GHG Emissions (PDF, 509 KB)
- 2009 BC Best Practices Methodology for Quantifying GHG Emissions (PDF, 734 KB)