Mayor's Report - June 2008

Climate Change and soaring energy prices have highlighted both the need and benefit of pursuing energy conservation and reducing of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions; actions that must be embraced by local governments. British Columbia has put into law a goal to reduce GHG emissions by 33% below current levels by 2020, and to achieve this goal the BC government has developed a Climate Action Plan. Belcarra Council now has to focus its attention to the following four items:

BC Climate Action Charter –– Local governments from across BC have joined with the Province and the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM), to find ways to tackle the challenges posed by Climate Change, pledging to significantly cut GHG emissions by 2012. To-date, 123 local governments have signed on to the Climate Action Charter. Belcarra Council needs to consider joining with the other BC municipalities who have signed the charter and committed to reducing GHGs.

BC Local Government (Green Communities) Statutes Amendment Act ––
This provincial initiative provides local governments the tools and guidelines necessary to ensure a stronger focus on energy conservation and GHG reduction. Local governments will be required to include GHG-emission targets, policies and actions in their official community plans and regional growth strategies.

BC Community Energy and Emissions Inventory –– This provincial initiative is being undertaken to provide community energy- and GHG-inventory reports for all BC local governments. This provincially sponsored data collection, analysis and reporting system will provide local governments with inventory baselines, ongoing monitoring and periodic reports to help inform community decision making and support provincial objectives. The first inventories are anticipated to represent energy-consumption and GHG emissions from community activities in land use, transportation, buildings and solid waste. Benchmarking current energy use and GHG emissions is the obvious first step, and these inventories will help municipalities plan and implement effective strategies for managing GHG emissions and energy use.

BC Air Action Plan –– Details of this recently announced provincial initiative includes three action items that our community will need to consider:

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