Climate Action Charter
New BC Best Practices Methodology for Quantifying GHG Emissions (PDF) (read more below)
Most B.C. communities have made the commitment to become carbon neutral by 2012. Out of 188 municipalities, 180 have signed the B.C. Climate Action Charter.
By signing the Charter, local governments commit to measuring and reporting on their community’s greenhouse gas emissions profile. They will also work to create compact, more energy efficient communities.
Local governments can achieve carbon neutrality by reducing emissions, by purchasing carbon offsets to compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions or by developing projects to offset emissions.
On September 24, 2008, the Province announced the Climate Action Revenue Incentive program to offset the carbon tax for local governments who have signed the B.C. Climate Action Charter.
For more information, including a list of communities that have signed the Charter, please visit the Ministry of Community and Rural Development.
To follow stories and news about green communities and local climate action in B.C. visit www.LiveSmartBC.ca/community.
Features
Methodology for Reporting BC Local Government GHG Emissions
The 2012 BC Best Practices Methodology for Quantifying GHG Emissions replaces the 2011 Methodology for Reporting B.C. Local Government Greenhouse Gas Emissions and has been developed for use by those local governments who are using or considering using a corporate emissions inventory and reporting tool other than SMARTTool. The use of the emission factors and methodologies contained in this document are required by the Green Communities Committee as part of the common approach to carbon neutrality under the Climate Action Charter Note that this version of the Methodology for Reporting is a consolidation of several stand alone guides developed for a range of organizations. As a result, not all content will be relevant for local governments. Local governments should refer to pages 7-9 of the new 2012 B.C. Best Practices document to confirm which sections apply to their carbon neutral commitment under the Climate Action Charter.
Please note that this document will be updated periodically to reflect changes or clarifications to the emission factors, methodologies and scope. For this reason, local governments should ensure that they are using the most current version of the Methodology when they are calculating their corporate emissions. Version numbers of the Methodology will be noted on the document cover.
Major changes and clarifications for 2012 include:
- updates to emission factors in line with annual updates to peer-reviewed documents and national and provincial emission factor inventories;
- The addition of pure biofuels (100% ethanol, biodiesel and biomethane) as distinct stationary fuel sources;
- A methodology to incorporate FORTIS BC’s renewable natural gas program;
- Four tiered efficiency options for purchased steam;
- Agricultural emission factors from the Community Energy and Emissions Inventory Technical Document;
- Clarification on customer billing on compressed natural gas: Gasoline Litre Equivalent compared to kilograms;
- Guidance on emissions from electric vehicles;
- An addendum providing carbon intensities and Smarttool functionality for select district energy systems is pending.
If you have any comments or questions on the Methodology please email: the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development at
IRPD@gov.bc.ca. Please put "Methodology" in the email subject line.
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