Local Government Climate Action Program reporting

1. Report on projects linked to one or more objectives from the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 (PDF, 9MB) and/or the Climate Preparedness and Adaptation Strategy (PDF, 7MB), both corporately and at a community level, including, but not limited to: 

• Buildings: step code adoption, carbon pollution standard, energy efficient/demand side management programs, zero-carbon heating requirement and/or net-zero buildings commitments, upgrades to public buildings
• Transportation: active transportation plan or investments, secure bike parking, commute reduction programs, transit/pedestrian-oriented development regulation, electric vehicle charging infrastructure plans or number of public installations, trip reduction programs, mode shift targets in Official Community Plan and/or Regional Growth Strategy, zero emission vehicle fleet adoption 
• Community climate planning and related investments: compact and energy efficient community planning, organic diversion, completed climate or energy emission plan, renewable energy investments, communications (for example, newsletters and website content), engagement with constituents on climate-related matters, or educational programming (such as through recreation centres)
• Climate resilience: assessment of current and future climate risks and plans to address risks through local government planning, programming, service delivery, asset management and other functions 

2. Measure and report traditional services GHG emissions

• Required for local governments with populations exceeding 10,000 and encouraged for local governments with populations under 10,000. Reporting traditional services emissions is voluntary for Modern Treaty Nations 
• A traditional services emissions inventory is an assessment of an organization’s GHG emissions that occur within a defined boundary and within a defined period (for a given year). Measuring and reporting traditional services emissions not only demonstrates climate leadership, but presents opportunities to reduce energy consumption and associated costs and make more strategic, informed decisions on capital and infrastructure investments. This involves reporting on GHG emissions associated with the delivery of traditional services, including:  
  • Fire protection 
  • Solid waste management
  • Recreational and cultural services
  • Road and traffic operations
  • Water and wastewater management
  • Government administration

​Local governments and Modern Treaty Nations can adhere to the scope, boundaries and GHG quantification methodologies prescribed for LGCAP or to another established reporting framework such as the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

• When posting the survey and attestation form publicly, the design and format of the document can be changed. All information from required questions must be included. Optional questions and answers can be omitted
• The requirement to make the survey and attestation form public can be fulfilled by doing one or both of the following:
  • including them in council meeting minutes
  • posting them to a website, social media and/or in a newsletter
• Only the most recent LGCAP survey needs to be posted publicly. Previous versions can be removed once there is a new report to post

Reporting on traditional services GHG emissions includes those from contracted services. This includes contracts that are:  

• new or renewals after June 1, 2012
• over $25,000 in value in any calendar year 
• in scope based on the traditional services boundaries described in the Scope Summary for Traditional Services GHG Emissions (PDF, 312KB), except for administration and governance services

You are only required to track and report on emissions from mobile sources derived from fossil fuel consumption used to operate vehicles, equipment and machinery – not for buildings. These include, but are not limited to gasoline, diesel, natural gas, propane, and bio-fossil fuel blends.  

While local governments and Modern Treaty Nations are encouraged to work with their contractors to get actual emissions data, it is recognized that in some cases this may not be possible. If this is the case, you may choose to use one of the estimation methodologies provided in Appendix B of the Contracted Services Guidance (PDF, 1.5MB). A Contracted Services Calculator (XLSX, 73KB) is also available for estimating emissions from contracted services.

Supporting carbon neutrality  

While traditional services carbon neutrality is not a component of this program, we continue to support the use of tools and resources such as the Becoming Carbon Neutral Guidebook available on the BC Climate Action Toolkit.