Local governments for a strong BC Climate Leadership Plan

The second public consultation on the Climate Leadership Plan will close on March 25, 2016 at noon. The province is inviting feedback on the CLT’s recommendations described in the Consultation Guide. In addition to the multiple ways available to provide feedback, local government Mayors, Chairs and CAOs have been invited to attend one of six webinars being held between March 8th and March 17th, 2016.  The goal of the webinars is to ensure that every local government in BC has the opportunity to review and provide feedback on the CLT’s recommendations. For more information please contact Jennifer Hill, Manager, Intergovernmental Initiatives.

CARIP-Carbon Neutral Reporting Webinars

The recent webinar, organized by GCC, CSCD and CAS, Back-to-Basic Refresher on CARIP-Carbon Neutral Reporting, was held on March 3, 2016. For those who missed it, it will be posted soon and a conference call will be organized in April to provide an additional opportunity for questions. The upcoming second webinar, organized by the Carbon Neutral Government group at CAS, SMARTTool Webinar for Local Governments, will be held on March 15th from 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM (PST). For more information please contact Orest Maslany. Recordings will be available through the BC Climate Action Toolkit. Learn more!

Find inspiration in FCM’s SCC 2016 post-conference resources

If you couldn’t make it to the Sustainable Communities Conference this year, you can still immerse yourself in ideas, information and innovative solutions shared at the conference. Take a look at post-conference resources on FCM’s website ― including speaker presentations, session handouts, session summaries and more ― and get a burst of ideas for actions you could take to green your communities. 

Download SCC post-conference resources

Two BC communities receive FCM 2016 Sustainable Communities Award

This year’s winners of FCM’s Sustainable Communities Awards included two BC communities for their leadership in sustainable community development. District of Sechelt received recognition for its innovative use of green technology in their wastewater treatment facility and City of Vancouver was awarded for major upgrades in cycling and pedestrian infrastructure and creating a seamless active transportation corridor.

Read the 2016 winner’s case studies

New GTI report - Community Energy Planning: The Value Proposition

Getting to Implementation launched new report entitled Community Energy Planning: The Value Proposition at the 2016 Sustainable Communities Conference. The report looks at the role of Community Energy Plans (CEPs) in realizing environmental, health and economic benefits and indicates that Canadian communities have untapped opportunities to strengthen local economies, reduce energy costs and GHG emissions, and create jobs by investing in smarter and more integrated approaches to energy use at the local level.

Download CEP: The Value Proposition report

Provincial Climate Action Plans and Local Governments – Lessons from BC

Policy Brief: Provincial Climate Action Plans and Local Governments – Lessons from BC, published by the Sustainable Prosperity, offers an overview of the climate action tools and policies available to local governments in BC. The policy brief provides a background on enabling, regulatory and funding tools put in place to encourage local governments to take climate action and highlights some of the successes and lessons learned from the roll-out of these tools. The brief also provides a summary of implications for policy makers.

Read key messages and download the Policy Brief

BikeBC funding helps communities become more active and green

Want to encourage cycling in your community? Bike BC funding is now available to local governments for expanding cycling infrastructure projects such as bike lanes, multi-use paths and trails, and cycling/pedestrian bridges. Apply by April 8, 2016 and encourage healthy living and help address climate change in BC. This program is part of the B.C. on the Move, the Government of B.C.’s 10-year transportation plan.

Apply for BikeBC funding

Don’t miss the opportunity to join the Municipal Natural Capital Initiative

Join pioneering BC communities in hosting Municipal Natural Capital Initiative (MNCI) pilot project. MNCI supports municipalities in recognizing, measuring and managing the contribution natural systems make to people and municipal service delivery, using municipal asset management business processes. Call for Expressions of Interest for the Phase 2 of the project is now underway. Interested municipalities should submit a letter of interest by March 14, 2016.

Learn more about the MNCI!