Factsheet: Municipal governance for deep decarbonization

Net-zero emissions (or carbon neutrality): Are achieved when human-caused (or anthropogenic) GHG emissions are balanced by an equivalent removal of GHG emissions from the atmosphere over a specific period. Achieving a net-zero balance requires significant reductions in GHG emissions, while the last small percentage can be achieved through carbon sinks (e.g., forests, wetlands, oceans, soil) that absorb more carbon than they emit.

Corporate climate action plan: A plan that focuses on reducing GHG emissions that are directly controlled by the local government (e.g., municipal operations and fleets).

Community-wide climate action plan: A plan that focuses on reducing GHG emissions within the boundaries of the community, requiring commitment and effort from many actors in the community.

Deep decarbonization: The process of reducing carbon dioxide and other GHG emissions at a rate that ensures net-zero emissions at the community level by the year 2050 and significant reductions by 2030.

Deep decarbonization pathways: The electricity, building, transportation, waste, land use and agricultural sectors are priority pathways for establishing policies and other solutions to advance climate action. The relative contribution of each sector toward community-wide emissions can vary significantly depending on the municipality’s economic base, urban form, density, wealth and sources of electricity in the grid.

Deep decarbonization plan: A corporate or community-wide climate action plan that aims for at least 80 percent reduction of GHG emissions by 2050. (Note: Although the word carbon (in the sense of carbon dioxide equivalent) is often used, all GHGs are considered as part of deep decarbonization plans and carbon neutrality goals.)

Embodied carbon: GHG emissions of a material released from the extraction of raw resources to its end-life. In an infrastructure project, embodied carbon includes emissions from raw material extraction, manufacturing, transportation, and emissions associated with construction and demolition practices. Embodied carbon does not include carbon emissions from use and operations.

Backcasting: An approach that focuses on defining a desired carbon neutral future for a community and then working backwards to identify all the necessary actions to achieve this vision.

Municipal carbon budgeting: A tool that tracks GHG emissions with municipal finances, where municipalities create a carbon budget within which their GHG emissions must fit. A carbon allocation is added to each proposed project and ongoing operational cost to assess its climate mitigation potential against the municipality’s remaining carbon budget. This approach holds municipalities accountable for their long-term climate targets and allows for transparent and accurate monitoring of decarbonization efforts.

Climate lens: A perspective that adds consideration of climate impacts into planning and approval processes. Using a carbon budget is one tool to bring a climate lens to municipal decision-making.

Many municipalities in Canada have developed both corporate and community-wide climate action plans in response to climate change.

• Corporate climate action plans focus on reducing emissions from activities that are within the control and direct influence of the local government (i.e., the "corporation").
• Community-wide climate action plans focus on reducing GHG emissions, including industrial and residential emissions, within the municipal boundaries.

The primary focus for most municipalities is on reducing corporate emissions and furthering community-wide deep decarbonization efforts, especially when federal and provincial initiatives are not achieving sufficient reductions on their own. Knowing what they control directly helps municipalities determine how to structure their corporate climate action plan and their community plan. Federal/provincial policies and initiatives as well as business products and services have a direct impact on helping municipalities and local stakeholders achieve corporate and community-wide emissions targets.

This graphic shows municipal spheres of influence over different sources of GHG emissions. It can be adapted to each local context.

Municipal spheres of influence over different sources of GHG emissions

Which sources of GHG emissions are included in deep decarbonization plans?

When it comes to measuring and reporting GHG emissions, most deep decarbonization plans in Canada focus on two categories of GHG emissions:

1. Direct GHG emissions generated from within the municipality
2. Indirect emissions associated with the purchase of grid-supplied energy

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) identifies these as Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions respectively. Increasingly, Scope 3 emissions are also being considered. This third category includes all other indirect GHG emissions that occur outside the municipal boundary due to consumption or investment by people within the municipality. The three scopes can be used in corporate and community-wide climate action plans to categorize sources of GHG emissions.

Sources and boundaries of municipal GHG emissions

Leading edge deep decarbonization plans are also starting to consider embodied carbon, which is the total GHG emissions associated with a material over the product’s lifecycle. For example, embodied carbon in an infrastructure project includes emissions from the extraction, manufacturing and transportation of building materials, as well as emissions associated with construction and demolition. Embodied carbon is separate from operational carbon, which is GHG emissions resulting from the use and operation of built infrastructure.

In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) determined that a 45 percent reduction in global GHG emissions is required by 2030 (based on 2010 levels) and carbon neutrality is required by 2050, to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The IPCC report, released in August 2021, reinforces the urgent need to rapidly reduce global GHG emissions on a large scale. In Canada, the federal government has pledged to carbon neutrality (or net-zero) by 2050, and a 40 to 45 percent reduction in GHG emissions below 2005 levels by 2030. Across Canada, approximately 500 municipalities have declared a climate emergency, and many have adopted the federal GHG emissions reduction targets (see Random Acts of Green) .

Nearly 500 Canadian municipalities have committed to the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program developed jointly by ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability Canada (ICLEI Canada) and FCM. The PCP program’s five-step milestone framework guides municipalities as they take action to reduce GHG emissions. Additionally, over 50 municipalities are members of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy in Canada (GCoM), a collaboration between FCM, ICLEI Canada, the GCoM Secretariat, and the European Union. Like the PCP program, GCoM signatories commit to taking specific action to combat climate change.

PCP member municipalities are required to set locally relevant emissions reductions targets, and many have revised their targets to at least an 80 percent reduction in GHG emissions by 2050, with varying baseline years. Recently, some have set an even more ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.
 

To achieve deep decarbonization, we suggest municipalities use the PCP framework and pursue additional steps. This table provides an overview of suggested actions that Canadian municipalities can implement and the current state in Canada as of 2020. Information in the current state in Canada column was partly derived from interviews with 11 partner organizations and 51 local governments engaged in MCIPS’s Transition 2050 (T2050) initiative.

Canadian municipalities often encounter multiple barriers as they work to meet their corporate and community-wide GHG emissions reduction commitments. The table below shows key success factors for municipalities in reaching climate targets, as identified by T2050 initiative participants, along with suggested actions to help climate action teams work toward decarbonization. Depending on the municipality, members of the climate action team might include elected officials, senior management and community leaders.

Here are some suggestions on how you can get started on the path to deep decarbonization.

• Sign up to be a member of the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program.
• Review your local GHG reduction targets for alignment with science-based targets.
• Consult with community members and senior municipal leaders on the decarbonization pathways that are right for your municipality.
• Use GMF’s Municipal Energy Roadmap to identify targeted solutions to achieve significant GHG emissions reductions in municipal and community buildings.
• Join municipal climate action networks like Climate Caucus.

Examples of corporate and community-wide plans with ambitious 2050 climate targets:

• City of Bridgewater: Community Energy Investment Plan
• City of Guelph: Community Energy Initiative
• City of Halifax: HalifACT
• City of Montreal: Climate Plan 2020 – 2030
• City of Toronto: TransformTO
• City of Vancouver: Greenest City Action Plan; Climate Emergency Action Plan
• Region of Durham: Durham Community Energy Plan 

Examples of PCP compliant climate action plans across Canada

Tools, reports and programs:

• Infrastructure Canada: General guidance on adopting a climate lens
• C40 Knowledge Hub: Climate budget approach
• C40 Climate Action Planning Resource Centre: Consumption-based GHG emissions
• University of Waterloo: Amelia Clarke’s research on climate mitigation and decarbonization
• Carbon Leadership Forum: Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3) tool
• GHG Protocol: Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories
• QUEST: Smart Energy Communities Benchmark
• Samantha Linton, Amelia Clarke and Laura Tozer: Strategies and Governance for Implementing Deep Decarbonization Plans at the Local Level
• Smart Prosperity Institute: Sustainability Alignment Manual: Using market-based instruments to accelerate sustainability progress at the local level
• CUSP: Energy Poverty and Equity Explorer tool

Climate networks and organizations:

• C40 Network
• Canadian Institute for Climate Choices
• Canadian Urban Sustainability Practitioners
• Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance
• Clean Air Partnership
• Climate Caucus
• Farmers and Climate Solutions
• Global Covenant of Mayors in Canada
• Partners for Climate Protection (ICLEI Canada and FCM)
• QUEST
• Smart Prosperity Institute
• The Natural Step Canada
• Vivre en Ville