Cambridge's Corporate Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan

The City of Cambridge will develop a local action plan to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its corporate activities and to complement ongoing community GHG planning in partnership with the Region of Waterloo (GMF 12005). As a member of Partners for Climate Protection program, Cambridge’s Corporate GHG Reduction Plan will help the city achieve Milestone 3 of the PCP Framework. Working with a consultant, the project management team (a sub-committee of the city’s Sustainability Task Force) will develop a corporate GHG inventory, a 10-year emissions forecast, GHG reduction targets and actions, and an implementation and monitoring plan. Reduction targets will be aligned with those of neighboring municipalities and the Waterloo region and accounted for in a wider regional reduction program. Actions developed through the plan are expected to address building energy consumption, street and traffic lights, fleet management, alternative transportation, corporate waste and water treatment. The plan will help to achieve the objectives of the city’s Corporate Sustainability Strategy while building upon a corporate sustainability decision-making process and a sustainability decision support tool developed through the strategy. In addition, it will meet requirements of Ontario’s new regulation 397/11 Energy and Conservation and Demand Management Plan – Green Energy Act (2009). Beyond the scope of this application, Cambridge is conducting complementary community GHG reduction work as a member of the Climate Collaborative; a joint working group composed of all Region of Waterloo municipalities, local utilities, two non-profit organizations, and the regional government. The Corporate GHG Reduction Plan will align with the Collaborative’s principles and guidelines. The Collaborative provides an excellent forum for local networking and knowledge sharing on GHG reduction planning and implementation, and its focus on partnership will ensure that a collaborative approach to climate protection is communicated within every level of the community. (Project description from original funding application)