Climate Plan: 100% Renewable Saanich

The District of Saanich will develop a climate change mitigation plan to provide a long-term direction and action strategy to become 100% renewable energy and reduce 80% the 2007 baseline levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) community emissions by 2050.The Saanich community is currently responsible for 426,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) as outlined in the 2015 Territorial Global Protocol for Community (GPC) Scale GHG Emission Inventory completed in January 2018. The Plan will tackle the challenges of climate change mitigation and adaptation defining the long-term strategies, short-term actionable items and interim targets to achieve the District’s 2050 vision. It will also respond to the step change required to meet the ambitious long-term targets for becoming 100% renewable. Actions are expected to relate primarily to energy use in transportation, buildings, food, materials and waste and would be considered in the context of natural areas and ecosystems and the need to adapt to a changing climate. A secondary purpose of the project is to enhance public awareness, community commitment and support for climate change actions. The engagement of key stakeholders and public members and the recognition of their contributions to achieving the GHG emissions reduction targets will be a critical factor for the success of the initiative. A framework will be developed as part of the Plan in order to evaluate and prioritize the potential actions in terms of ownership, role of the District and the goals they are intended to help achieve. This framework would highlight the value of actions in delivering against the multiple goals of the Plan, how the goals are integrated, potentially impact each other and the ability to leverage resources from various stakeholders through collaboration. The Plan will not only be informed by existing policies and plans, but also used to update the Official Community Plan, Strategic Facilities Masterplan, Local Area Plans, and Active Transportation Plan. It will build upon the existing policies, programs and initiatives as an outcome of the 2020 Climate Action Plan (2010) and Adaptation Plan (2011). Council has demonstrated its commitment by adopting the 80% GHG reduction target (below 2007 levels) and 100% renewable energy target by 2050 for both the corporation and community in October 2017.Vision and goals of the Saanich community are Environmental Integrity, Social Well-Being and Economic Vibrancy and the six corporate themes aligned to these goals; Sustainable Environment, Balanced Transportation, Healthy Community, Safe Community, Vibrant Connected Economy and Service Excellence. The Plan will maximize synergies between these goals and the interrelated nature climate mitigation and adaptation actions have with each.