Update of Climate Action and Energy Plan Modeling and Implementation Plan

The District of North Cowichan (with a population of 29,676) will be updating its award winning Climate Action and Energy Plan (CAEP), which was adopted in 2013. The 2013 CAEP included baseline data, greenhouse gas (GHG) and energy reduction targets, and actions for reducing GHGs in the transportation, energy, land-use, forestry and financial sectors. The District of North Cowichan will update the 2013 CAEP in order to review the baseline GHG emissions inventory and redo the GHG modelling to address changes in land-use and development patterns, respond to technological advancements in renewable energy, and upgrade to more functional and user-friendly tools for ongoing monitoring. This will also allow the District of North Cowichan to assess their progress towards achieving their GHG reduction targets of 33% of 2007 levels by 2025 and eventually achieving carbon neutrality, and set new targets if necessary. After running the GHG modeling for different development scenarios and accounting for improvements in green technology, the District of North Cowichan will asses which projects need to be rescheduled and which new projects could be carried out and update their action plan for reducing GHG emissions. The District has been a member of FCM's Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) Program since 2008 and has achieved Milestone 4 for both Corporate and Community portfolios. This project will help the municipality to reach milestone 5 by assessing whether their actions are achieving the results that were intended and whether or not they are on track to reaching their targets. Stakeholder and public engagement will be an important part of the CAEP update, and the engagement approach will include meetings with stakeholders and community groups and broad public outreach and education initiatives. A key component of the CAEP update will be to develop an implementation and monitoring framework that identifies quantifiable outcomes, timelines and objectives to ensure progress towards the emission reduction targets. The District of North Cowichan’s Corporate Green Team will oversee the execution of the implementation framework, which will ultimately provide staff with the resources they need for improved monitoring and tracking of progress towards the District of North Cowhichan’s GHG emission reduction targets.