The City of Charlottetown Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan

The City of Charlottetown (PEI), with a growing population of over 36,000 residents, will be developing a plan to reduce GHG emissions in the city. The City of Charlottetown GHG Reduction Plan will help the City of Charlottetown to chart a path to reduce GHGs by 40% or more by 2030. Pathways to 100% renewable energy for all purposes by 2050 will be considered along with other ways to decarbonize. The City of Charlottetown is a member of the Partners for Climate Protection Program and has completed a Corporate GHG Inventory for years 2013-2016. The City has not yet completed a Community GHG Inventory and this will be the focus of the first phase of the GHG reduction plan. The GHG reduction plan will be carried out in five stages: 1) carry out a community energy/GHG inventory; 2) facilitate community GHG reduction plan visioning; 3) evaluate proposed GHG reduction measures; 4) draft a GHG reduction plan; and 5) adopt the plan and develop implementation and monitoring processes. Phase one of the GHG Reduction Plan will adhere to the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) Protocol, expanding GHG quantification from corporate operations to the community. In phase 2, a public consultation process will be used and will result in a range of proposed options to reduce GHGs in the City of Charlottetown. A triple bottom line approach will be used to evaluate the potential GHG reduction measures in phase 3, which will seek to minimize other negative environmental impacts and consider economic objectives such as job creation and economic development. The project coordinator will work the project team, internal and external advisory committees, subject matter experts and stakeholders to draft the GHG reduction plan in phase 4. In phase 5, the GHG reduction plan will be adopted and strategies will be developed to ensure that the plan is implemented and the results are monitored. For example, the City of Charlottetown is proposing establishing a low-cost citizen-led sensor network to allow for monitoring of metrics like electricity, heating, cooling, vehicle kilometres traveled etc. from locations across the City. If results show promise, the sensor network could be expanded to encourage GHG reductions while enhancing results monitoring through the implementation phase upon project completion. An adaptive management approach will be developed so the GHG Reduction Plan is periodically modified as conditions, such as technological developments, shift over time. Through this initiative, the City of Charlottetown hopes to provide a substantial contribution that assists the Province and other municipalities in mapping out and implementing pathways to a sustainable, low-carbon economy.