BC communities have nine years to meet the provincial target of a 40% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction below 2007 levels by 2030. Metro Vancouver has set a slightly more ambitious target of a 45% GHG emissions reduction below 2010 levels by 2030, and is striving to be carbon neutral by 2050. Whether these targets are met will arguably be determined by the initiatives and investments made in the next year or two.
Recognizing the urgency of addressing the global climate emergency, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is establishing seven Low Carbon Cities Canada (LC3) centres across Canada through a $183 million initiative aimed at accelerating urban climate solutions through capacity building, programming, research and innovative financial and impact investing tools.
WCS Engagement + Planning is part of a team along with Simon Fraser University Renewable Cities, Rhiza Capital, and Lidstone & Company that was selected by the City of Vancouver, Metro Vancouver and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) to establish the LC3 Centre in Metro Vancouver. This Centre, under the working name of the Metro Vancouver Zero Emission Innovation Centre (ZEIC), is expected to launch in September 2021, and will be endowed with $21.7 million from the federal government to advance and scale urban climate solutions such as building retrofits, low/zero carbon transportation, and smart growth.
Over the next eight months, our project team will engage with a wide range of stakeholders, and will design an organizational governance structure to establish and launch the Metro Vancouver ZEIC. WCS’ role is to lead the stakeholder engagement, which includes interviews, workshops and strategic planning.
For more information, contact Cheeying, (cho[AT]whistlercentre.ca).