Coquitlam is committed to taking action on climate change by promoting practices that reduce greenhouse gases and conserve energy both corporately and within the broader community. Coquitlam is also taking action to prepare for and adapt to climate change towards maintaining sustainable service delivery to its residents. The City is moving forward with developing Coquitlam’s Environmental Sustainability Plan (ESP) which is informed by public consultation and includes Climate Action as one of five key themes.
Climate mitigation is efforts to reduce or prevent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as:
Climate adaptation is actions to adapt services and infrastructure to changing climate conditions, such as:
The City of Coquitlam has committed to address climate change by signing the Climate Action Charter in 2007. In early 2017, the City set new targets to reduce corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40% below 2007 levels by 2025.
The City actively identifies and implements conservation measures to fulfill the City’s corporate Climate Action commitments. The City prioritizes efficiency and optimization in its facility operations and monitors building energy performance. GHG reduction measures include:
To strengthen the City’s response to climate change, Coquitlam developed a Community Greenhouse Gas Reduction Strategy. The strategy identifies opportunities to reduce energy use and GHG emissions across the broader community and resulted in two targets:
The City is actively working on measures to reduce GHG emissions in the community. The following initiatives support the community Climate Action targets:
Residents often ask about what they can do to reduce their carbon footprint. The good news is that many actions are low cost or free. Focus on the following areas to reduce your impact:
Turn off unused lights, unplug chargers and lower your thermostat. Opt for efficiency when purchasing new lights and appliances. Ready for a home energy makeover? Take advantage of rebates and incentives for new construction and retrofits by visiting CleanBC Better Homes.
Walk, bike or take transit whenever possible. When purchasing a new vehicle, consider an electric or low polluting vehicle. Visit Go Electric BC for information on electric vehicle rebates.
Recycle, reuse and compost! Learn more about how to separate your waste.
Choose local, organic, and in-season food. Reduce the amount of meat you consume and choose sustainable seafood. Visit Metro Vancouver’s Love Food Hate Waste to learn how to shop and store food efficiently.
The severity of climate change is dependent on the extent of global greenhouse gas emissions. These changes pose risks to the services offered by the City and to its infrastructure. Based on the current track of greenhouse gas emissions, the next 30 to 60 years of projections for Coquitlam are:
As a result, Coquitlam has developed a strategic plan to adapt to these climate change impacts.
Coquitlam’s Climate Adaptation Strategic Plan deals with the impacts of changing weather patterns on infrastructure, services and the community. and includes:
The Plan intends to build climate resiliency, and considers the impacts of climate change on drainage, drinking water, energy, buildings, transportation, parks, natural areas, business, agriculture, and residents’ health and safety. It also builds on the City’s existing policies and initiatives in response to climate change, and the recommended strategies will provide a framework for future actions and plans.
The Climate Adaptation Strategic Plan was adopted by Council in October 2020. The project was funded in part by a grant from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program.
The City of Coquitlam completes the Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program (CARIP) Public Report as required by the Province of British Columbia on an annual basis. The linked CARIP report summarizes actions taken in 2018 and proposed for 2019 to reduce corporate and community-wide energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). The report includes actions the City is taking to prepare for and adapt to climate change and reports on progress towards achieving carbon neutrality.
View the 2019 CARIP Public Report (PDF)
View the 2018 CARIP Final Report (PDF).