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Climate Action
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.
Difference Between Climate Mitigation & Climate Adaptation
Climate mitigation is efforts to reduce or prevent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as:
- Creating complete communities
- Energy efficient equipment
- Renewable energy
- Sustainable transportation
- Waste diversion
- Water/energy conservation
Climate adaptation is actions to adapt services and infrastructure to changing climate conditions, such as:
- Disaster management and business continuity
- Flood protection
- Infrastructure and building design
Corporate Climate Action Targets
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.
Corporate Actions to Reduce GHG Emissions
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:
- Two energy-sharing (Thermenex) systems at Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex and City Centre Campus
- LED lighting for sports fields, facilities, and streets
- Waste heat recovery systems
- High-efficiency boilers and domestic water heaters
- Electric fleet vehicles
- Anti-idling policy for fleet vehicles
- Recycling and organic waste diversion program in civic facilities
Community Climate Action Targets
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:
- Reduce community-wide GHG emissions by 15% below 2007 levels by 2031
- Reduce community per capita GHG emissions by 30% below 2007 levels by 2021
Community Actions to Reduce GHG Emissions
The City is actively working on measures to reduce GHG emissions in the community. The following initiatives support the community Climate Action targets:
- Area plans designed to create compact, mixed-use, transit-oriented development with excellent walkability.
- Planting native trees/shrubs to restore and enhance forest habitat.
- Public education and workshops for residential solid waste separation. Enforcement of cross-contamination to ensure high rate of waste diversion.
- Transportation actions include:
- Requirements for electric vehicle charging infrastructure
- Expansion of sidewalk infrastructure
- Expansion of car-sharing
- Traffic signal coordination
- Planning for transit service expansion
- Water conservation initiatives such as pipe leak detection, rain barrel sales, and water wise kits.
Climate Action at Home & Work
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:
Energy
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.
Transportation
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.
Waste
Recycle, reuse and compost! Learn more about how to separate your waste.
Food
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.
Climate Adaptation Actions in Coquitlam
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:
- A mean temperature increase of 1.8 degrees Celsius by year 2050 and of 3.5 degrees Celsius by 2080
- A mean precipitation increase of 2% by year 2050 and 6% by 2080
- Summer precipitation decrease of 6% by 2050 and 10% by 2080
- Rise in sea level by 30 centimetres by 2050 and 80 centimetres by 2080
- Total storm/rain events to increase by 17%
As a result, Coquitlam has developed a strategic plan to adapt to these climate change impacts.
Climate Adaptation Strategic Plan
Coquitlam’s Climate Adaptation Strategic Plan deals with the impacts of changing weather patterns on infrastructure, services and the community. and includes:
- potential risks of climate change to City infrastructure and services,
- strategies to mitigate the impacts, and
- recommendations toward an action plan with timelines.
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.
Climate Action Public Report
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).