Manitoba
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Manitoba Local Government

5 Milestones

Introduction
Milestone One: Establish a GHG emissions inventory
Milestone Two: Set a GHG emissions reduction target
Milestone Three: Develop a local climate change action plan with public input
Milestone Four: Implement GHG emissions reduction projects and activities included in the plan
Milestone Five: Monitor progress and report results


Introduction

One way for local governments and non-governmental organizations to take the initiative to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is through the five milestone framework. This framework was developed by ICLEI and is endorsed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). Member municipalities of the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program follow this framework.


Milestone One: Establish a GHG emissions inventory

What is an inventory?

An inventory tracks community energy use and waste disposal to show where GHG emissions are coming from in a given year (the baseline year).

A municipality has two inventories:

  • A corporate inventory that looks at buildings, street lighting, water and wastewater treatment, municipal fleet and corporate solid waste under the control of the municipality.
  • A community inventory that looks at residential, institutional, commercial, and industrial energy use, transportation practices and waste in the broader community.

Municipalities can use the ICLEI spreadsheet to conduct an inventory. Additional guidance on conducting a municipal GHG emissions inventory in Manitoba is available in the Guide for Conducting Municipal Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories and Forecasts in Manitoba.

The neighbourhood inventory looks at the transportation, waste, energy and lawn care choices of local residents, businesses and institutions. This inventory is generated by aggregating individual responses to the carbon calculators for an entire neighbourhood. Greenregistry.org provides calculators.

Why establish an inventory?

Establishing a GHG emissions inventory will help to determine:

  • the amount of energy being used and the subsequent GHGs emitted, by source and sector
  • how this is changing over time (the impact of projected population growth/decline on emissions)
  • where there is potential to reduce emissions
  • priority projects or activities based on their reduction potential and rate-of-return on investment
  • possible socio-economic costs of those reductions
  • the impact of the reductions relative to a business-as-usual scenario

Milestone Two – Set a GHG emissions reduction target

What is an emissions reduction target?

A GHG emissions reduction target is the amount of GHG emissions the community plans to reduce by a future point (the target year). This is normally expressed as a percentage below the levels of the baseline year. For example, Manitoba's target is to reduce emissions by 6% below 1990 levels (baseline year) by 2012 (target year). Different targets can be set for a municipal corporation and for the broader community.

Why set a target?

Setting a target for emissions reduction will:

  • establish a starting point to track the community’s progress in reducing its GHG emissions
  • provide a means to measure success
  • help to motivate community members to take action

Milestone Three – Develop a local climate change action plan with public input

What is a local climate change action plan?

A local climate change action plan is a road map for meeting GHG emissions reduction targets in a community. The plan includes both actions that a community has taken since the baseline year as well as any future actions to reduce GHG emissions. The plan will identify and prioritize these future projects and activities to reduce GHG emissions.

For assistance on writing a local climate change action plan, please see the following:

Public consultation is an important part of any community plan. FCM’s Citizen Participation and Community Engagement in the Local Action Plan Process and the Guide to Community Engagement and Public Consultation provide more information.


Milestone Four – Implement GHG emissions reduction projects and activities

Once the GHG emissions inventory has been created, a target set and a local climate change action plan developed, the community is ready to begin implementing projects and activities from the plan. Support of council or the board and of community members is essential to successful plan implementation. (Coming soon: the Project Proposal Guide will provide more information on this topic.)

Funding is available from a variety of sources for project implementation. Please see the Manitoba Climate Change Funding Guide and Green Municipal Fund for more information.


Milestone Five – Monitor progress and report results

The final step is to monitor progress as projects and activities are implemented, and to report results. This includes measuring the reduction in energy consumed or waste generated as a result of projects or activities implemented from the local climate change action plan. From there, a community can calculate the GHG emissions reduced, as well as money saved and other environmental, economic and social benefits.

Municipalities can do a complete a re-inventory of emissions using the ICLEI spreadsheet, as done in Milestone One, and monitor the results of each project implemented.

Community organizations can use the calculators at the GreenRegistry.org, as done in Milestone One, and monitor the results of each project implemented.

Why monitor progress and report results?

Monitoring and reporting will help the community to:

  • track progress against the emissions reduction target
  • determine whether the local action plan achieved the set goals
  • provide a record of additional benefits of implementing projects and activities, such as money saved or jobs created
  • gather information to modify future or ongoing projects or activities based on lessons learned
  • compete for other funding using measurable results
  • communicate successes to the public