Governance: CLIMATE MITIGATION

Why this Indicator is Important

Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) is a program of the Federation for Canadian Municipalities (FCM)¹ and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability Canada,² open to any Canadian municipality. Under our “municipal employees” indicator, we discussed how cities must go beyond the issue of adequate staffing: they must ensure that staff are provided training and resources. This is what the PCP program provides. The program is designed to provide structural support and resources for municipalities to act on climate change. A municipality starts by passing a resolution through council committing to moving through the Milestone Framework within ten years, and committing to reporting on progress at least once every two years and to participating in program activities with other network partners. Participating in the PCP connects municipalities to a network of other participating communities. It offers tools, networking venues, events, case studies, and other resources, as well as coaching and technical assistance support. We track PCP membership as a key indicator of a municipality’s commitment to act on climate change. In addition, this year our data visualization shows not just membership, but how many of the 5 key PCP milestones each municipality has achieved.
These milestones are:

1. Create a baseline emissions inventory and forecast;

2. Set emissions reductions targets;

3. Develop a local action plan;

4. Implement the local action plan;

5. Monitor progress and report results.

Data Availability and Accessibility: 2/3

Data was collected directly from the PCP website, where the FCM keeps an updated list of members and milestones. To double check accuracy, information was also requested from FCM but not received.

Note(s): Data is from the Partners for ClimateProtection (PCP) program (2022).

Winning Municipality
MILESTONE FIVE MUNICIPALITIES

As of 2023, Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) has over 500 members in total, with municipalities from all thirteen provinces and territories.³ Of the municipalities tracked in this report, thirteen have reached the fifth milestone (see above): monitoring and reporting results. Among them, Toronto and Halifax have some of the most ambitious climate commitments. A municipality is required to submit certain information to FCM to prove it has reached each milestone. Reaching milestone five means the municipality has submitted an updated corporate or community inventory for the current year; a quantification of the GHG reduction impact of each measure outlined in its local action plan; and a report on how stakeholders and decision makers have been included in the milestone process. Even after reaching milestone five, municipalities are not done—they must keep implementing their climate plans and tracking progress to ensure they stay on track to reach their targets.

Sources

1. Partners for Climate Protection. Accessed December 2022.

2. ICLEI Canada. Accessed December 2022.

3. Partners for Climate Protection. Accessed December 2022.