The City of Kelowna’s climate action plan has been recognized by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Mayor Walter Gray was in Windsor, Ontario last week to pick up an FCM Sustainable Community Award for the city, one of 12 handed out to cities and towns across Canada this year that are coming up with ways to tackle the problem of greenhouse gas emissions.
Endorsed by council last May, the Community Climate Action Plan identifies actions the city can take to achieve its official community plan goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent below 2007 levels by 2020.
The plan includes 87 actions to reduce emissions, with more than half aimed at reducing transportation emissions. Transportation contributes the largest amount of greenhouse gases released into the air in Kelonwa, says the city.
The award also recognized the city’s Corporate Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Plan, which identifies ways to reduce municipal energy consumption, as well as associated costs and greenhouse gas emissions through its leadership and creating businesses cases for implementing the needed initiatives.
That plan, endorsed by the former city council in December 2010, sets a goal of reducing corporate GHG emissions by 22 per cent below 2007 levels by 2017.
