The Columbia Shuswap Regional District has been awarded the highest level Achievement of Carbon Neutrality from the Provincial-Union of BC Municipalities Green Communities Committee.
The Level 4 award comes after the CSRD successfully met the goal of corporate carbon neutrality for the 2017 reporting year.
To become carbon neutral, an organization, business or government measures its carbon footprint, reduces that footprint as much as possible each fiscal year, offsets any emissions that cannot be reduced and reports on greenhouse gas emissions.
A formal letter of recognition was received by the CSRD along with the use of a BC Climate Action Community 2017 – Climate Leader logo.
The CSRD has a long history of taking action to reduce corporate emissions.
In 2007-2008, the CSRD became a signatory to the BC Climate Action Charter, along with 182 other local governments.
It has measured and reported carbon emissions since 2010. The CSRD has been recognized numerous times for its commitment to achieving the goals of the Climate Action Charter.
Part of the CSRD’s success in achieving carbon neutrality comes from the nationally recognized Salmon Arm Landfill Gas Capture Project.
In this unique partnership arrangement, methane gas is captured from the closed landfill operation and is then processed by Fortis BC into usable gas for distribution to homes and businesses in Salmon Arm.
In addition, the CSRD has been working on improving fleet management and incorporating carbon neutral initiatives into planning exercises.
