100 Canadian municipalities take protective climate action

Canada’s Ministers of the Environment and Natural Resources congratulated the city of Iqaluit and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Friday as the capital city of the Nunavut Territory became the 100th Canadian municipal government to participate in a national effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – the Partners for Climate Protection Program.



When Iqaluit, a city some 200 miles south of the Arctic Circle, announced that it would join the program, it completed the list of Canada’s capital cities. Now all provincial and territorial capitals from St. John’s to Victoria, are participating in the Partners for Climate Protection Program (PCP).



Environment Minister David Anderson, who is fighting Canada’s oil and gas industry on behalf of the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions, is pleased that the municipalities are demonstrating to their residents and to the country that curbing emissions does not mean an economic downturn.



“From landfill gas capture to electricity cogeneration projects to urban planning, they are showing that we can take actions that are effective both environmentally and economically,” he said.



“A hundred municipal governments representing half of Canada’s population are now involved in this program – that shows Canada’s municipal governments and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities are determined to be among the leaders in taking action on climate change,” he said.



By joining the PCP, municipal governments commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from their operations to 20 percent below 1990 levels within 10 years, and community wide emissions by six percent below 1990 levels. The Kyoto Protocol would require Canada as a whole to cut its emissions six percent below 1990 levels.



Canada has signed the protocol, but has not yet ratified it. The protocol will not take effect until it is ratified by 55 percent of the nations responsible for at least 55 percent of the total carbon dioxide emissions for 1990. Because the United States has dropped out of the process, Canada’s ratification is considered crucial to the agreement’s entry into force.



The Federation of Canadian Municipalities supports ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Federation president Calgary Alderman John Schmal said Friday, “PCP is successfully partnering with municipalities and proving its value in stimulating strong local action to address climate change, protect the environment, achieve cost savings, and improve quality of life.” “We are committed to helping municipal governments find new ways to use resources wisely and improve services through the Climate Change Action Fund,” said Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal. “We are supporting municipal government leaders as they strengthen communities and tackle the climate change challenge.”



Through the Climate Change Action Fund, the government of Canada is contributing C$750,000 (US$472,000) over three years to the Partners for Climate Protection campaign