Sustainability

Community Climate Plan

Climate change is an urgent worldwide crisis. It is a cornerstone issue that needs to be addressed to achieve sustainability.

Resilient St. John's is our community's combined plan to address climate change mitigation and adaptation. It outlines the City's proposed energy transition, the climate risks the City must adapt to, as well as goals and actions developed through best practice reviews and local engagement.

The plan shows that the next five to ten years are critical for St. John's efforts to address irreversible climate change. Resilient St. John's outlines the path to achieve the City's GHG reduction commitments:

• 25% by 2025
• 50% by 2030 with a stretch target of 60%
• achieving net zero by 2050 at the latest

Resilient St. John's is not just a climate plan. At its core, it is also a clean economic development strategy for the community. The plan identifies opportunities to expand existing industries in the community, new opportunities for businesses and employment, and meaningful ways to address energy poverty within the city.

Corporate Climate Plan

The City plays a critical leadership role in the response to climate change. We as an organization are directly responsible for a fraction of our community's greenhouse gas emissions – about 1%.

The Corporate Climate Plan outlines our plan make sure City operations and are aligned with a resilient, net-zero future. The plan:

• approximates the City corporation's share of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
• aims to embed energy and GHG discussions in the budgeting process
• establishes a cross-departmental energy team
• sets the stage for corporate implementation and reporting
• outlines the path to achieve the City's GHG reduction commitments:
  • 40% reduction by 2030 and a stretch target of 50%
  • net-zero by 2050 at the latest

Collaboration and Awards

St. John's is making progress on national climate change commitments.

FCM Partners for climate protection

We are participating in the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' (FCM) Partners for Climate Protection Program. The program outlines a five-step milestone framework that guides municipalities as they improve sustainability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

St. John's has achieved:

• Milestone 1: GHG inventory
• Milestone 2: target setting
• Milestone 3: planning milestones in 2022 for both corporate and community scopes

Global Covenant for Mayors for Climate & Energy Canada

This is the world's largest alliance of cities and local governments in the fight against climate change. St. John's received the Committed Badge and is working towards the Mitigation and Adaptation Badge.

Learn more

• The Environment and Sustainability Experts Panel which provides expertise, opinion, and perspective about environmental and sustainability matters. This includes the City of St. John's energy intensity, greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation resilience, and environment.
• A holistic view of energy and GHG emission from our community as a whole for both a business-as-usual (BAP) and the low-carbon (LC) future.
• The Corporate and Community Energy and Greenhouse Gas Inventory outlines the energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from City corporate operations.
• Learn more about emergency preparedness