Creating a change in climate through local action

Partners for Climate Protection

Five milestone recipients

The Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program is a network of Canadian municipal governments that have committed to reducing greenhouse gases and acting on climate change. Since the program's inception in 1994, over 240 municipalities have joined PCP, making a public commitment to reduce emissions. These members cover all provinces and territories, and account for more than 80% of the Canadian population.

PCP is the Canadian component of ICLEI's Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) network, which involves more than 1,100 communities worldwide. PCP is a partnership between the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability.

The program empowers municipalities to take action against climate change through a five-milestone framework that helps members to create GHG inventories, set realistic and achievable reduction targets, and develop and deliver local action plans along with measurable actions to reduce emissions.

PCP receives financial support from FCM's Green Municipal Fund.

Meeting the Climate Change Challenge (MC3)

PCP participates in the MC3 project, which brings together academics and municipalities in British Columbia to identify emerging best practices and share knowledge gained through community-based climate change initiatives. Read more about the project.

Laval's City Hall Retrofit

As a member of the Partners for Climate Protection Program, the City of Laval completed its local action plan (Milestone 3) in 2009. The plan included both corporate and community measures. On the corporate side, the plan recommended a number of measures aimed at improving building energy efficiency. One of the buildings identified was City Hall.
Yellowknife's Biomass boiler district energy system

In 2004, the City of Yellowknife completed its baseline inventories as part of its PCP Milestone work. Most electricity is generated by hydro; however, emissions from fossil fuel use for heating are almost twice that of the Canadian average, accounting for more than 70% of Yellowknife's emissions. The City used that data to inform its Community Energy Plan (CEP), adopted in 2006.