Kelowna can’t meet climate change targets, wants to move the goal posts

KELOWNA – The final toll will likely sound tomorrow night for Kelowna’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets first set in 2007.

City of Kelowna sustainability coordinator Tracy Guidi is recommending the city change its official community plan to accommodate a substantially lower emissions target than that first proposed under the B.C. Climate Action Charter.

Back then, the city pledged by 2017 to reduce greenhouse gases caused by city operations by 22 per cent of 2007 levels.

But by 2015, the real reduction was closer to one per cent despite numerous initiatives and the report from Guidi is now recommending a target reduction of four per cent by 2023, 25 per cent by 2033 and 80 per cent by 2050.

To get there, Guidi is recommending a series of actions outlined in the Community Climate Action Plan, given provisional acceptance by council on June 25.

Council will consider the changes at a public hearing, Tuesday, July 31, 6:30 p.m. in Kelowna city hall.

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