Kelowna falling short on its plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions

The City of Kelowna needs to take much more dramatic action if it wants to reach its greenhouse gas targets.

A report going to city council on Monday updates the city’s progress on targets endorsed last year in its Community Climate Action Plan.

That sets an initial target of cutting emissions four per cent below 2007 levels by 2023, with higher cuts projected for later years.

“Progress on the City’s community greenhouse gas reduction target is questionable due to the erratic year over year changes in emissions,” the report states, saying weather could be playing a role.

Besides, it adds, the targets set by the city are not nearly tough enough to meet targets set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The City of Kelowna needs to take much more dramatic action if it wants to reach its targets.

In 2010, Kelowna was 4.7 per cent below the 2007 level but that jumped to 5.9 per cent above in 2017, the latest year for which data is available.

However, out of the 47 actions listed in its climate change plan, 68 per cent were in progress, ongoing or complete.

Some of the things that have not been started include:

  • restrict drive-throughs
  • investigate a regional fuel tax
  • require more tree protection and replacement for new developments
  • look into using treated sewage water for irrigation

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Rob Munro

Rob Munro has a long history in journalism after starting an underground newspaper in Whitehorse called the Yukon Howl in 1980. He spent five years at the 100 Mile Free Press, starting in the darkroom, moving on to sports and news reporting before becoming the advertising manager. He came to Kelowna in 1989 as a reporter for the Kelowna Daily Courier, and spent the 1990s mostly covering city hall. For most of the past 20 years he worked full time for the union representing newspaper workers throughout B.C. He’s returned to his true love of being a reporter with a special focus on civic politics

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