Climate Action Plan

Climate change presents a significant threat to our local community. Canada has already experienced 1.7°C of warming since pre-industrial times – a rate of warming approximately twice the global average due to our northern latitude – and this trend is expected to continue.

In Port Coquitlam, we are already seeing more extreme weather events due in part to climate change.

Climate Action Plan

Port Coquitlam’s Climate Action Plan is a roadmap for the actions that the City will take to act against climate change, reflecting a low-carbon resilience approach to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) and manage climate risks (adaptation).

Recognizing the global imperative to take serious action on climate change, the City of Port Coquitlam has set new emissions reduction targets, committing to reducing emissions by 50% below 2007 levels by 2035 and achieving net zero emissions for corporate emissions by 2040 and community emissions by 2050.

Achieving this goal will require substantial effort by all involved – the City itself, its partners, its community members, and many others – and represents a truly ambitious but necessary reduction in our emissions. We all play a role in climate action. While actions in our Plan are centred around actions the City will take, it also outlines measures Port Coquitlam residents and businesses can take to support our City’s climate action goals.

Download Climate Action Plan [PDF/2.8MB]

Focus Areas for Climate Action

In 2018, the building sector accounted for 37% of the total community emissions in Port Coquitlam. About half of these come from residential buildings (including homes, townhouses, apartments, and condos), while the remaining 50% come from other building types (including office, retail, industrial, and publicly owned buildings).

Citizen Action! Ways you can support climate action in your homes include:

Replace your natural gas-fired boiler with a heat pump that can provide both heating and cooling.
Upgrade your appliances to high energy efficiency models.
Find and seal air leaks in your building (e.g. around windows, chimneys, panels, etc.).
Ask your landlord or realtor for information on energy and emissions performance and flood risk when looking for a new home.

In 2018, transportation emissions accounted for 62% of Port Coquitlam’s total community emissions. Nearly 60% of these came from cars, small trucks and SUVs, while the remainder mostly came from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

Citizen Action! Ways you can help reduce emissions from travel include:

Walk or cycle for all or a portion of your daily commute to school or work.
Explore purchasing an electric vehicle when your current vehicle is up for replacement.
Consider an e-bike as a main mode of transportation.

Infrastructure comprises the network of often unnoticed facilities, pipes, and other structures that support the critical services such as drinking water, sanitary services, roads, flood protection, and electricity that can both contribute to and be impacted by a changing climate.

Citizen Action! Ways you can help reduce the impact of climate change on critical community services include:

Follow summer water restrictions and conserve water further by installing lower-flow appliances, using less water-intensive landscaping, and rainwater reuse for watering.
Install backflow preventers at connection points to the municipal sanitary system to avoid backups and basement flooding during intense rainstorms and river flood events.
Help reduce flood risk on your property by reducing impermeable surfaces (e.g. paved driveways), ensuring gutters are in good condition, and moving important items higher.
Report any damage you see to City infrastructure, including from climate-related hazards (e.g. flooding, wind storms) using the City’s Sort and Report app, service request webpage, or by calling the Public Works support line (604-927-5496).

Port Coquitlam’s streams, wetlands, forests, and parks provide vibrant habitats for local plant and animal species and beautiful natural spaces for recreation in our community. These natural systems also provide important ecosystem services that support municipal infrastructure, with creeks and greenspace capturing rainwater and trees keeping the City cool during summer heatwaves. Natural spaces will become more important as the community continues to grow.

Citizen Action! Ways you can support ecological restoration and climate resilience include:

Plant trees or native plants on your property and help water local street trees during times of drought.
Avoid or remove any invasive plants in your garden and ask your local nursery to help you replace them with native species that provide local habitat and that are drought tolerant.
Join or support local community groups dedicated to rehabilitating the local environment, such as removing invasive species or cleaning up waterways.

Successful climate action at the City level requires commitment from across City departments, working together to achieve shared goals for climate mitigation and adaptation in City operations and programs.

Citizen Action! Ways you can support more low-carbon resilient City operations include:

Reach out to the City to get involved in climate action initiatives planned and underway, such as opportunities to join citizen committees.
Provide feedback on City policies and initiatives by responding to community-wide surveys, attending open houses and other events.

Climate change can have wide-reaching impacts on human health and wellbeing, from increased demand for healthcare and support services during flooding, heatwaves and poor air quality events, mental health impacts from barriers to recreation and cultural activities, and eco-anxiety from climate change more broadly. These impacts are expected to disproportionately affect those people who are already vulnerable due to pre-existing conditions such as asthma or lower access to support resources (e.g. new Canadians, lower income).

Citizen Action! Ways you can better prepare for climate impacts include:

Create an emergency plan and emergency kits for your home, business and primary vehicle.
Reach out to neighbours or family members who may have special medical needs to discuss how you could offer support during an emergency.
Download the City’s Alertable app for public notification of emergencies.
Apply to join the Emergency Preparedness Volunteer program through the City of Port Coquitlam’s Volunteer Hub

Local businesses, industry, and agricultural producers can all play an important role in reducing emissions in business practices and taking steps to improve resilience to climate hazards to avoid disruption during extreme events. In the future, climate change is expected to create new local businesses and jobs as local behaviours shift toward the green economy.

Citizen Action! Ways you can support more low-carbon resilient local business include:

Support local food producers by visiting your local farm, farmers market and/or joining a community garden.
Support local businesses by purchasing local as much as possible.

Co-benefits from Climate Action

There are a broad range of other benefits that climate action can have in our community. Reducing our emissions can mean more green space in our cities, less traffic congestion and associated air pollutants, healthier and more comfortable buildings, and less pollution in our environment. Prioritizing nature-based approaches to manage climate impacts – such as rain gardens to manage stormwater flooding – can also provide ecological habitats and create more enjoyable spaces to spend time in. Other co-benefits from climate action include:

Climate Action Plan