Governments at all levels are moving to address emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), in light of scientific evidence on how human activities are affecting the world's climate. For more information on the science, see http://www.ipcc.ch/.
The Province of British Columbia has committed to actions to reduce GHG emissions by one third across the province by 2020 and adapt to ongoing climate change. See http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/air/climate for further information.
BC communities are among Canada's leaders for taking action on climate change; for example, As of June 2007, BC local governments make up 30% (45 of 148)of the current membership of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities'(FCM) Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program. This demonstrates clear climate leadership as FCM has over 1,600 members while BC has only 185 local governments. Also of note, one quarter of all local governments in BC have signed onto PCP.
The combustion of fossil fuels in road transportation and buildings, together with waste management, are major sources of GHG emissions (45% of the BC total) that fall under local government influence.
Communities can lower emissions by reducing the need for transportation (especially single occupant vehicles), improving energy efficiency of transportation and buildings, using more renewable energy, and avoiding and capturing landfill gas.
Annual submissions to CEA's Energy Aware Awards have identified significant GHG reductions for a range of actions, including:
| Community Project | Greenhouse Gas Reduction |
| 2006 Award Submissions | |
| Maple Ridge fleet vehicles (hybrid purchases) | 2 tonnes CO2 per vehicle replaced, 24 tonnes annual total |
| Surrey building retrofits | Planned GHG reduction of 3,308 tons annually |
| Langley Township green building | 66% annual GHG reduction |
| 2005 Award Submissions | |
| North Vancouver energy and greenhouse gas action plan management plan | Annual municipal GHG emissions down 20% by 2010, community-wide emissions down 6% |
| Burnaby building retrofits | 27% reduction in GHG emissions |
| Burnaby/New Westminster/ Vancouver greenway | Planned long-term annual reductions of 6,000 to 7,000 tonnes CO2 |
| Earlier Submissions | |
| Revelstoke biomass district energy (2004) | 3,700 tonnes annual GHG emissions reduction |
| Delta/Vancouver landfill gas cogeneration (2002) | 30,000 tonnes CO2e annual reduction |
