WHEREAS local governments across British Columbia may prefer to have the opportunity to invest in local projects in order to reach their carbon neutral commitments under the BC Climate Action Charter; AND WHEREAS blue carbon offsets, which are estuary restoration projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve estuary environments, may offer an excellent opportunity for local carbon neutral investments throughout the province: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM urge the provincial climate action secretariat to enable local governments to invest in blue carbon projects in their communities in order to meet their carbon neutral commitments under the BC Climate Action Charter.
Ministry of Environment - Climate Action Secretariat CAS Signatories to the BC Climate Action Charter have made a voluntary commitment to be carbon neutral by 2012. The Province, in partnership with UBCM has provided resources and guidance material to local governments to assist them in achieving this goal. From a carbon and environmental restoration perspective the concept of Blue Carbon is exciting. However, the steps to quantify carbon value need to include a standard way to measure growth and quantification counting of the carbon benefit. A robust research framework will therefore be required to develop a Blue Carbon-specific protocol. CAS has arranged for a meeting to discuss a made-in-BC approach to this new project type in conjunction with the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. CAS will notify local and regional governments to ensure that they have an opportunity to take part in the meeting andor benefit from its outcomes. Until such time as a reliable, robust method to measure Blue Carbon is developed, CAS recommends that local governments follow the practice of reducing GHG emissions, purchasing offsets and undertaking research on projects in their community that have high GHG reduction potential. CAS supports local community investment in Blue Carbon research, but not at the expense of making progress on their carbon neutral commitment. When an accepted approach to the measurement of Blue Carbon benefits is developed, CAS and local governments can add this to the evolving portfolio of policy options to assist in the creation of low carbon communities.