Whereas local governments in British Columbia are considering how to most effectively support members of their communities in actions to mitigate climate change, especially to reduce Greenhouse Gas GHG emissions from buildings, which account for over 50 percent of GHG emissions in many communities, but are challenged by the fact that the vast majority of buildings are privately owned and most building owners face financial barriers to energy and emission-reducing retrofits; And whereas there is a reluctance by the Province to pursue public financing mechanisms for private buildings, but rapidly growing interest by private investors to put their capital to work solving challenges such as climate change, while earning a reasonable return on investmentas evidenced by the 11 trillion in funds being divested globally from fossil fuels in 2019 and nearly a billion dollars of third party private investment in Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing C-PACE in the United States in 2017 and 2018: Therefore be it resolved that the UBCM request that the Province update the Vancouver Charter and Community Charter to enable BC local or regional governments to establish Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing programs that include accessing third party private investment.
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy In fall 2020, as part of StrongerBC, and in the Ministerial Mandate letters for Municipal Affairs and Energy, Mines and Low Carbon innovation, the Province has identified PACE as a priority. The Province has developed an internal PACE Roadmap to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and barriers of the various considerations for PACE program specific to the BC context implementation. Consultation with local governments and key interests including UBCM, the City of Vancouver, and potential funding agencies including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities was undertaken in late 2020 and early 2021. The road map contains an evaluation of PACE and related financing tools, to drive adoption of energy efficiency and low carbon retrofit measures in existing residential and commercial buildings. This will result in a summary of policy and legislative andor regulatory requirements and recommendations for how PACE could be implemented to minimize or eliminate market barriers for building owners and managers. A key requirement is to look at PACE as a preferred outcome and also to identify other types of potential alternative financing mechanisms that support building retrofits. Many successful PACE programs are administered by third parties utilizing external financing thus alleviating capacity pressure on local governments and fiscal constraints for the province. These considerations, including legislative and regulatory elements such as in the Community Charter and the Vancouver Charter, are considered in the roadmap. The PACE Roadmap, in partnership with the consultation process, will inform next steps regarding PACE implementation. UBCM and the City of Vancouver will continue to be updated throughout the process. The Ministries of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, Municipal Affairs and Attorney General and Minister responsible for Housing are collaborating on the PACE initiative.