Departments > Planning & Development > Development Services Division > Green Initiatives > Climate Change

The City of Victoria's Corporate Strategic Plan identifies a strategy to establish a global warming action plan to reduce greenhouse gases.

As a demonstration of its commitment to minimizing and reducing the impacts of climate change the City of Victoria signed the Provincial Climate Action Charter. The Charter commits the City to being carbon neutral in its operation by 2012, to measuring and reporting on community greenhouse gas emissions, and to working to create compact, more energy efficient communities.

The City of Victoria has undertaken many energy conservation practices such as changing traffic lights over to light emitting diodes (LEDs) in order to lessen our consumption of electricity. The City has also utilized BC Hydro Power Smart grants to replace the lighting in City buildings and parkades with more energy efficient lights.

The City began using innovative "trenchless technology" to repair underground pipes, a practice which results in a decrease of approximately 83% in greenhouse gas emissions and 75% in construction costs.

The gradual installation of computerized irrigation systems provides greater control over watering our boulevards, fields and trees. The automated system ensures watering is on an as-needed basis only and reduces the City's water use for parks and gardens over the long-term. For more information please click here.

• City of Victoria Fleet Environmental Initiatives [PDF 286KB]
• Vancouver Island Biodiesel Study [PDF 3.2MB]
• City of Victoria Green Building Policy for Public Buildings
• City of Victoria Green Building Policy for Private Development
• BC Climate Exchange

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