Greenhouse gases (GHGs) released from human activities are the primary driver of climate change. In the Metro Vancouver region, the largest sources of GHGs are on-road transportation, buildings, industry, and non-road engines.
Metro Vancouver’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory estimates emissions and helps track progress toward regional reduction targets. It measures carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), calculated as tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
Land use decisions play an important role in determining GHG emissions. By influencing where residents live, work and access services, these decisions indirectly affect many of the emission sources tracked in the inventory. The core principles of Metro 2050 support GHG reduction by focusing growth into a network of transit-oriented urban centres and building compact, complete communities that offer amenities close to home. This focused growth pattern has several key emission reduction benefits:
- Reducing development pressure in areas that naturally store and sequester carbon, like conservation, recreation, and agricultural areas
- Decreasing emissions by supporting sustainable transportation options, like walking, cycling, and public transit. It also reduces the distances people typically need to travel for essential trips
- Encouraging multi-family development forms, which are generally more energy efficient than detached homes
Key performance measure
Metro 2050 establishes the performance measure as the total and change in tonnes of regional greenhouse gas emissions related to land use, buildings, industry, agriculture, waste, transportation, and other emission sources in support of the regional target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% below 2010 levels by the year 2030 and to achieve a carbon neutral region by the year 2050.
Progress
This key performance measure is not on track. The strategies and policy actions of Metro 2050, Clean Air Plan and Climate 2050 encourage GHG reduction across the region.
Metro Vancouver’s Annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory includes GHG emissions for the highest-emitting sectors, such as transportation, buildings, industry, and other emissions sources. The inventory also includes a breakdown of emissions for each municipality, electoral area, and treaty First Nation in the region.
In 2023, our total annual regional GHG emissions were 17.3 million tonnes CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent), up 6.8% from 2010 (16.2 million tonnes CO2e). GHG emissions were nearly flat from 2022 to 2023.