Let's build a resilient and low carbon community where everyone thrives.
We are facing an unprecedented climate and environmental crisis. To navigate these challenges, the City of North Vancouver has developed a draft Climate and Environment Strategy to be our guide for making decisions that foster a resilient urban and natural environment, today and over the coming decade.
The draft Strategy focuses on the pathways and objectives that will guide decision making to help us cut our carbon pollution, protect our natural environment and adapt to our changing climate with resiliency.
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Get Involved
There are several opportunities for the community and interested parties to get involved and provide input throughout this project. Your feedback will ensure the strategy reflects the values and priorities of our community.
How you can get involved:
- Read our Strategy Summary for a quick review or the full Draft Climate and Environment Strategy to learn more about the specific objectives we plan to take to reduce our carbon pollution and promote a health environment. Printed copies are available at City Hall or at the North Vancouver City Library.
- Complete the survey by October 6, 2023. Prefer a printed copy? Download, print and email the completed survey to environment@cnv.org or send it to City Hall at 141 West 14th Street, North Vancouver BC V7M 1H9.
- Learn more by visiting the Let's Talk project page.
- Attend a community pop-up to learn about the draft Strategy and share your thoughts with our team.
- Subscribe for email updates by submitting your email into the Stay Informed box in the top right sidebar of the Let's Talk project page.
- Be a climate leader! Spread the word to others you know who might be interested in helping to shape our City's Climate and Environment Strategy.
- Email staff at environment@cnv.org or call 604-985-7761 with comments or questions.
What We Heard
In November of 2021, we asked for public feedback on the draft vision, goals and strategies that formed the framework for the plan. During the first phase of engagement, we received significant input through listening sessions with equity-deserving groups, stakeholder workshops and through online survey responses. Learn more in the
What We Heard report.
This input, as well as input from the Climate and Environment Advisory Task Force and a peer review process, was used to refine the strategy framework and create a draft Strategy that aims to reflect the values and priorities of our community.
What's in The Draft Strategy: The Path Forward
The “Path Forward” outlines four directions to guide how we will create a resilient and low carbon community where all people and nature thrive. Each direction will communicate objectives to guide decision making:
- Less Grey, More Green: Restore, protect and enhance natural areas and biodiversity on public and private property.
- Climate Resilient Buildings: Transition to a resilient building stock through improvements to new and existing buildings.
- Connected Neighbourhoods: Build compact and mixed-use communities that supports zero emission modes of transportation.
- Empowered Choices: Foster a low-impact and circular economy that empowers our community to move to a zero carbon and zero waste future.
Project Timeline
Development of the CES has involved several steps to get us to where we are today.
Phase 1 – Develop Framework | Summer 2020 - Fall 2021 | Complete
We started the process by undertaking a wide range of research to understand how we’re doing, where we need to improve and what opportunities and challenges we face.
Phase 2 – Community Engagement | Winter 2021 - Winter 2022 | Complete
We released our proposed Strategy Framework that structures the CES. This framework supported engagement with the public and interested parties to understand values, priorities and perspectives and to refine our strategy.
Phase 3 – Develop Draft Strategy | Winter 2022 - Spring 2023 | Complete
We've finalized a draft CES that incorporates feedback from our previous engagement and incorporates input from Climate and Environment Advisory Task Force and a peer review process.
Phase 4 – Community Engagement | Summer - Fall 2023 | Currently Underway
We’re currently in Phase 3!
We are sharing the draft Climate and Environment Strategy and are seeking further community feedback.
Phase 5 – Finalize Strategy |
Finalize the Climate and Environment Strategy and implement it.
What We'll Achieve Through This Strategy
To achieve a resilient and low carbon City where all people and nature thrive, this Strategy focuses on:
- Nature: We recognize the value of watersheds and ecosystems in the City and the need to protect, restore, and enhance these natural assets.
- Emissions: We mitigate our climate impact by changing our buildings and the way we move to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
- Urgency: We are leaders who are prepared for rapid changes to adapt our community to current and expected climate impacts.
Why We're Creating a Climate & Environment Strategy
Our climate is changing at a rapid and unprecedented rate. We see the impacts in our City more and more each year with hotter, drier summers, poorer air quality from wildfires, wetter winters, and more extreme weather events (heat waves, cold snaps, atmospheric rivers). At the same time, we are seeing loss of habitat, rapid decline of species, threats to food production systems, extraction of non-renewable resources, and a rise in weather related disasters. We need to take action to reduce our carbon pollution to limit warming and potentially irreversible effects of climate change.