Emissions Targets

The City of Thunder Bay set its first community GHG target in 2008 when City Council adopted the Community Environmental Action Plan. This target, 10% below 2005 levels by 2017, was achieved through improvements to Ontario’s electricity grid and an economic downturn that led to the closure of many industrial facilities.

In 2014, the City updated its GHG target, 20% below 2009 levels by 2020, by adopting the EarthCare Sustainability Plan. This target was not met, and emissions rose despite a reduction in the city’s population. In addition, this target was not compliant with Canada’s Paris Agreement commitments.

In 2020, City Council declared a Climate Emergency and the following year adopted the Net-Zero Strategy. The Climate Emergency and Net-Zero Strategy recognize the importance of responding to climate change by reducing GHG emissions to net-zero by 2050. City Council reiterated the new targets by signing on to the UN’s Cities Race to Zero campaign in November 2021. The new targets align with Canada’s climate commitments.

Meeting the targets and implementing the Net-Zero Strategy will require collaborative action and a dramatic shift from business-as-usual. While progress has been made, we are not on track to meet the scientific imperative of net-zero emissions.

Table 1. Community GHG targets over time.

Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories

The City of Thunder Bay has completed GHG inventories for the years 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2016, and 2021. Recent inventories are compliant with the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Inventories and are submitted to CDP and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.

For a digital copy of the GHG inventories, contact earthcare@thunderbay.ca.