Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions

  Status: Needs Improving

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are linked to climate change which is predicted to increase the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and storms. The emissions from the community as a whole show the combined impact of the residential and industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) sectors.

In 2022, Saskatoon City Council updated its long-term GHG reduction target to net-zero by 2050.

The City's 2022-2025 Strategic Plan includes the following key actions within the Environmental Sustainability priority area:

• Implement climate actions in the Low Emissions Community Plan and the Corporate Adaptation Strategy within proposed timelines.
• Develop initiatives to improve energy conservation and efficiency in buildings, transportation and land use planning.
• Develop initiatives to increase the use of renewable energy or low emissions energy sources and promote opportunities for property owners to generate their own electricity from renewable sources.

Where are we now?

Planning for climate action begins with understanding the sources of our GHG emissions. The most recent inventory shows that Community GHG emissions decreased by 12%, or by approximately 480,500 tonnes CO₂e, between 2014 and 2023. Emissions decreased across all sectors except the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector. Per capita emissions decreased by 27%, indicating that community actions are influencing the rate at which we generate emissions, but not enough to impact the absolute emissions target. More details on the 2023 Community GHG emissions inventory are available in the 2023 Climate Action Progress Report.