Transport Canada’s Carbon Neutral Roadmap presents a detailed plan to guide the department’s emission reduction efforts to meet the ambitious GHG reduction targets set by the Government of Canada, as well as TC’s commitments to achieve a carbon neutral real estate portfolio and the greatest emission reductions possible for its fleets by 2050.
The Roadmap captures all assets under TC’s operational control, including the ferries, aircrafts, facilities, mobile equipment and on-road vehicle fleet. For each asset, it identifies activities, measures, investments, timelines, and projected emissions reductions for actions taken.
The Roadmap considers existing TC programs and policies, as well as international, national, and regional climate commitments to prioritize the measures that result in the greatest GHG emission reductions and are most cost-effective.
The general approach is to reduce energy consumption, leverage clean energy sources, and enhance supporting behaviours. The general strategies by asset are:
- Ferries: Replace with new state-of-the-art ferries, improve efficiency on existing vessels and leverage low-carbon fuels.
- Aircraft: Replace with new aircrafts as technology becomes available and leverage low-carbon fuels
- Facilities: Improve efficiency, fuel switching, improve maintenance
- Mobile equipment: Replace with hybrids and zero-emission equipment
- On-road vehicles: Replace with zero-emission vehicles and enhance driver training
If all measures in the Roadmap are implemented, they are projected to reduce TC’s overall emissions by 73% by 2050, compared to the 2005 baseline. The remainder of emission reductions would be accounted for through the purchase of carbon offsets.
The Roadmap is an evergreen document that will be updated as required with new short and long-term actions as new information becomes available and new technologies emerge on the market.
Going forward, TC’s Carbon Neutral Roadmap will be updated every 3 to 5 years and will include new technologies, any new relevant policies and programs.
To support implementation, an annual report will be produced to identify the actions implemented and not implemented as part of the plan.
Through the implementation of the Roadmap, TC has the opportunity to demonstrate leadership in achieving sustainable operations as well as being part of the broader shift toward a low-carbon economy.