Climate Action Plan

Climate action is a priority for UBC. The UBC Vancouver Climate Action Plan lays out a path to reduce carbon emissions, with targets and actions to achieving our goals. This plan will be a key component to accelerating UBC toward net zero carbon emissions. 
Aerial view of UBC campus

Climate Action Plan 2030 

UBC is developing a new Climate Action Plan 2030 (CAP 2030), which will be presented to the Board of Governors in November 2021. The targets and actions of the plan are currently being finalized through on-going studies, incorporating direction from the Board of Governors as well as input received through a campus engagement process that was held between March 29 – April 16, 2021.  

Visit the CAP 2030 planning webpage to learn more about the feedback received from the campus engagement process and the emerging directions and draft targets for CAP 2030. 

The CAP 2030 process is also underway at UBC Okanagan. Visit the UBC Okanagan CAP 2030 website to learn about their plan and engagement process.  

 

Climate Action Plan 2020

Download the Climate Action Plan

In 2010, UBC’s Board of Governors approved the UBC Climate Action Plan (CAP), which provided a pathway to net zero emissions from the Vancouver campus by 2050. CAP 2020 was a subsequent update to the Climate Action Plan. Approved in 2016, the plan selected technologies to achieve significant short term reductions, primarily via an expansion of the Bio-energy Research and Demonstration Facility.

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The primary target of the Climate Action Plan is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 100% from 2007 levels by 2050.

The Plan has a number of goals that are categorized by 6 reduction areas:

  1. Existing Buildings
  2. New Buildings
  3. Energy Supply
  4. Behaviour Change
  5. Fleet
  6. Complimentary Opportunities

To read about the Plan targets and goals in detail, download the Climate Action Plan.

In 2019, UBC was named the #1 global university for taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts by Times Higher Education, guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #13. UBC has set some of the most aggressive GHG reduction targets in North America. In 2018, our Vancouver campus emitted 38% less GHG emissions than it did in 2007, despite a 21% growth in building floor space and a 32% increase in student population.

Over the past 10 years, multiple projects have significantly reduced GHG emissions at the UBC Vancouver Campus:

 

Campus Energy Centre

The 45MW Campus Energy Centre is a hot water district energy system that replaced the campus’ 90-year-old steam system used to heat many of our buildings. This upgrade improved energy efficiency by over 24%, reduced GHG emissions by 20%, and reduced operational costs by $5.5 million per year.

Bioenergy Research and Demonstration Facility

Each year the Bioenergy Research and Demonstration Facility (BRDF) converts approximately 9000 tonnes of locally sourced clean wood waste to produce over 25% of the total campus thermal energy (building heating and hot water). An expansion is for this facility is under construction and is anticipated to be completed by early 2021, which will significantly reduce our GHG emissions and our reliance on fossil fuels such as natural gas for heating.

The Bioenergy Research and Demonstration Facility at UBC
The Bioenergy Research and Demonstration Facility at UBC

Building Tune-up Program

Since implementation, the Building Tune-up Program has retrofitted and recommissioned many new and existing buildings on campus.

UBC has offset operational GHG emissions since 2010 as part of the British Columbia Carbon Neutral Government Program. Annual Carbon Neutral Action Reports are required under the province's carbon neutral regulation. The reports track UBC's actions and progress towards carbon neutrality, and our achievements toward the goals of UBC's Climate Action Plan.

Download the latest annual Carbon Neutral Action Report

To address climate action and greenhouse gas emission reduction in UBC's residential neighbourhoods, we developed a plan that identifies an energy and emissions strategy that will result in an 85% reduction in GHG emissions and a 36% reduction in electricity use by 2050.

Learn more about the Community Energy and Emissions Plan