Section 3: Commitments for Veterans Affairs Canada
Greening Government: The Government of Canada will transition to low-carbon, climate resilient, and green operations
Responsible Minister: All ministers
| Greening Government FSDS target(s) | FSDS contributing action(s) | Corresponding departmental action(s) | Contribution by each departmental action to the FSDS goal and target | Starting point(s) Performance indicator(s) Target(s) | Program(s) in which the departmental actions will occur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from federal government facilities and fleets by 40% by 2030 (with an aspiration to achieve this target by 2025) and 80% below 2005 levels by 2050 (with an aspiration to be carbon neutral) | All new buildings and major building retrofits will prioritize low-carbon investments based on integrated design principles, and life-cycle and total-cost-of ownership assessments which incorporate shadow carbon pricing. This applies to organizations that own vehicles. | All new fleet vehicles purchased will take into consideration the FSDS contributing action | Actions that reduce the demand for energy or switch to lower carbon sources of energy will lead to reductions in GHGs from building / fleet operations SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production SDG 13: Climate Action |
-Overall fuel consumption (LGE) -Average fuel consumption rate (LGE/100km) -Overall electricity consumption from electric vehicles -GHG emissions rate (g CO2eq/100km travelled) |
Internal Services - Administrative Services / Finance |
| N/A | N/A | -Effective space utilization -Apply current standards of 12m2/FTE in departmental facilities as leases expire -Implement GCworkplace and flexible work approaches |
Actions that reduce the demand for energy will lead to reductions in GHGs. SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure |
Density of use – the number of m2/FTE | Internal Services |
| Our administrative fleet will be comprised of at least 80% zero-emission vehicles by 2030 | Fleet management will be optimized including by applying telematics to collect and analyze vehicle usage data on vehicles scheduled to be replaced | At least 80% of administrative fleet vehicle purchases will be zero-emission vehicles or hybrids | As conventional vehicles are replaced over their lifetimes with ZEVs, and/or the size of the fleet is reduced, a greater proportion of the fleet will be ZEV SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production SDG 13: Climate Action |
- Overall fuel consumption (LGE) -Overall electricity consumption from electric vehicles -Total number of vehicles in administrative fleet -Percentage of annual administrative fleet purchases that are ZEV or hybrid -Percentage of ZEV in administrative fleet |
Internal Services – Administrative Services/Finance |
| By 2022, departments have developed measures to reduce climate change risks to assets, services and operations | Increase training and support on assessing climate change impacts, undertaking climate change risk assessments and developing adaptation actions to public service employees, and facilitate sharing of best practices and lessons learned | Inclusion of climate change in departmental planning and performance as appropriate | Departmental Planning Process SDG 13: Climate Action |
Departmental planning and performance includes climate change considerations as appropriate | Internal Services |
| Actions supporting the Goal: Greening Government | Departments will use environmental criteria to reduce the environmental impact and ensure best value in government procurement decisions | Integrate environmental considerations into procurement management processes and controls | Green procurement incorporates environmental considerations into purchasing decisions and is expected to motivate suppliers to reduce the environmental impact of the goods and services they deliver, and their supply chains SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production SDG 13: Climate Action |
Integration of Environmental considerations into procurement management processes and controls | Internal Services – Administrative Services / Procurement |
| N/A | N/A | Incorporate environmental considerations into the development of any common-use procurement instruments | SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production SDG 13: Climate Action |
Inclusion of environmental considerations (e.g. reduce, reuse, or include environmental criteria) in new common-use procurement instruments | Internal Services – Administrative Services / Finance |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | Additionally, VAC Head Office locations in Charlottetown participate in battery and other recycling programs SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production SDG 13: Climate Action |
-Weight (lbs) of batteries collected per year -Weight/amount of other recycled items (ie. Pens) |
Internal Services |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | Train 100% of acquisition cardholders on green procurement as a best practice SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production SDG 13: Climate Action |
Percentage of acquisition cardholders with green procurement training | Internal Services |
| N/A | N/A | N/A | Increase awareness of the Policy on Green Procurement among managers as a best practice SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production SDG 13: Climate Action |
Percentage of managers with purchasing ability who have had awareness training on green procurement | Internal Services |
| N/A | N/A | Ensure key officials include contribution to and support for the Policy on Green Procurement objectives in their performance evaluations | Collaborate with Procurement and HR to identify a means to track this information SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production SDG 13: Climate Action |
Inclusion of support for the Policy on Green Procurement objectives in key officials performance evaluations | Internal Services |
| Divert at least 75% (by weight) of plastic waste from landfills by 2030 | Other | Eliminate the unnecessary use of single-use plastics in government operations, events and meetings | Promote and distribute green meetings awareness guide to management teams for government operations, events and meetings SDG 13: Climate Action |
Total number of managers and functional heads of procurement and material with green procurement training | Internal Services |
| N/A | N/A | When procuring products that contain plastics, promote the procurement of sustainable plastic products and the reduction of associated plastic packaging waste | Promote and provide training in green procurement SDG 13: Climate Action |
Total number of managers and functional heads of procurement and material with green procurement training | Internal Services |
| N/A | N/A | Engage employees in promote sustainable development behavior changes (e.g. anti-idling campaigns) | Continue to promote sustainability challenges, now with a work from home lens SDG 13: Climate Action |
Total number of new challenges/initiatives | Internal Services along with Veterans Affairs Youth Network |