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Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
1. Introduction to the Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
The 2016 to 2019 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS ) presents the Government of Canada’s sustainable development goals and targets, as required by the Federal Sustainable Development Act. In keeping with the purpose of this Act to provide the legal framework for developing and implementing a FSDS that will make environmental decision making more transparent and accountable to Parliament, ACOA supports reporting on the implementation of the Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.
2. Sustainable Development at the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
ACOA’s Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy for 2017 to 2020 describes the Agency’s actions in support of achieving a low-carbon government, clean growth, clean energy and sustainably managed lands and forests. This supplementary information table presents available results for the Agency’s actions relevant to these goals. Last year’s supplementary information table is posted on ACOA’s website. This year, ACOA is also noting which United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG ) target each departmental action contributes to achieving.
3. Departmental performance by FSDS goal
The following tables provide performance information on ACOA’s actions in support of the FSDS goals listed in section 2 above.
FSDS goal: Low-carbon government
| FSDS target | FSDS contributing action | Corresponding Agency action | Starting point Performance indicator Target |
Results achieved | Contribution by each departmental result to the FSDS goal and target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reduce greenhouse gas (GHG ) emissions from federal government buildings and fleets by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030, with an aspiration to achieve this reduction by 2025 | Support the transition to a low-carbon economy through green procurement | Ensure the integration of environmental performance considerations into the procurement process, including planning, acquisition, use and disposal. Monitor and analyze green purchasing trends. Ensure and track the completion of Green Procurement training for all departmental acquisition cardholders. |
Reach a 100% rate for departmental acquisition cardholders having completed the Green Procurement training by the end of fiscal year 2017-18. Maintain at 95% the proportion of toner cartridges recycled relative to the total value of all toner cartridges purchased in the given fiscal year. For paper usage, maintain at 95% the proportion of copy paper containing a minimum of 30% recycled content. Prioritize the use of paper from responsible sources (i.e., certified to the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council) for outsourced printing. |
100% of ACOA cardholders completed Green Procurement Training in 2019-20 100% of toner cartridges were recycled in 2019-20 100% of paper used was certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council |
ACOA supported clean products and services by taking environmental considerations into account in its purchasing decisions. These actions supported UN SDG 12.7. |
| Promote sustainable travel practices | Continue the implementation of more robust video and teleconferencing capabilities, thereby reducing the need to commute and travel for in-person meetings. Ensure green fleet procurement by following the Step by Step: How to Buy Green Passenger Cars and Light Trucks guidelines. |
Continue the upgrades to the video conferencing system in major boardrooms across the regions and at Head Office. 100% of vehicle purchases for the Agency are supported by a strong rationale demonstrating that hybrid or fuel-efficient vehicles have been considered. |
100% of major boardrooms are equipped with video conferencing systems in 2019-20 100% of vehicles purchased considered hybrid or fuel-efficient vehicles |
ACOA promoted sustainable practices for employee business travel to reduce the impact of government travel. These actions supported UN SDG 12.7. |
FSDS goal: Clean growth
| FSDS target | FSDS contributing action | Corresponding Agency action | Starting point Performance indicator Target |
Results achieved | Contribution by each departmental result to the FSDS goal and target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Implement our Mission Innovation commitment to double federal government investments in clean energy research, development and demonstration by 2020, from 2015 levels | Invest in technologies to reduce GHG and air pollutant emissions | Support economic development projects that foster the development, commercialization, export and adoption of clean technologies. Where appropriate, ACOA will collaborate with regional and provincial stakeholders, including post-secondary institutions, businesses, not-for-profit organizations, Indigenous communities and research centres, when making these investments. | ACOA annual spending ($) for economic development projects that foster the development, commercialization, export and adoption of clean technologies, and the scaling up of clean-tech firms. Further to the Budget 2016 commitment that regional development agencies will double their collective annual support for clean technology to $100 million a year, ACOA’s target is $30 million in clean technology spending. |
$40.5 million in 2019-20 | ACOA investments in clean technology will count directly toward national targets pledged for the Mission Innovation commitment. These actions supported UN SDG 9.5. |
FSDS goal: Clean energy
| FSDS target | FSDS contributing action | Corresponding Agency action | Starting point Performance indicator Target |
Results achieved | Contribution by each departmental result to the FSDS goal and target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| By 2030, 90%, and in the long term 100%, of Canada’s electricity is generated from renewable and non-emitting sources | Promote collaboration and work with partners on clean energy | Facilitate the development of the region’s renewable energy sector by fostering collaboration, common understanding and communication among governments, and between governments and the private sector, to maximize and expedite the development of clean and renewable energy resources in the region. | Number and type of Atlantic Energy Gateway (AEG) meetings per fiscal year. | The formal AEG structure has been temporarily set aside in order to facilitate the multilateral NRCan-led Atlantic Clean Power Planning (ACPP) Committee, under the Atlantic Growth Strategy. ACOA sits as a full and active ACPP member. So to continue broader energy collaboration, regular bilateral DM and ADM-level discussions are held between the Agency and individual Atlantic Provinces. |
Not applicable. |
| Number and type of collaborative joint initiatives per fiscal year. | One collaborative study completed in 2019-20 by ACOA, in partnership with private and public stakeholders, in support of, among other key policy priorities, the Clean Power Roadmap for Atlantic Canada. | Activities bring together partners, including public and private stakeholders, to help outline a collective vision of how jurisdictions will collaborate over the coming decades to build a clean power network across Atlantic Canada and advance the objectives of the Atlantic Growth Strategy’s Clean Growth and Climate Change priority. These activities supported UN SDG 7.2. |
4. Report on integrating sustainable development
During the 2019-20 reporting cycle, ACOA had no proposals that required a strategic environmental assessment and no public statements were produced.