Major suppliers to the Government of Canada will be required to disclose their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and set reduction targets beginning April 1, 2023, under new requirements.
According to Canada’s newly published “Standard on the Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Setting of Reduction Targets,” federal procurements worth more than $25 million will require suppliers to measure and disclose their GHG emissions, as well as adopt a science-based target to reduce GHG emissions per the Paris Agreement.
Participation in Canada’s Net-Zero Challenge or another approved, internationally recognised and functionally equivalent standard or effort can satisfy the supplier requirement. The Net-Zero Challenge, launched in August 2022, was a voluntary initiative encouraging businesses to develop and implement credible and practical plans to transition their facilities and operations to net-zero emissions by 2050.
Apart from the new supplier regulations, the government also published a new “Standard on Embodied Carbon in Construction,” which requires all significant new government construction projects to report and reduce their embodied carbon footprint. The new standard’s criteria start with concrete, requiring that total GHG emissions related to the project’s concrete be at least 10% lower than the regional norm.
Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, said:
“More and more businesses are aiming to make their operations net-zero, not just to fight climate change, but also to stimulate innovation and ensure the long-term sustainability. By baking these requirements into the Government of Canada’s contracting, we will help bring more businesses on board the target of net-zero.”