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The Reduction Framework

The Regional Carbon Initiative reduction framework explains elements of the Bronze, Silver and Gold carbon reduction targets to which Pledging Partners will commit. This framework is the result of two phases of community consultation including representatives from local businesses, governments, NGOs, and academics.

While balancing the need for an ambitious and a realistic voluntary carbon reduction framework, these requirements were chosen to account for the greatest environmental impact, with the most flexibility and ease of data collection.

	Minimum Requirements	Key Points
Mandatory Reporting Scopes	Scopes 1 and 2 Scope 3: Air Travel	These are typically the major contributors to a carbon footprint Activity source data is relatively easy to collect
Permissible Baselines	Up to 3 years before joining the Regional Carbon Initiative	Encourages future reductions Keeps targets comparable Limits the amount of backcasting required
Target Commitments (below baseline levels)	Gold: 60%+ Silver: 40%+ Bronze: 20%+	Based on analysis of case studies and industry precedents, these levels were deemed to be ambitious, yet realistic
Type of Reduction Commitment	Absolute or intensity targets. Mandatory absolute reporting.	Inclusive of organizations that are growing at such a rate that may make absolute targets unachievable Absolute emission reductions are more pertinent to the goals of the Regional Carbon Initiative
Intervals & Dates	10 year overall commitment, 2 year soft 'check point' target intervals	Balances time required for meaningful action, while still encouraging immediate reductions and avoiding procrastination
Offsets	Max 49% reductions from offsets Max 10% of this from foreign offsets	Requires and encourage actual reductions before purchased offsite reductions Consistent with precedents set by the Western Climate Initiative and Environment Canada
Operational Geographic Boundaries	Waterloo Region Wide	Avoids Pledging Partners selecting only the ‘greenest’ buildings in Waterloo Region Pledging Partners have the option to include additional buildings outside of Waterloo Region

For more information on this reduction framework, as well as the process by which this framework was determined and the GHG accounting methodology employed by the Regional Carbon Initiative, please see the Guide to the Regional Carbon Initiative.