Green Provincial Report Card finds majority of provinces lagging behind national green energy and biodiversity goals

Northwest Territories and British Columbia at the top of a mediocre class

Toronto - The highest grade on the 2010 Green Provincial Report Card for the provinces was a C, achieved by British Columbia, which led the way on green certified new buildings, energy efficiency and organic food consumption. The highest grade achieved by the territories was a C+, achieved by the Northwest Territories, which led the way with the most protected land set aside, lowest water consumption, and lowest rates of cancer.

On the energy file, three provinces (Quebec, Manitoba, and Newfoundland and Labrador) are setting the green energy standard in Canada, having already achieved the Federal Government's 2020 goal to power 90% of Canada's electricity needs from "carbon-free" sources.

On protected lands, just two of ten provinces (British Columbia at 17.5% and Alberta at 12.3%) and two territories (Northwest Territories at 26% and Yukon Territories at 12.4%) have met the 1990 Canadian Green Plan's goal of setting aside 12% of the country's landmass for protection.

"Canada has the planet's largest supply of green energy potential and wild landmass, and our ability to harness these riches will be the central determinant of our stature in the world this century," says Toby Heaps, Editor-in-Chief of Corporate Knights.

The Green Provincial Report Card considers environmental performance across ten equally weighted categories, including greenhouse gases, organic food, green energy, cancer rates, water use, biodiversity and car dependency. The survey methodology adjusts for size of population and economy. This year, the report examines new indicators, such as the number of endangered species in each province and asthma rates, and improves the data sources for existing indicators based on feedback from last year's report.

Overall, while total greenhouse gases increased by 25 million tonnes, or about 3.5% to 739 million tonnes for the most recently reported year, while greenhouse gas intensity (megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per $billion of GDP) went down in every province and territory since last year's report.

The Corporate Knights Green Provincial Report Card presents a comprehensive eco-grading for Canada's provinces and territories. In its second year, the report also highlights the need for comprehensive, accurate, and frequently updated sources of environmental data in order to ensure progress-or lack thereof-is being properly measured.

The Green Provincial Report was based on Government of Canada web sites and reports, and data from surveys carried out by independent environmental organizations including Friends of the Earth, Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance, Ecojustice, and the Canadian Cancer Society.

The full results of the ranking are available online at www.corporateknights.ca/greenprovinces and are summarized below, as well as in the Sustainable Cities issue (Vol. 8.4) of Corporate Knights Magazine.