Theme IV - Shrinking the Environmental Footprint - Beginning with Government

Under this theme, the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy lays out goals and targets that will help the federal government reduce its own environmental footprint including, for example, setting targets for reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and making the federal government's purchasing more environmentally–friendly.

The federal government has a considerable environmental footprint ranging from the energy used to heat and cool federal buildings and operate the federal vehicle fleet, to the goods purchased to deliver services to Canadians and the disposal of electronic equipment at the end of its useful life. The Government of Canada is committed to improving the environmental performance of its own operations. With this in mind, the federal government has developed new targets in the areas of green buildings, greenhouse gas emissions, electronic waste, printing units, paper consumption, green meetings, and green procurement.

Transport Canada's Commitments

Transport Canada's commitments under Theme IV – Shrinking the Environmental Footprint – Beginning with Government are listed on the following website: National Environmental Management System. Targets under Theme IV relate to the following areas:

• Green buildings
• Greenhouse gas emissions
• Surplus electronic and electrical equipment
• Printing unit reduction
• Paper consumption
• Green meetings
• Green procurement
• Reporting on the purchases of offset credits