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Vancouver’s Zero Emissions Economic Transition Action Plan

ZEETAP

A wide angle show of Vancouver taken from false creek

How can we make climate action a net benefit for businesses and workers in Vancouver?

ZEETAP will help both survive and thrive in the zero carbon economy

Vancouver’s economy is at a turning point: we can double-down on a just and equitable zero-carbon future, or we can let the world race ahead without us. The City of Vancouver declared a climate emergency in 2019, and approved the Climate Emergency Action Plan in 2020. Governments are now committed to climate action — but where does that leave businesses and workers?

The Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC) has tracked metrics related to the green economy since 2011, and has helped thousands of businesses step up to the plate by taking decisive climate action. And yet, greenhouse gases have not fallen quickly enough, and many workers and businesses are still struggling to make an efficient and equitable transition. The barriers are numerous: challenges accessing the right information about what and where to buy the right climate solutions; affordability constraints and unclear profitability projections; unclear training and upskilling opportunity; and many, many more.

VEC’s new Zero Emissions Economic Transition Action Plan (ZEETAP) aims to address all of these challenges over the next three years through 25 actions in six thematic priority areas. 

ZEETAP’s Goals

In addition to supporting the City of Vancouver’s goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2030, ZEETAP works towards four goals:

  1. Maximizing the economic opportunities of climate action.
  2. Minimizing the challenges and costs of taking climate action.
  3. Accelerating voluntary action to address climate change.
  4. Championing equity and justice in all aspects of climate action and economic development.

Download ZEETAP or Read the Backgrounder

The Six Directions

1

Make climate solutions and their impacts just and equitable

Embed equity and justice across all ZEETAP activities and work directly with equity-deserving populations

2

Make it easier to get climate information

Remove barriers that prevent organizations from understanding decarbonization challenges and solutions

3

Make it easier to access and buy climate solutions

Remove barriers and build collective, scalable climate solutions that meed the needs and context of businesses

4

Make climate solutions more affordable

Reduce the cost of climate solutions through new programs, collaborations, and policy and regulatory advocacy

5

Make climate solutions more profitable

Increase markets’ understanding of the value in climate solutions and financial risk of climate endangering activities

6

Make climate solutions scale

Create systems that support the spreading of climate action initiatives across the entire economy

Read the Action Plan

Want to understand how ZEETAP was developed, the analysis that underpins it, and the actions envisioned over the next three years? Download the full plan today. If you’d like a higher-level overview that summarizes the plan’s key points, see our ZEETAP Backgrounder.
 
Download ZEETAP or Read the Summary

How to get engaged

ZEETAP is fuelled by collaboration across sectors and organizations. If you would like to support activities in the plan, or align your own work, please reach out to us.

Get in touch

Resources and Toolkits

Free Resource

Business Toolkit

Are you a business looking to take your first steps on climate change? Check out this resource VEC has developed to provide guidance and connections to supports and resources.

Download now

Short Guide

Backgrounder

Want to provide an overview of ZEETAP to your organization, partners, or community? Check out our Backgrounder, which provides an overview of the process to develop ZEETAP, highlights its actions and theory of change, and situates the plan in relation to other regional climate work.

Download now

Free Resource

Workers Toolkit

Are you a worker trying to help your employer take climate action? We’re working with unions, workforce development organizations, and community members to design tools specifically for you. If you’d like to help us, please reach out through our engagement link.

Coming Soon

Related Initiatives

Calls for Innovation

Project Greenlight

Project Greenlight forges connections and partnerships between public infrastructure bodies and private enterprises (members) and technology innovators to accelerate Metro Vancouver’s transformation to a smarter, more sustainable economy.

➔ Learn more

Research Think Tank

Economic Transformation Lab

By leveraging academic and industry collaborations, the Economic Transformation Lab (ETL) aims to produce research that results in actionable goals, best practices, and insights that inform policy advocacy or programs to help future-proof Vancouver’s economy.

➔ Learn more

Sector Information

Green Buildings

VEC has developed a huge variety of programs and research related to green buildings, touching on topics from finance to embodied carbon, resilience, and the circular economy. To learn more about our work, see VEC’s Green Buildings and Construction page.

➔ Learn more

Startup & Investor Training

Angels for Climate Solutions

Innovation is a crucial part of climate action. Angels for Climate Solutions is an ongoing program that supports early-stage companies eager to work with angel investors and other ecosystem leaders.

➔ Learn more

Sector Information

Circular Economy

While not fully included within ZEETAP, the circular economy is an important element of decarbonization activities. Learn more about VEC’s work on the circular economy.

➔ Learn more

Related Plans

The City of Vancouver’s Climate Emergency Action Plan guides ZEETAP by setting the vision and creating a policy-driven foundation for our work.

Metro Vancouver’s Climate 2050 and Clean Air Plan help set a crucial policy and regulatory foundation for regional climate action.

CleanBC is the provincial climate action strategy and roadmap to 2030 set the large-scale context for much of Vancouver and VEC’s climate action.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can businesses or community leaders participate or partner with Vancouver Economic Commission in implementing ZEETAP?

ZEETAP can only succeed through collaboration with partners. If you are interested in supporting implementation of ZEETAP, reach out through our engagement form.

Will ZEETAP include incentives for businesses taking climate action?

Unfortunately, VEC is not in a position to offer any monetary incentives or grants for businesses. VEC works carefully with all levels of government and many other funders to ensure that businesses can access the resources they need to undertake climate action.

How can companies with unique technologies or services for climate action participate in ZEETAP and showcase our solutions?

VEC is proud to operate Project Greenlight, a regional technology demonstration and commercialization platform operating across Metro Vancouver with major institutional partners such as TransLink, FortisBC, the City of Vancouver and the City of Coquitlam. To learn more, check out the Project Greenlight website.

Related Content

See Our Resources
  • Programs | Entrepreneurship & Industry Support, Green Economy, Tech

    Project Greenlight

  • Research | Green Economy, Impact

    A “Right to Food” Framework for a Just Circular Economy of Food

  • Projects | Green Economy, High Impact Investment, Capital

    Shift

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General Contact

  • Phone: +1 604-632-9668
  • Toll Free: +1-866-632-9668
  • Email us
  • 500-555 W 8th Avenue
    Vancouver, British Columbia
    V5Z 1C6
Events
  • Angels for Climate Solutions Pitch Night Finale
  • Angels for Climate Solutions Top 15 Pitch Night (2023)
  • Future-proofing Vancouver: Food Security beyond Food Surplus

View all events

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VEC respectfully acknowledges that it is located on the unceded ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ / sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

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