Environment Strategy

Calgary’s Environment Strategy

Our strategy

Calgary’s Environment Strategy is all about making our city cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable for everyone. Cities face many complex environmental problems. To solve them, we must work together and use creative solutions to protect land, improve urban nature, keep ecosystems healthy, and maintain biodiversity, clean air, and water. 

In 2020 and 2021, Calgarians shared their concerns and ideas about improving the city’s environment. This feedback helped shape a clear plan for a sustainable city. The Environment Strategy lists Calgary’s goals and actions to protect and restore the environment. The main values of sustainability, resilience, and livability are key to achieving these goals. These values ensure we protect our environment and improve the quality of life for all Calgarians.

Download Calgary's Environment Strategy

Download the Environment Background Study

Download the Environment Background Study

Our goals

We’ve identified key areas to focus on to reach Calgary’s environmental goals. These align with Council priorities and community-supported plans. 

Here's what we’re focusing on:

  • Enhancement, protection and restoration of natural areas and assets, including wetlands, grasslands, parks, and trees. 
  • Stewardship and integration of thriving and connected natural systems, like prairies, foothills, parkland and river valleys, into communities.
  • Protection of watershed, water resources and flood management.
  • Improvement and protection of air quality.
  • Reduction of pollution and waste, and diversion of waste from landfills.
  • Sustainable transportation, land use and community design initiatives.
  • Adaptation to climate change, reduction of climate-related risks and greenhouse gas emissions, and improved energy and resource management.
  • Improvement of The City of Calgary’s environmental performance and reduction of environmental impact. 
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Putting our plans into action

Calgary wants to be an environmentally-sustainable, climate-resilient, and net-zero city to improve life, health and prosperity today and in the years to come.  

Some of the key ways we’re making this happen include raising awareness about Calgary’s natural environment and taking real steps toward getting better results. This includes a focus on the following:

Monitoring, evaluation, and reporting:

  • Enhanced environmental measures.
  • Communicating outcomes in planning and programs.

Supporting education, outreach, and action:

  • Sharing environmental research.
  • Stakeholder collaboration.
  • Sharing environmental progress for each focus area.

Taking an integrated approach

Advancing climate change action goes hand-in-hand with the protection of the environment. To reduce our climate impact and become more resilient, we focus on policies, investments, and actions that have co-benefits: greenhouse gas emissions reductions, affordability, cleaner air quality and water, more nature, better health, and safer communities.

Calgary Climate Strategy - Pathways to 2050 Calgary Implementation Plan

Climate and Environment Dashboard

The Climate and Environment Dashboard shows what we’re doing to make Calgary a more sustainable and environmentally friendly place to live. It tracks our progress on climate and environment goals and objectives in one place. Calgarians can use it to see metrics and check the status of our actions and their impacts.

View the dashboard

Keep checking this website to follow progress as we protect and steward Calgary’s natural environment.

What we are doing

Programs and services

Policies, strategies and guidelines

Learning from Indigenous Peoples

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