Sustainability Report 2003-2005

Metro Vancouver is committed to sustainability. Over the last years, we have focused our attention on clearly articulating and incorporating sustainability principles into our activities and practices. This report demonstrates, through stories as well as statistics, our successes in that regard, as well as those areas where more work is required.

This is our first three-year report. It is a departure from our previous two annual reports. We have changed the format to focus on key achievements and challenges rather than providing an overview of all of our functional responsibilities. We hope this new structure provides a clear picture of what and how we are doing at Metro Vancouver.

We describe some representative cases and provide trend data from 2003-05 compared with previous years for 33 regional and corporate performance measures. Additional quantitative data will be available on our developing website, including our financial statements and related financial information and an annual update and forthcoming index of the performance measures derived from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability performance protocol for public sector organizations. Our aim is for something more readable and impressionistic, leaving the appetite for detailed accounts to be satisfied in these other sources .

Sustainability Report 2003

This is our second sustainability report, developed to document the Metro Vancouver's contributions to a sustainable region. It is based on feedback received about our 2002 prototype and the 2002 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Measures provided in this second report will continue to be refined and improved as the Metro Vancouver learns more about sustainability and the specific sustainability reporting indicators most appropriate to our activities. We also expect to develop new, additional and integrated indicators as required by the progress of our performance.

There is much more to sustainability than developing and reporting on indicators. Our hope is that by articulating our performance, we help to increase knowledge and awareness of sustainability principles and measures and encourage a broad-based dialogue about the sustainable future of the region.

Sustainability Report 2002

This is our first sustainability report, developed to document the Metro Vancouver's contribution towards a sustainable region. This first edition of our sustainability report is a prototype, planned for use as a guide for discussions with our member municipalities, partners, the public and staff, to ensure that subsequent reports provide the information required by readers, in the way they wish it to be received.

Looking ahead, we realize we are just beginning to develop the information and indicators needed to measure and accurately summarize our progress toward sustainability goals. Measures provided in this first report will be refined and improved as we learn more about sustainability and the specific sustainability reporting indicators most appropriate to our activities.