As Ottawa continues to grow, demand for municipal services is increasing. At the same time, the environmental impact of our activities must be reduced. The City has embraced a strong, cross-departmental environmental agenda to do our part to improve and preserve Ottawa's environment. Every sector of the City's operations is involved in the environmental agenda. The City is committed to developing and implementing environmental policies to protect Ottawa's environment for generations to come and to developing programs to facilitate the adoption of environmentally friendly technology and practices.

The environment sustains us. It is a complex living network whose diversity supports our existence, both visibly and invisibly. It contributes to our enjoyment of life through greenspaces and water; it is essential to the vitality of our food production system.

Cities have a large effect on the environment. The more we understand this impact, the better we are at minimizing it. Ottawa, like all responsible municipalities, is searching for ways to be economically viable yet have a smaller ecological footprint. During the Ottawa 20/20 initiative, the public, City Council and City staff together forged seven principles to guide our progress as a smart and sustainable city. The environment was a central theme in those principles. Ottawa's Environmental Strategy (approved by Council in 2003) declares: Ottawa will be a green and environmentally sensitive city.

What does that mean?

The Environmental Strategy has four main goals:

• To be a green city where greenspace is preserved and enhanced
• Development in harmony with nature through better ecosystem planning and design
• A focus on walking, cycling and transit to encourage sustainable transportation choices
• Clean air, water and earth as resource use, waste, emissions and energy use are all reduced.Ottawa and its citizens made a commitment to continuous monitoring and improvement during the 20/20 process. This directory reviews progress to date and itemizes the programs that are helping us meet our 20/20 goals. The initiatives and programs are grouped under the four goals from the Environmental Strategy. Many of the initiatives, such as green building standards, contribute to more than one of the goals but are listed only once. Targets that have been established in existing plans and strategies are also noted.