I. Title of the Best Practice

II. Overview of the Best Practice

VCR Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to encouraging private and public sector organizations to voluntarily limit their net greenhouse gas emissions, as a step towards meeting Canada's climate change goals. VCR Inc. participation rate has risen steadily since the program's inception in late 1994. The VCR was first established by Natural Resources Canada in 1995 as a key element of Canada's National Action Program on Climate Change. In 1997 VCR Inc. completed its transition from a government-incubated program to a stand-alone private-public partnership. Approximately 925 companies and organizations from all sectors of the economy have joined the initiative, including the federal government and all provincial governments. VCR Inc.'s mission is "to provide the means for promoting, assessing and recognizing the effectiveness of the voluntary approach in addressing climate change".

VCR Inc. encourages companies and organizations from all sectors of the economy to accept greater accountability for GHG generation, serving as a catalyst to ensure that Canada's overall climate change objectives are met by both private and public sectors alike through voluntary actions. The Registry component of VCR Inc. records the actions planned and executed by registrants, providing them with the opportunity to exchange information and to share best practices with their peers.

VCR Inc. registrants must submit a minimum level action plan, comprised of the following three elements: senior management support, a commitment to regular reporting and a base year calculation. VCR Inc. maintains a custom database that is updated daily with an on-line registration system. The process is conducted in a password-protected environment, using state-of-the-art security features.

The total number of VCR Inc. registrants by mid-December 1999 was over 925, including companies and organizations from all sectors of the economy. Membership is strongest in the sectors listed below: (some sectors are missing as the calculation has not been done at time of print)

Partnerships
Reporting linkages have been developed with a variety of organizations including the Association of Canadian Community Colleges, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' Partners for Climate Protection Program, Natural Resources Canada's Office of Energy Efficiency and Technology Early Action Measures, the Canadian Industry Program for Energy Conservation, the Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement, the World Energy Council, the Energy Council of Canada's Action by Canadians on Climate Change (the ABC Program) and the Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Trading (GERT) Pilot.

Reason for Inclusion as a Best Practice
The VCR has resulted in real credit based reductions and has been successful in engaging the private sector in actively reducing greenhouses gases.

III. Categorizing the Best Practice

1. Classification(s) (Indicate main classification(s) only.)
( ) Regulatory Approach (Policy approaches - regulations, incentives, etc)
( X ) Practical Action (Action undertaken independently by a social actor)
( X ) Social Network Mechanism (Cooperative structure)

2. Social Actor(s) Involved (Indicate main social actor(s) only)
( ) Citizens
( X ) Central government
( X ) Local government
( X ) Business

3. Sector(s) (indicate main sector(s) only.)
( X ) Energy
( X ) Household
( X ) Transportation
( X ) Industrial Enterprises
( X ) Other (Non-Industrial) Business
( X ) Agriculture / Land Use / Forestry
( ) Other (Please specify) -- Commercial / Institutional

4. Target Greenhouse Gas(es)
( X ) CO2
( X ) CH4
( X ) N2O
( X ) HFC
( X ) PFC
( X ) SF6
( ) Other (Please specfy.)

IV. Additional information

VCR Inc.'s Mission
To provide the means for promoting, assessing and recognizing the effectiveness of the voluntary approach in addressing climate change.

VCR Inc.'s Mandate
To recruit broad participation from all sectors of the economy with the support of the Council of Champions and in conjunction with sector organizations.

To record and document participation, action plans, best practices and achievements.

To analyze actions and achievements, and consider their potential to further progress and provide the related support to participants.

To recognize, publicize and promote participants making progress towards the national greenhouse gas reduction objectives with the support of the Technical Advisory Committee.

To prepare progress and annual reports and to identify issues for consideration in the evolution of VCR Inc.

V. Please indicate a person to contact for more information about this Best Practice.

Contact Person:	Bob Flemington
Title:	President
Organization:	Voluntary Challenge and Registry Inc.
Email:	info@vcr-mvr.ca
Tel:	(613)565-5151
Fax:	(613) 565-5743
Address:	600-170 Laurier Ave W, Ottawa, ON K1P 5V5 Canada

Notes:
Please visit the VCR Inc. website for more information and updates at http://www.vcr-mvr.ca