The Impact of Population Size on Climate Performance Measurement Practices

Canadian municipalities influence approximately 50% of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions and play a critical role in decarbonization. Performance measurement serves as an essential process for a municipality to analyze progress toward achieving strategic objectives, including net-zero. This paper examined the performance measurement practices of 31 Canadian municipalities using a qualitative descriptive approach and a contingency theory lens. Data were collected through interviews and supplementary documents. Data were analyzed using manual deductive and inductive coding in NVivo 14, followed by a comparative analysis to explore the influence of population size on the performance measurement process. Results show that municipalities with large population sizes have a greater number of themes prioritized for measurement, a larger number of indicator selection criteria, and report more frequently. Municipal population size does not appear to influence the involvement of stakeholders in indicator selection and data analysis strategies.