The City of Colwood joined other municipalities in the Capital Regional District by declaring a climate emergency.

At MondayB次元官网网址檚 council meeting, members of the community spoke in support of the declaration including former councillor Judith Cullington.

B次元官网网址淲hat they also supported, which I think is good, was taking local action,B次元官网网址� Cullington said.

Cullington was lead on the Solar Colwood program when she was on council. The program made it possible for residents to undertake over 1,000 renewable energy and energy saving upgrades using a grant from the federal government.

B次元官网网址淚t was a really successful program,B次元官网网址� Cullington said. B次元官网网址淲e were recognized for itB次元官网网址� donB次元官网网址檛 tell me that single individual communites canB次元官网网址檛 make a difference. Colwood has shown thatB次元官网网址檚 not the case.B次元官网网址�

The climate emergency declaration was supported by all councillors except Coun. Doug Kobayashi and Coun. Stewart Parkinson who raised concerns about the declaration not actually meaning that the City is doing anything concrete.

B次元官网网址淲e talk about this but thereB次元官网网址檚 no teeth in what weB次元官网网址檙e doing,B次元官网网址� Kobayashi said at the meeting.

Parkinson said he doesnB次元官网网址檛 agree with B次元官网网址渏umping on the bandwagon,B次元官网网址� suggesting the City continues to stick with what it is doing already.

Coun. Cynthia Day, however, noted that council should reflect the views of the community and acknowledged the number of speakers who came to the meeting to speak in support of the declaration.

B次元官网网址淲e need to do what we can to make a difference,B次元官网网址� Day said. B次元官网网址淭he community expects us to do something.B次元官网网址�

A report from the CRD about the Climate Emergency Declaration asks all local governments in the region to declare a climate emergency and also commit to working towards carbon neutrality by 2030.

The report cites a special report released by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that found limiting global warming to 1.5 C is still possible if there is a 45 per cent reduction of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

The IPCC also projected that a failure to reduce emissions could lead to catastrophic impacts on the earth.

Municipalities in the CRD that have already declared a climate emergency are Victoria, View Royal, Esquimalt, Saanich, Sidney, Highlands, Oak Bay, Sooke and now Colwood.

B次元官网网址淐olwood council view this climate declaration as a continuation of the CityB次元官网网址檚 climate leadership,B次元官网网址� a statement from the City of Colwood reads.

Colwood council has now directed staff to prepare a follow-up report outlining options for accelerating action and taking near-term steps to address climate change at the municipal level.

B次元官网网址淔or me the next step is now lets wait and see what the staff report says,B次元官网网址� Cullington said. B次元官网网址淏ut in the meantime, IB次元官网网址檓 happy.B次元官网网址�

More information about ColwoodB次元官网网址檚 endorsement can be found at .