Three regional directors including Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps and Saanich Coun. Ned Taylor recommend the declaration of a climate emergency.
The trio B次元官网网址� which also includes Sooke Mayor Maja Tait B次元官网网址� calls on the Capital Regional District Board (CRD) to declare a climate emergency, drawing inspiration from comparable declarations around the world.
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B次元官网网址淲e are in a new reality,B次元官网网址� reads a report from the trio to the parks and environment committee which will consider the recommendation at its next meeting Jan. 23. B次元官网网址淏older leadership is needed in the post-IPCC report world.B次元官网网址�
An October 2018 report from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that the planet has only until 2030 to avoid devastating climate change effects. It says emissions need to be 45 per cent below what they were in 2010 to to help meet the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. It calls on signatories to limit the increase in the global temperature to 1.5藲C. Current predictions call for an increase of 3藲C.
In their appeal, the trio notes that B次元官网网址渓imiting global warming to 1.5掳C may still be possible with ambitious action from national and sub-national authorities, civil society, the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communitiesB次元官网网址� in calling on the CRD to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
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The trio also calls on the board to secure B次元官网网址渢he powers and resourcesB次元官网网址� necessary from the provincial and federal governments to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2030.
As such, the document also appears as an implicit concession that the region currently lacks the necessary means to give any any future declaration of a climate emergency teeth.
Taylor, for this part, acknowledges the challenges ahead.
B次元官网网址淏eing carbon-neutral by 2030 is an ambitious timeline, but a necessary one,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲hat we know is that the cost of inaction towards climate change is far greater than the cost of action. We can have a significant impact on climate change at the regional-level and I hope that the CRD Board will recognize just how important it is to address this issue.B次元官网网址�
He also insisted that the recommendation is not symbolic.
B次元官网网址淚 can assure you that this is not simply a symbolic motion,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭his motion gives our region the opportunity to join multiple other cities around the world in working towards being carbon neutral by 2030.B次元官网网址�
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