Climate Change and Vancouver Council
Here is the edited text of an email letter circulated by Jody Chan of "The Leap".
Next week, Vancouver has the chance to become the first city in Canada to formally declare an emergency in response to the climate crisis. If it passes, the motion will unlock new City powers to respond to climate change, including the billions of dollars it’s expected to cost the public in fire and flood management.
Climate change continues to increase the risk and cost of winter floods, summer fires, and extreme weather events in the city. This motion gives Vancouver the tools to take decisive action on the climate crisis, in a way that’s based in science and rooted in justice.
Climate emergency motions have already passed in eleven major cities around the world, including Los Angeles and London, England. Next week, Vancouver can become the first city in Canada to call climate change what it is: an emergency.
Now is the time to lend your support to this bold and necessary next step for the City of Vancouver.