CUMBERLAND B.C – Cumberland council have decided to postpone the declaration of a climate emergency until June, so they can receive more information.
At Cumberland council on April 23rd, councillor Jesse Ketler presented a report to staff outlining the possibility of declaring a climate emergency.
The report outlined that many other local governments have declared a climate emergency, and that the village should follow.
Ketler said that the village has done many things towards environmental sustainability, but with the declaration, it forces them to do more.
“We have already have been achieving carbon neutrality since 2013, we are collaborating on electric vehicle stations and a network across Vancouver Island, we already collect curbside organics, and we are also collecting renewable landfill gas at our landfill facility, and are also increasing air quality legislation.”
“Those are some of the things that we have already starting doing, but we want to look at doing more,” Ketler added.
The MyComoxValleyNow.com newsroom asked Ketler if she thinks other communities should be doing more as well, and she says everyone should be doing more.
“I think municipalities have responsibility to act on the recommendations of the ICCP(The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), and as a parent I also feel I have a responsibility to act, to help ensure that there’s a better future for my kids,” Ketler added.
She said she wanted to receive more information before officially declaring a climate emergency for the village.
“I don’t want to declare a state of emergency without having some actions tied to it, so I would prefer to refer this declaration to our strategic planning session so that we can evaluate the GHG(green house gas) reduction targets, and see what actions we can take.”
The report and the accompanying actions have been referred to the 2019 Strategic Priorities meeting in June.
