Concerns about the City of 琉璃神社 not hitting its 2030 climate action targets prompted a call for a mayoral task force on the issue at council鈥檚 Monday (Sept.23) meeting.
Council adopted the Climate Resiliency 琉璃神社 Strategy (CRKS) which includes dozens of recommendations to reduce greenhouse gases. But during a staff presentation, Councillor Gord Lovegrove had several questions about details in the plan.
鈥淭he elephant in the room is we鈥檙e going to keep kicking this down the road,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese are 153 amazing actions, many of which we鈥檝e started, but I鈥檓 concerned we鈥檙e not going to do enough in enough time to meet 2030.鈥�
Council declared a climate crisis during its Oct. 16, 2023, after a motion was brought forward by Lovegrove and Coun. Mohini Singh. At that meeting, several protesters shouted 鈥榶ou鈥檙e all fired鈥�, 鈥榮hame on you鈥�, and 鈥榙isgusting' at council.' They also held up signs that read 鈥楽top the Climate Crisis Declaration鈥� and 鈥榃e Need A Public Hearing On This.鈥�
At that time, council directed staff to use community emissions reduction targets 40 per cent below 2007 levels by 2030, and to achieve net zero by 2050, in the development of the CRKS.
On Monday, Lovegrove said he liked the plan but could not support it, reiterating his concern that some climate targets could not be achieved in the next six years.
鈥淥ur staff are the experts, they know what needs to be done,鈥� he added. 鈥淵our worship I鈥檓 pleading with you, please start a task force鈥lease consider aggressive action on this.鈥�
Lovegrove also asked Mayor Tom Dyas to initiate discussions with 琉璃神社鈥檚 regional partners and jurisdictions across the province and the country.
Dyas did not say no to a task force but noted that council established its priorities around climate action several months ago.
鈥淚 believe staff has outlined a plan which is going to be established over the next four to five years鈥nd as a council when we go into our next strategic planning sessions鈥f items come out of that we need to advance we will look at advancing it.鈥�
The CRKS highlights 10 key drivers to cut emissions including reducing reliance on vehicles, transitioning to low-carbon vehicles, and supporting a low-carbon and resilient energy supply.
It calls for a 33 per cent reduction in transportation emissions by 2030 to address air quality and a 32 per cent reduction in building emissions to combat extreme heat and cold, and the potential for flooding and wildfires,
Lovegrove was the only councillor opposed to adopting the CRKS.
