Don’t mistake promises, action
DEAR EDITOR: A recent poll of Kelowna residents indicates over 50% of respondents believe Canada is doing enough to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
We wonder if the citizens of Kelowna are mistaking promises for action.
In 2015, Canada pledged that by 2020 we would reduce our GHG emissions by 17% compared to 2005. We managed a 1.1% drop, the worst of any G7 nations. Our newest pledge is a 40% reduction by 2030 and net zero by 2050. But in the words of the national Commissioner of the Environment, “We can’t continue to go from failure to failure. We need action.”
In fact, for the five years prior to the pandemic, Canada’s GHG emissions were steady between 733 and 740 megatonnes per year, and our per capita emissions are near the highest on earth. Canada is not doing near enough to stave off the severe climate change.
Last year, B.C. saw an unprecedented heat dome, drought, unhealthy smokefilled air, and widespread infrastructure damage from atmospheric rivers. Last summer’s heat wave killed almost 600 people. Global heating is threatening our way of life and our climate is changing faster than anticipated.
Last month, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated: “The evidence is clear: the time for action is now. … It’s now or never if we want to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.” To meet this target, we need to reduce our GHG emissions by 40% by 2040.
We have less than eight years to succeed. Also in April, the University of Waterloo released a report entitled “Irreversible Extreme Heat: Protecting Canadians and Communities from a Lethal Future.” In it, Kelowna is projected to face the longestlasting heat waves and the hottest maximum temperatures of any major Canadian city. They predict that if we fail to reduce GHG emissions, by 2050 Kelowna will have a warmest maximum temperature of 40C.
This past summer we had four days above 40 C. We are heating up at a rate that is nearly 30 years ahead of schedule. There is no time to lose. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities says “municipal governments have direct or indirect control over approximately 44 per cent of GHG emissions in Canada.”
The most recent IPCC report also calls upon municipalities to act: “Cities and other urban areas offer significant opportunities for emissions reductions.”
Transportation policy is the most effective tool a city possesses to reduce GHG emissions, but despite the urgency of climate action, Kelowna recently approved a Transportation Master Plan that bakes in a 10% increase of transportation GHGs over the next 20 years.
Residents of Kelowna can’t afford to be lulled into climate complacency by unfulfilled promises at the national, provincial and municipal level. Email: kelownaclimatecoalition@gmail.com.