1. THE CLIMATE CRISIS

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This power player can wipe out infrastructure, threaten the health and safety of our most vulnerable and trash our economy in the process—all with no warning. From floods to fires, from seawall-crushing king tides to devastating crop failures, the climate emergency is making its uncomfortable presence felt in this city.

Not that environmental concerns are anything new (Vancouver’s “zero-waste by 2040” plan has been in place since 2008, and warnings about climate change have been sounding since the ’70s), but 2022 marked the first year that every serious civic political party featured a climate plan in their platform—even the right-leaning set. Washed-out highways rang alarm bells about just how vulnerable (and deeply unprepared) we are in the face of natural disaster and local linguistic tics like “atmospheric river” and “heat dome” are showing just how deeply climate change has impacted our experience, while Okanagan smoke is now just part of the forecast.

Climate will affect our natural resources (fishing, logging) and, in turn, our economy: the Canadian Climate Institute estimates that climate impacts will slow the country’s annual economic growth by $25 billion by 2025. While we’d have loved to name a person who’s leading the charge on climate mitigation strategies—and getting those in power to truly listen—for this number one spot, we haven’t seen that leader yet. But if power is the ability to attract attention, to change the conversation, to make your presence felt—and known, and feared—who else but the climate could we call #1?