ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — At its regular meeting Monday evening, St. John’s city council is scheduled to debate recognizing climate change as an emergency.
According to the agenda for Nov. 4, Coun. Ian Froude will bring forward the motion, the details of which are provided in the agenda.
The motion includes St. John’s officially affirming a climate emergency “for the purpose of deepening our commitment to protecting our community, economy, natural assets and ecosystems from changes in climate.”
Further, if approved by council as written, it would affirm action on climate change as a strategic priority, commit to the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, and direct city staff to bring a report to council for its consideration before the end of 2019 that describes an approach for creating a sustainability plan.
The motion says such a plan should include an assessment of climate risks and vulnerabilities, and actions for the city to increase local adaptation and resilience; specific greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for 2030 and 2050, and actions for the city to achieve those targets; the development of reporting systems for energy utilization, greenhouse gas emissions, and weather effects to inform policy and budgeting choices; and funding sources and collaboration opportunities to support the plan.
The motion includes information from the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change, including that human activities have caused approximately 1 C of global warming above pre-industrial levels, and that “ambitious reduction in carbon emissions are necessary to avoid further economic, ecological and societal loss.”
It also includes information from Health Canada that says climate change is affecting the health of Canadians, and facts from Natural Resources Canada such as an increase in precipitation in Atlantic Canada while snow and ice have declined, and that St. John’s has experienced a sea level rise of 1.9 mm per year.
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