VICTORIA, B.C. – In response to today’s announcement supporting climate preparedness and adaptation in British Columbia, Sonia Furstenau, Leader of the BC Greens and MLA for Cowichan Valley has issued the following statement:
“I am relieved to see major investments being made as B.C. grapples with the impacts of climate change. Funding for prescribed burning, for better mapping of floodplains, for nature-based solutions - all of this is essential as we face an uncertain future.
“Last year was incredibly difficult for people across the province. The wildfires, the heat dome, the atmospheric river - and this month, increasing flood warnings.
“It is clear that climate change is affecting us in many dangerous and frightening ways. Of course, this has been clear for years. The BC NDP had ample evidence that these events were coming, such as the 2019 Strategic Climate Risk Assessment. If these changes had been implemented sooner we might have been better able to respond to the disasters of the last year.
“There are also ongoing holes in the government’s adaptation plan: it lacks concrete targets and timelines, makes no mention of species-at-risk or biodiversity legislation, and fails to rule out subsidizing fossil fuel development or the expansion of LNG Canada.
“And, though the BC NDP continue to talk about nature-based solutions, we know that old-growth is still being logged. In a crisis, this is unacceptable.
“Today’s step is a positive one; but the BC NDP needs to resolve the major holes in its plan if we are truly going to keep communities across the province safe.”
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Media contact
JoJo Beattie
Press Secretary
B.C. Green Caucus
+1 250-882-6187 | [email protected]