VICTORIA, B.C. - A new landmark study released today from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns the world is dangerously close to runaway warming. Sonia Furstenau, Leader of the BC Greens and MLA for Cowichan Valley has issued the following statement:
“This alarming IPCC climate report predicts intensifying climate impacts and is a ‘Code Red’ for humanity. British Columbians are already living with severe climate change impacts as demonstrated by our record-setting wildfires, drought, and extreme heat. It’s affecting the air we breathe, the forests we rely on, and the security of our crops.
“Despite claiming to be climate leaders, the BC NDP has failed to back their rhetoric up with meaningful action. There is a gaping hole in our climate plan and this government continues to double down on fossil fuels and subsidize fracking.
“We can no longer afford governments that promise action and fail to deliver. As a leader, a teacher, and a mother, I am worried for the future. I am worried about the wildfires a week from now, and worried about what our province will look like ten and twenty years from now.
“But I am also hopeful. The IPCC authors are clear that there is still time to prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis but it requires concerted, urgent action now. We can tackle the climate crisis and make our society better as we do it: we can build a fairer economy and reduce inequality, support people's wellbeing, and respect ecological limits. Ultimately, investments now will not only help us achieve these outcomes, but save enormous future costs.
“The BC NDP government needs to immediately release an ambitious plan, with the funding to back it up, to meet or exceed our targets. This government must also immediately end subsidies to the oil and gas industry, reform forest practices and stop logging old growth so that our forests are no longer net emitters, take meaningful action to protect habitat and biodiversity, invest in a just transition, and make community climate resiliency a priority.
“These actions are well within reach, and failure to take action is not ignorance: it is a purposeful choice to endanger British Columbians and the long-term health of our economy in favour of short-term profits.”
The IPCC report is the first major review of the science of climate change since 2013. Its release comes a few months before COP26 in Glasgow. In B.C., the climate accountability report released by government in December 2020 shows a 28 to 44 per cent gap between the emissions reductions mapped in CleanBC and our 2030 target.
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Media contact
JoJo Beattie
Press Secretary
B.C. Green Caucus
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