By Rachelle Stein-Wotten, Gabriola Sounder, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
After a year and a half of meetings and planning, the climate action technical advisory committee has endorsed a draft report on recommended actions for climate adaptation and mitigation in the Regional District of Nanaimo.
Following incorporation of final comments from committee members made at their July 22 meeting, the report will head to the board of directors in September for discussion.
The draft report identifies three priority areas of focus as well as 11 ongoing programs that should receive ongoing support.
“Part of the way we wrote this report is to understand that they’re integrated work,” Kim Fowler, manager of long-range planning, sustainability and energy, commented. “It’s not an either or, we are going to work together on these things, but you do need to make climate change a priority and you do need to focus on these three so that we can make some substantive change because that’s where the biggest impact we can make is.”
First, is water supply resilience supported by natural asset management.
“I am definitely in support of water security being our number one priority,” committee member and Electoral Area B Director Vanessa Craig told the Sounder.
The second priority, update RDN policies and bylaws “to remove barriers to climate mitigation and adaptation and ensure RDN policies support climate-appropriate development.”
This would include using a climate-focused, triple bottom line approach that takes into account the environment, economy and social impacts.
Fowler, who established that practice in Port Coquitlam a decade ago, said the approach should be included in all land-use planning-related board reports, but “there needs to be some guidance given to staff to do that assessment.”
Craig strongly supports this approach.
“Including a climate change lens in some of the work currently happening will help ensure that these issues are specifically considered. We already have motions requesting that staff investigate the ability to use development permit areas to better protect aquifers and water supply. Although those projects won’t apply in Area B, they may identify approaches that could be of use in our area.”
Finally the third priority is increasing support for climate-adaptive home retrofits.
“Currently the RDN has ‘top ups’ above provincial/federal amounts, but the amounts are lower than in some other areas,” Craig said. “Another barrier is that navigating the retrofit process can feel daunting to residents – is there a way to support residents?” Craig said, mentioning Sustainable Gabriola’s heat pump program as a successful model.
With the Gulf Islands and East Vancouver Island basin experiencing a level 4 drought and over 250 wildfires burning across the province, the effects of climate change are clear and present.
“Staff have a 12-18 month planning cycle, and projects are dependent on the budget cycle, so the actions we are recommending can begin in 2022 if the board approves the funding,” Craig said of the timeline.
“The impacts of climate change will have many effects that the RDN has limited ability to influence on our own and therefore our main influence will be through advocacy,” Craig added.
Links of Interest
Top photo credit: Nanaimo by Marcin Chady via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)
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