We won! Council rejects delay of climate plan

This week, Council voted to move forward on tacking Vancouver’s permitting backlog *without delaying* our important Climate Emergency Action Plan. In a 6-5 votes, Council narrowly defeated a proposal to delay the zero emission building plan.

You can hear my closing comments to Council here, or read them below:

Climate scientists have made it abundantly clear: Every action matters. Every bit of warming matters. Every year matters. Every choice matters. Climate delay is climate denial.

Council heard from building experts & businesses that a delay would create uncertainty. A delay would punish those leaders who already made investments & changes based on the timeline we passed. A delay would add a future retrofit cost of $20-30K on to every new home built this year.

We heard from medical professionals, scientists, grandparents, parents & teenagers, from nearly all of our speakers, and hundreds of emails, that a delay would be a serious step backward on our promise to treat the climate crisis like the emergency it is.

We heard from residents and industry leaders who said: YES address permitting, AND keep moving forward on the zero emission plan.

I’ve been deeply engaged in climate work for the last decade. And I can tell you that when the industry says “delay a year and then we’ll do even better”, it’s just a delay. There’s no evidence, no track record, that it results in anything better. Delay is the new climate denial. That’s how we’ve gotten to where we are now, globally, with so little action to show for our time, and so little time left.

Acting on the #ClimateEmergency, at the speed & scale required, isn’t easy. But Vancouver’s Zero Emission Building Policy is GOOD climate policy. It will decrease emissions, costs almost nothing (in fact save homeowners money) AND it has broad support from across sectors. It is a big win.

In 2019 Council unanimously approved my motion to declare a Climate Emergency, and act in line with that emergency, rooted in justice.

In 2020 we showed we meant it by approving a comprehensive plan.

This week we kept our word. Climate Action remains a priority in Vancouver.