Paris Marshall Smith
Sustainability Planner
Representing Diverse Communities in the Kootenays
How is the RDCK moving forward with climate action?
In April 2024, the Board directed staff to explore climate action priorities that are practical and affordable and based on RDCK Ideas for Climate Action. In order for an idea to move forward, staff would need to do a business case and bring it to the Board of Directors to vote on at a public meeting.
How was RDCK Ideas for Climate Action developed?
In 2023, RDCK held an extensive community engagement process on a draft RDCK Climate Action Plan. We developed RDCK Ideas for Climate Action in response to what we heard.
Much of the initial RDCK draft Climate Action Plan was built on feedback that came through the 100% Renewable Energy Plan process. It was also built on four years (2019-2023) of internal and external engagement, as well as review and integration of community plans and strategies, including the RDCK Resource Recovery Plan, West Kootenay Transit Plans, and Official Community Plans. All of these plans required extensive community engagement in their development.
What changes were made to the climate action documents following the engagement process?
The following changes have been made in response to feedback from the engagement process.
Which ideas have been removed?
We removed the following proposed ideas following the public engagement process.
Staff also removed ideas the Board previously voted on from the list of proposed ideas.
What impact would the new ideas have?
The new ideas proposed in the previous draft Climate Action Plan support a 25% reduction in carbon pollution by 2026. The level of reduction is necessary to achieve a 50% reduction by 2030. The actions were modeled by Community Energy Association.
Some of the ideas were removed as a result of feedback from the engagement process. The remaining items proposed in RDCK Ideas for Climate Action would only meet a portion of our targets.
How will the ideas in RDCK Ideas for Climate Action be funded?
Staff anticipate that a significant portion of the costs can be funded through the Climate Action Revenue Incentive Program (CARIP) and the Local Government Climate Action Program (LGCAP), with the remainder being covered primarily through grants. Staff will prepare business cases for each new idea for the Board to consider that will identify available funding.
When will the subject meetings take place?
The subject meetings that were planned as part of the climate action engagement process could take place as part of the business case analysis on individual actions. This could be in the form of community meetings or included within Community Sustainable Living Advisory Committee (CSLAC) meetings.
How does climate change impact us here in the RDCK?
Climate change impacts in the RDCK include:
The following local events are tied to climate change.
Events that may not have been tied specifically to climate change but that will increase in frequency with climate change are debris torrents and debris floods caused by high-severity wildfires creating hydrophobic (water-repellent) soils in combination with subsequent high-intensity rainfall events:
The RDCK Climate Action Plan is based on peer-reviewed international research, including the efforts of those involved in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports.
Have you been collecting local area GHG emissions through the years so that we have baseline data?
Yes, both community and corporate GHG profiles have been tracked since 2017. Information on the origins of this data collection process can be found in the Strategic Community Energy and Emissions Plan.
The Province also collects and reports on various sources of community carbon emissions.
The content on this page was last updated May 2 2024 at 4:32 AM