Heat, floods and fire have caused states of emergency to be declared in Kelowna for four of the past five years.

Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK

There's no way the City of Kelowna is going to meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets by 2030.

So as a result, city council is being asked to declare a climate crisis when it meets next Monday afternoon, Oct. 16.

“Municipalities are understood to produce and/or have regulatory jurisdiction over approximately 50% of carbon emissions in Canada and as such have a responsibility to take actions within their direct control, influence and advocacy,” says the draft resolution going to council.

At its April 3 meeting, staff told council it was not going to reach its target of a 45% reduction in emissions below the city’s 2010 level by 2030.

“Despite adopted policies and actions by the city, Kelowna is not yet meeting its greenhouse gas reduction targets and experiencing, instead, increasing greenhouse gas emissions,” the report says.

READ MORE: Kelowna’s 'Champion of the Environment' now a full time job

At the April meeting, councillors Mohini Singh and Gord Lovegrove indicated they would bring a climate crisis resolution forward, the report says.

“When asked what the implications of a formal Council climate crisis would be, staff have repeatedly stated that current efforts underway will continue regardless; however, it is incumbent upon us, as the elected leaders of our community, to communicate clearly to the residents of Kelowna the importance of urgent action on a government and community-wide basis in the face of the climate crisis that we all face,” the resolution says.

“The impacts of global climate breakdown have already resulted in local states of emergency due to wildfire, extreme heat and flooding over four of the past five years, having direct impacts on Kelowna’s economy, city budgets, health, security, quality of life and ecosystems.”

While the resolution declares a climate crisis, it doesn’t include any action items to address the issue.

“As such, as recommended by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change the City of Kelowna must declare a climate crisis in the knowledge that this is an emergency with no foreseeable conclusion and requires immediate and drastic action away from a business-as-usual approach in order to sustain our quality of life, including our thriving tourism, technology and agricultural sectors; our citizen health and affordability; and our public infrastructure and celebrated environment,” the resolution concludes.

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