March 25, 2019 - Islands Trust Council Declares Climate Emergency

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Bowen, Denman, Hornby,  Gabriola, Galiano, Gambier, Lasqueti, Mayne, N. Pender, Salt Spring, Saturna, S. Pender, Thetis 
 
 
News Release 
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March 25, 2019            2019-09-IT 
 
 
 
ISLANDS TRUST COUNCIL DECLARES CLIMATE EMERGENCY 
 
Coast Salish Territory, Gabriola Island — Islands Trust is joining local governments around the world in declaring a 
climate change emergency. At its recent meeting on Gabriola Island, the Islands Trust Council voted unanimously to 
join Vancouver, the Capital Regional District, Los Angeles, London, and a growing number of regional and local 
governments internationally in calling for an urgent response to the threats and costs posed by climate change.  
 
The impacts of climate change are being felt everywhere. For the islands in the Salish Sea, those impacts can be seen 
through more extreme and unpredictable weather patterns, sea level rise, increasingly acidic oceans, and drier 
summers characterized by smoke-filled air due to forest-fires in nearby jurisdictions. 
 
“This declaration came out of a recognition that, given our unique mandate and the seriousness of the situation, the 
Islands Trust has to join other communities and take a leading role in our region to address climate change,” said Peter 
Luckham, Chair of the Islands Trust Council. “This declaration commits us to intensifying our efforts to better match the 
urgency of the climate change emergency identified by scientists. We will seek to work with local communities, First 
Nations, partner agencies, and other levels of government to pursue an absolute reduction in greenhouse gas 
emissions in this very special region.” 
 
The climate emergency declaration was co-sponsored by Trustee Deb Morrison (North Pender Island) and Trustee Scott 
Colbourne (Gabriola Island). The emergency declaration commits Islands Trust staff to providing Trust Council with a 
report on actions and tools that could be implemented to decrease emissions, to reach out to the various First Nations 
in the Trust Area to see if they would like to work collaboratively on potential climate action strategies, and to ensure 
those most impacted by climate change are being supported.  
 
It also directs the Trust Council Chair to communicate directly with regional districts and the provincial and federal 
governments, asserting Trust Council’s commitment to help meet carbon-reduction targets and calling for increased 
resources for local governments as they intensify local actions. 
 
A Backgrounder follows on the next page.  
 
 
 
 
 
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Backgrounder 
The full motion to declare a climate change emergency, passed unanimously at Trust Council’s March 
meeting on Gabriola Island:   
1. Declare a Climate Change Emergency in the I

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