Wildfires spark Kamloops City Councillor to take climate action

After one of the hottest years on record, when states of emergency over wildfires were declared, a City Councillor is stepping up and taking a lead against climate change.

Councillor Arjun Singh is working to pull a committee together that would start taking strong and immediate action against climate change in the Thompson Nicola Regional District.

The motion is happening while leaders from around the world are at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland this week.

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“The world has seen accelerated rates of climate change impacts, displacing millions of people and costing billions of dollars,” Singh said. “Local governments and communities are globally taking the lead on climate action. The first thing to do is a scan of the various opportunities and challenges that exist region wide.”

Singh said the committee would provide advice to the Board of Directors and make recommendations to help the district adapt to, mitigate and reduce climate change.

“I have been on the board for about six years,” he said. “We talk about greenhouse gasses but we don’t really have a strong organized policy or program that can help reduce emissions. We want to make sure we understand the impacts that are happening in the region and build our infrastructure accordingly.”

Singh said another topic he wants to address is best practises for managing wildfires.

“We saw more ferocious wildfire activity this year,” he said. “We need to keep learning ways of preparing for and preventing fires in our specific region, and of course managing them efficiently.”

Singh said he wants the committee to pool all of their individual resources and connections together while working with other partners in meaningful ways.

“I am involved provincially and federally with climate action policy and there are others on the board who have similar kinds of contacts,” he said. “We could leverage those contacts and gain knowledgeable partnerships.”

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The motion will be discussed and voted upon on this week, Nov. 4.

“I am going to have an organized delivery and describe to the board what I’m thinking,” Singh said. “We want to access for the region what the best opportunities are and find the best bang for our work for our region.”

Members of the public may participate via Zoom and instructions are the TNRD website. Members of the public may also submit questions in advance to the attention of the Corporate Officer no later than 4 p.m. Nov. 3, 2021 at legservices@tnrd.ca.

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