In the Face of Climate Change, Vancouver Plans to Adapt

While Vancouver may not be being doing an exemplary job of planning to manage its growth to 2050, the city seems to be making progress in planning for the potential impacts of climate change, "which is expected to bring more intense rain and windstorms, hotter and drier summers and rising sea levels, affecting the city's economic prosperity and livability."

Detailed in Vancouver's new climate change "adaptation" strategy, which is scheduled to go to the city's council for approval this week, "the actions range from a coastal flood risk assessment to a backup power policy, water conservation actions and a comprehensive urban forest management plan," report Sinoski and Lee. 

Coun. Andrea Reimer "is confident the proposal will pass Tuesday," write Sinoski and Lee, "But she admitted that she would have greater confidence in a unanimous vote if the wording of the motion was a little different."

"If you didn't put the word climate change in and you just said it was a risk management framework for projected weather events, I suspect it would unanimously pass," she said. "But my observation has been that climate change can tend to inspire some political, more partisan, and more ideological approaches [to voting]."

Thanks to Brent Toderian