Municipal climate action should focus on practical, measurable work: protecting trees, managing water, preparing for extreme heat and designing infrastructure for future conditions.
Chamber ACM question
For me, municipal climate action comes down to four things: trees, water, heat and infrastructure.
Trees: protect and expand the urban canopy because it provides shade, cooling, stormwater absorption and neighbourhood resilience.
Water: improve stormwater management, reduce flooding risk and plan carefully for sea-level rise and coastal impacts.
Heat: design public spaces and buildings with extreme heat in mind, increase shade, and make sure vulnerable residents have access to cooling and safer public spaces.
Infrastructure: stop designing only for yesterday’s conditions. Roads, drainage, public buildings and waterfront infrastructure need to be planned for the climate conditions we are likely to face over their full lifespan.
Those are areas where a municipality has real influence. We also have a role through land use, transportation and the buildings we own, but I would keep the focus on practical, measurable actions.
Trees. Water. Heat. Infrastructure. If we get those four things right, we make Esquimalt safer, more resilient and less expensive to maintain over the long term.
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