Official Community Plan

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CLIMATE ACTION Our city – along with the rest of the world – is in the midst of a climate crisis. Courtenay acknowledges the global scientific consensus that human activity that uses fossil fuels is causing climate change and global heating, which poses significant risks to humanity and biodiversity on Earth. Global climate functions are changing, creating local effects like increases in storm frequency and severity, increased summer drought risk, heat domes, less snow, wetter winters, and increased spring flood risk. Courtenay will continue to see higher tides, increased shoreline erosion, and saltwater ingress onto private and agricultural properties as sea level rises. These changes are having negative impacts on our infrastructure, buildings, crops, and ecosystems. They are increasingly affecting our community's stability. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that human activities have caused approximately 1.0°C of global heating above pre-industrial levels, which is likely to reach 1.5°C sometime between 2030 and 2052. Limiting warming to 1.5°C requires reaching net-zero global carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions by 2050 at the latest, with deep reductions in other emissions as well, particularly methane (CH 4 ). Courtenay is responding to this call to action. The City has committed to achieving a 45% reduction in community-wide GHG emissions (from 2016 level) by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. This OCP includes strategies, actions, and measures to reduce emissions to target levels while saving on energy costs and improving quality of life for Courtenay residents. RECONCILIATION “Indigenous people need to experience truth and reconciliation, not have to constantly fight for it.” – Ginger Gosnell-Myers, Nisga’a-Kwakwaka’wakw Indigenous Fellow with SFU Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue The City of Courtenay’s commitment to reconciliation begins with a recognition of the City’s responsibility to examine the ways in which its policies, processes, and structures uphold and perpetuate colonialism and its associated harms. From there, the City recognizes that it must move beyond positive intent and take action in a way that enables positive impact. The City adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the framework for reconciliation. It will seek to build and sustain a relationship of respect and understanding with the K’ómoks First Nation whose territories encompass Courtenay, as well as other Indigenous peoples who live on these unceded territories. The City commits to incorporating Indigenous perspectives into its work and decision-making process, and to providing equitable and inclusive services that benefit Indigenous peoples. The City will seek guidance from Indigenous partners in how to make this commitment a reality. 2

City of Courtenay Official Community Plan