City council declares climate emergency in Kingston

Thewhig.com
March 6, 2019
Elliot Ferguson

Kingston is the first Ontario municipality to declare a climate emergency.

City council unanimously voted to declare a climate emergency “for the purposes of naming, framing, and deepening our commitment to protecting our economy, our eco systems, and our community from climate change.”

Trillium Coun. Robert Kiley, who put forward the motion, said climate change is a threat to social, economic and environmental stability.

“We need to act, that is undeniably the message around the horseshoe tonight,” Kiley said.

“If we pass this and do not act for five, 10 years, none of us deserve to be re-elected.”

The motion was widely supported by other members of city council, who shared Kiley’s message of urgency.

King’s Town Coun. Rob Hutchison said it would galvanize council and the community into action.

Lakeside Coun. Wayne Hill compare the fight against climate change to the effort put into the First and Second World Wars.

Pittsburgh Coun. Ryan Boehme said Kingston could become a world leader in developing technology to combat climate change.

Mayor Bryan Paterson said there is no dispute that climate change is an important issue but added that there needs to be better communication about what a climate emergency means.

Paterson added the climate emergency declaration was essentially the same as making climate change a strategic priority.

Loyalist-Cataraqui Coun. Simon Chapelle was the only councillor who came close to speaking against the motion when he said the declaration could be a diversion from making Kingston attractive to socially aware private sector investors.

Prior to making the decision, council was asked to support the motion by three different delegations.

“If this isn’t an emergency, I don’t know what is,” said Mia Berlin, one of five undergraduate student from the Queen’s School of Environmental Studies to speak to council. “The time to act is now.”

“This is not tomorrow’s emergency, this is today’s,” added student Julia Weder.

“This is a crisis, and we must treat it like one,” said Emily Ferguson, co-founder of the Kingston Climate Hub.

“The rational response to an emergency is to act like it is an emergency,” added Kingston Climate Hub co-founder Colleen Gareau.

Gareau said the city needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 16 per cent within the current to put it on track for a 1.5 degree celsius temperature increase.

The sectors that produce the most greenhouse gases -- transportation and buildings -- could be the quickest way to meet stricter emission reductions, Gareau said. Electrifying the Kingston transit fleet, getting cars off the road, and putting in place building standards that reduce emissions would help meet emission targets, she added.