UPDATE: The motion passed the Environment Committee 6-2, and will go to City Council on Wednesday, April 24. We still need your help building support for this motion. Please call your councillor and the Mayor today!
The United Nations has made it clear – we now have 11 years to avoid catastrophic impacts to the world’s species and ecosystems. The effects are already being felt in Ottawa: record floods in 2017; tornado impacts in late 2018; summers of extreme and deadly heat; and winters with erratic freeze-thaw cycles. Momentum is building among cities like Vancouver, Halifax, Kingston and Hamilton to urgently respond to this moment of crisis and build a better city, and Ottawa has the opportunity to lead. We are calling on the City of Ottawa to declare climate emergency now.
The City of Ottawa has not yet responded adequately to the scope and scale of the climate crisis. We have a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Energy Evolution, but this has been delayed and underfunded. We have set a greenhouse gas emissions target, but have not regularly reported on our emissions. We have not produced a long-promised climate resilience plan despite tremendous damage from flooding, tornadoes, heat waves and other extreme weather events.
We are facing a climate emergency, and we need the City of Ottawa to treat this crisis with the urgency it deserves. On April 16, councillor Shawn Menard will table a motion to the Environment Committee declaring a Climate Emergency and proposing bold actions to safeguard Ottawa’s neighbourhoods and ecosystems. This is our moment to demand bolder commitment and stronger action.
Join us at the Rally for Climate Emergency on April 16, at 8:30 AM outside Ottawa City Hall.
Call your councillor and tell them to vote in favour of the climate emergency motion.
Email us if you're interested in helping us build support for this campaign.
For more information about why this is an emergency, and what a climate emergency means, visit:
https://ecologyottawa.ca/ottawa-this-is-a-climate-emergency/
Latest posts
Ecology Ottawa welcomes Interim Executive Director, William van Geest
I write as Ecology Ottawa’s new Interim Executive Director. As Interim Executive Director, I look forward to leading our small but mighty organization in its impactful organizing, programming and community-building work.
First Draft of Ottawa’s New Zoning By-Law: Exciting changes ahead!
The first draft of the new Zoning By-Law was released last month and is open to public consultation. Given the importance of this document to the City’s shape and functioning, we will highlight the exciting ecological benefits this draft could bring.
Ecology Ottawa Voices Support for Tree-Planting Strategy
Pour le français, cliquez ici.
We delegated to City Council's Environment and Climate Change Committee at their June 18 meeting on the City's Tree-Planting Strategy. In short: it's great, but doesn't go far enough. Read our delegation here!