New Westminster is hoping to recoup some of the costs of putting together a climate change adaptation and resilience plan.
At a Dec. 9 workshop, council unanimously supported a staff recommendation to submit an application to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Local Leadership for Climate Adaptation Initiative to support developing a climate change adaptation and resilience plan.
“I’m really appreciating seeing this coming forward. It's an important issue. It's an important step in our climate work,” said Coun. Jaimie McEvoy. “And although I would do it anyway, it's always nice to see if funding can come from somewhere else.”
New Westminster will apply for funding through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Fund, which has a new Local Leadership for Climate Adaptation initiative to support municipalities that are developing climate ready plans and processes.
According to a staff report, the last decade has been the hottest on record, being 1.18 degrees Celsius hotter than the 20th century average, demonstrating the urgent need for climate action including adapting to current and future climate impacts due to historical and continued greenhouse gas emissions.
“British Columbia continues to face unprecedented climate events such as the 2021 heat dome, which claimed 619 lives, and flooding during atmospheric river events, which disproportionately affect vulnerable populations in New Westminster,” said the report.
The city’s climate action team has been preparing for the development of a climate change adaptation and resilience plan (CCARP), which will define New Westminster’s path towards adapting, preparing for, and building resilience for current and future climate impacts throughout the city’s corporate operations and the community for the next 25 years, said the report.
“The CCARP intends to be a living document to account for uncertainty in climate projections and local climate impacts, and staff plan to report out annually on the outcomes of the CCARP once implemented,” said the report. “Recognizing that the city operates an electrical utility, the project will consider the roles of both municipal service and energy provider in community resilience.”
Having already drafted the scope of work and a request for proposals for a consultant to help develop the plan, the city expects to formally kick of the plan’s development process in early 2025. It expects to complete the plan in the second quarter of 2026.
“Through the 2024 budget, $100,000 was approved to support development of the climate change adaptation and resilience plan,” said a staff report. “Due to limited staff resources in 2024, while the climate action team was in a recruitment phase, the full 2024 allocated budget will be carried forward to 2025.”
According to the report, if the city’s grant to the FCM is approved, any funding received would help offset funds being allocated to this project from the city’s reserves.
Coun. Daniel Fontaine sought clarity about the budget for this process and the amount of money the city could potentially receive through the FCM grant program.
Laura Sampliner, the city’s manager of climate action, said an approved budget of $100,000 is in place to support the plan development. She said grant funds would be put toward any consultants’ services and communication/engagement costs within that $100,000 budget.
“We're looking to recoup some of that funding through this grant application,” she told council.
Leya Behra, deputy director of climate action, said the grant can only be applied to a certain percentage of the city’s total cost.
“So, if the whole plan costs $100,000, then our grant will not be $100,000,” she said. “There's a calculation.”
According to staff, the City of New Westminster would be eligible for up to 80 per cent of eligible expenses, up to a maximum of $105,000, based on the city’s population size.
