VANCOUVER, B.C. – On Tuesday, November 26, 2019, City Councillor Adriane Carr will introduce a motion asking staff to report back on options and timelines for the City of Vancouver to fully divest from fossil fuels. Carr also wants to see the city work with B.C.’s Municipal Finance Authority to create a fossil-free Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) fund for Vancouver and other B.C. municipalities to invest in.
Carr’s motion further asks that the Mayor, on behalf of the City, sign the Global Green New Deal pledge signed by other C40 Mayors in October 2019, which includes an “urgent, fundamental and irreversible transfer of global resources away from fossil fuels and into action that averts the climate emergency.” C40 is a Climate Leadership Group comprised of 94 cities around the world committed to addressing climate change; Adriane Carr serves as Vancouver’s C40 Women4Climate representative.
“We are in a climate emergency and we are running out of time,” says Carr. “We need to divest from fossil fuels, as quickly as possible to avert both financial and climate catastrophes. It’s the only responsible path forward for our financial interests, our planet, and future generations.
“My motion aims to hasten the city’s transition to green and renewable energy investments, enable other municipalities to do the same, and encourage the province to follow suit. I am also asking that the Vancouver Economic Commission work with local businesses to provide resources and guidelines for more sustainable decision making in the private sector.
“Even from a strictly financial point of view, it defies logic for us to continue to invest in industries whose products and practices are contributing to climate change and as a result, costing governments and citizens vast amounts of money. The city is expected to spend $1 billion this century just to mitigate rising sea levels. As more and more studies prove that we need to get off fossil fuels in order to maintain a livable planet, the investment risk related to fossil fuel ‘stranded assets’ grows.
“While the financial motivation is there, for me this is a moral imperative. We only have a decade left to avert the most catastrophic effects of the climate crisis. For our children and grandchildren’s sake, the least we can do is stop investing in our own destruction.”
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More Information:
Motion: City of Vancouver Responsible Divestment From Fossil Fuels
