39 groups call upon our new Chief Resilience Officer, Elliott Cappell, to host an updated expert panel on climate
39 groups call upon our new Chief Resilience Officer, Elliott Cappell, to host an updated expert panel on climate
On Janurary 22, 2008, the Parks and Environment Committee of the City of Toronto hosted a Special Meeting, open to all, at which an expert panel on climate change adaptation presented critical information. That expert panel proved to be pivotal as it not only boosted public and Council’s understanding of the impact of climate destabilization, but it raised support for climate adaptation.
The presentation by Mark Yakabuski, then head of the IBC, was particularly powerful, impressing upon all that no longer could we look to historic patterns of weather/climate to inform decisions on infrastructure, and that failure to incorporate climate projections in such planning could even result in uninsurability. He spoke of the rains of August 19, 2005, and their financial toll - $500 million in insured losses. (And how much in uninsured?) He reminded us that things could have been much worse that day, as Environment Canada had also warned of the possibility of a tornado hitting Toronto. (The risk posed by tornadoes is self-evident.)
Subsequently the City commissioned Toronto’s Future Weather and Climate Drivers Study.
It’s time to hold an updated expert panel, on climate risk. This call has been endorsed by 39 groups to date:
ACER, Association for Canadian Educational Resources (Alice Casselman)
BCS, Bangladeshi-Canadian Community Services (Nasima Akter, ED)
Alliance for a Just TO (Jody Chan)
CAPE (Kim Perrotta, E.D.)
CCL Toronto Chapter (Liz Rice, Cathy Lacroix)
CCL Canada (Cathy Orlando)
CLARION (Marjorie Brans)
Climate Action Now (Patricia Warwick)
CLIMATE CHANGE Toronto (Betty Muir)
ClimateFast (Rosemary Boissoneau)
Coolearth (Sheena Sharp)
CREW (Co-Founders: Rita Bijons, Sheila Murray)
David Suzuki Foundation (Gideon Forman)
Environmental Defence (Keith Brooks)
Faith and the Common Good (Lucy Cummings, Donna Lang)
For Our Grandchildren (Guy Hanchet, Chair; Peter Jones)
Green Awakening Network (Ron Ewart)
Green 13 (Co-Chairs: Rita Bijons, Paul Mero)
Green 14 (Chris Winter)
Green 19 (Kathryn Tait)
Green East (Matt Kellway)
Green Neighbours 20 (Ann Russell)
Green Neighbours 21 (Lee Adamson)
Green Majority (Saryn Caister)
Greenpeace Canada (Alex Speers Roesch )
Greenspiration (Angela Bischoff)
Just Earth (Lynn McDonald)
LEAF, Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests (Janet McKay)
League of Intrapreneurs (Marjorie Brans)
Noor Cultural Centre (Samira Kanji, President and CEO)
Our Horizon (Rob Shirkey)
People’s Climate Movement (Emmay Mah)
Project Neutral (Katie Harper)
School for Social Entrepreneurs (Marjorie Brans)
Stop Line 9 Toronto (Gerry Dunn, Facilitator)
Toronto 350 (Amelia Rose Khan, President)
Toronto Environmental Alliance (Dusha Sritharan)
Toronto Youth Environment Council (Julia Zhang)
Transition Toronto (Andrew James Knox)