B.C.’s Environment, Finance and Municipal Affairs ministers announced funding today to help municipal governments and treaty First Nations with local climate change mitigation and adaptation planning.
Today’s announcement was largely a recap of what was already announced in last week’s week provincial budget for CleanBC and for climate change adaptation.
Budget 2022 earmarks $1 billion in new funding for CleanBC, $651 million of which is in three main areas:
- cleaner transportation;
- building energy efficiency; and
- decarbonisation of industry
Today, the government announced $76 million over three years for local government climate change related planning for mitigation and adaptation.
Municipal Affairs Minister Nathan Cullen said the $76 million in funding is intended to give local governments and treaty First Nations flexibility in their planning.
In addition to direct funding for various programs through CleanBC, last week’s budget also included tax incentives to encourage adoption of clean transportation and home heating, including the removal of the PST for used electric vehicles purchases and for electric heat pumps.
The wildfires, heat waves and floods of last year have underscored the need not just for mitigation – i.e. reducing greenhouse gases – but also for more climate change adaptation planning and funding.
Environment Minister George Heyman said Monday that last year’s budget included $83 million in funding for phase one of a climate change preparedness and adaptation strategy. Budget 2022 also includes $65 million in capital funding over three years for improvements to roads, bridges and culverts.
“We are very, very close to announcing the implementation of a range of measures from phase two of that program, whether it is flood plain mapping, whether it is support for communities and the province to do climate monitoring and modelling,” Heyman said.
One adaptation measure in last week’s budget was an initiative to make the BC Wildfire Service a year-round operation – a move aimed at better prevention and preparedness.
