I’ll admit it. I grew up in the 1980s. The decade with not only big and bold fashion statements but also the decade we began learning about the damages humans were causing to our environment.
I remember my mom buying our first blue bin, teaching us how to recycle and explaining why it was important. But in those days, it seemed like climate change was a distant threat. It was something that maybe would happen one day in the far distant future.
It turns out that “day” wasn’t so far in the distant future after all. It’s here. We now know that the climate crisis is real and that despite our best efforts, humans have caused more damage this past decade than at any other point in history.
We also know that the climate crisis is not something we inherited from another generation. It is ours and ours alone. The time has come that we pull together and take credible action before the world finds itself in yet another preventable crisis.
In 2021, we learned more than any other year that when the world confronts a major challenge, people and many resources can come together to support the common good. The climate crisis is indeed a real threat, and it affects everything.
From the fires in BC to Hurricane Ida in the US, to the major floods we saw in countries such as Germany and France, extreme weather events linked to climate change brought food and water insecurity, economic uncertainty, conflict and misery to so many.
In Oakville, the climate crisis has also taken its toll, contributing to shoreline erosion and flooding of our parks and trails, increased water pollution in our waters and lake and increased invasive species in our local forests.
We need governments at all levels to take the threat of climate change seriously and tackle these challenges head-on.
In 2019, the Town of Oakville declared a climate emergency and has been actively implementing climate change policies in our community. The federal government has also taken many positive steps to mitigate climate change and has recently committed to conserve and protect 25% of our land and oceans by 2025 and 30% by 2030.
In Ontario, however, we seem to have weakened many of the protections in place that help protect our environment. In just three short years, we have seen an end to cap and trade, an acceleration of efforts to build two highways through farmlands and the Greenbelt, and fought against the carbon tax.
The province has also failed to abide by the Environmental Bill of Rights, which requires the government to be transparent about environmental changes, slashed funding for Indigenous conservation efforts, eliminated the office of the Environmental Commissioner, and weakened protections for endangered species, to name a few.
We can, and we must do better, and we owe it to our children and grandchildren to take credible action at all levels before it is too late.
So what can we do?
Firstly, as individuals, we need to take climate change seriously and understand that this is a fight we can win. However, this will require fundamental transformations in all aspects of society, including growing food, using land, transporting goods, and powering our economies. Small steps at the individual level can make a difference, but we will all benefit from taking on these challenges together.
Secondly, we need to keep up with technologies that will reduce carbon emissions and create a cleaner environment. In the meantime, we can also promote nature-based solutions as we shift to a decarbonized society.
This includes conserving our existing wetlands, land restoration, and protecting our natural environment as much as possible. In our region, this means supporting the capacity of local land trusts such as Conservation Halton to procure and steward properties for wildlife habitat, nature conservation, wetland restoration, and recreation. It also includes smart growth within our community to protect farmlands and our local natural environment.
Lastly, we must recognize that governments play a significant role in the fight against climate change. That means we must elect governments at all levels who are prepared to take bold and concrete action on the climate crisis, not because it is the popular thing to do, but because it is the right thing to do. In Ontario, we have an opportunity to do just that in June.
