New Year… New (and not so new) Climate Challenges

Happy New Year! I hope the holiday season gave you an opportunity for rest, reflection, self-care and celebration in whatever way was meaningful for you and your family. For me personally, time outdoors on our beautiful island provided a much-needed respite from the heaviness of 2024 — and a temporary avoidance of thinking about what lies ahead in the coming year.

Well, 2025 is here and the effects of climate change are raging. At this moment, all eyes, including this dad's, are on Los Angeles. My daughter, a UBC Environment and Sustainability student currently studying in L.A., had to flee the smoke and ash of a burning city in favour of online classes in the cleaner air of the desert. This has obviously made her mom and me more than a little anxious.

Sadly, but realistically, this will not be the only climate disaster we follow this year — and to whose victims we send ‘thoughts and prayers’. But much more than sentiment is needed. We're witnessing the cost of inaction continually play out before us; this year must be a pivotal year for climate action.

Next week a new administration moves into the White House and in the coming months Canadians will elect a new leader. Here in B.C. our newly re-elected NDP premiere just issued his mandate letter to Adrian Dix, Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions and Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs. In it, Eby refers to tackling "the challenges people worry about at the kitchen table".

Sierra Club B.C. issued their spot-on response on Thursday; here's part of it: “The kitchen table issues this government is focused on cannot be addressed without maintaining the natural life support systems that sustain all communities. Intact watersheds and forest ecosystems help stabilize the climate and reduce flooding and wildfires – the unnatural disasters that have devastated B.C. communities time and again."

I don't know about you, but climate change is regularly the topic at my kitchen table. And while climate action "remains foundational" for the B.C. government, clearly, we need to see a greater sense of urgency. With our next Climate Solutions Café and AGM coming up, I look forward to opportunities to get together and figure out our most effective actions as a community.