Courtenay Participating in Project to Address Climate Change and Extreme Weather

The City of Courtenay has been selected to participate in an Island-wide collaborative project that will provide communities with information on how climate change could affect quality of life, and make a plan that will reduce these risks.

The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) Canada’s Together for Climate project was awarded two years’ funding from the Real Estate Foundation of BC, and will run from fall 2018 to summer 2020. The funding will support a group of eight local and regional governments on Vancouver Island to develop climate change adaptation strategies through an established framework over the coming two years.

It is expected that climate change will increase the severity and frequency of storms, resulting in increased storm water run-off. The City of Courtenay, through consultation with technical staff from local stakeholder groups in a series of four workshops, will focus on identifying the areas of main concern, analysing the impacts of increased storm water run-off, and determining mitigative and adaptive practices to address these issues.    

“Climate change is a global concern, and we want to investigate collective, multi-jurisdictional strategies that will help Courtenay adapt,” said Ryan O’Grady, Director of Engineering Services for the City of Courtenay. “The ICLEI Together for Climate project also complements efforts that are underway in Courtenay examining our municipal natural asset management, as well as the upcoming development of our integrated storm water management plan. The lessons we learn through these initiatives will help inform future storm water practices in our city, as well as other coastal communities. We’re grateful for the opportunity to participate.”

ICLEI Canada is a non-profit organization that specializes in supporting municipalities with climate change planning efforts. ICLEI has offices in Toronto and Montreal, and in February 2018 opened an office hosted by the City of Victoria. Through this new office, ICLEI will provide project partners with one-on-one technical and advisory services, as well as assistance with planning, logistics, and delivery of stakeholder engagement activities. ICLEI will also facilitate networking and knowledge sharing opportunities with other participating local governments.

For further information about ICLEI Canada visit www.icleicanada.org .