WHEREAS the scientific consensus is clear that human activities are primarily responsible for accelerating global climate change, and that the climate crisis now represents one of the preeminent threats to global civilization;
AND WHEREAS the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report in 2021, Code Red for Humanity, confirmed that without radical reductions in carbon emissions this decade, temperature rises above 1.5 degrees Celsius would be inevitable and irreversible;
AND WHEREAS changes in the City of Port Moody’s climate are already being felt, including the heat dome this past summer, such as hotter/drier summers, increased exposure to wildfire smoke, warmer/wetter winters, and more than a billion sea shore animals perishing with shoreline temperatures surpassing 50 degrees Celsius;
AND WHEREAS our entire community is impacted by the health and safety risks of fossil fuel expansion, particularly those who also face socioeconomic and health inequities, including low-income families, those experiencing homelessness, People of Colour and Indigenous people, youth, seniors, those experiencing mental and physical disabilities, and people with health conditions;
AND WHEREAS our youth and future generations have the most to lose from a lack of immediate action to stop fossil fuel expansion as they face major and lifelong health, ecological, social, and economic impacts from prolonged and cumulative effects of climate change, including food and water shortages, infectious diseases, and natural disasters;
AND WHEREAS global governments and the fossil fuel industry are currently planning to produce about 120% more emissions by 2030 than what is needed to limit warming to 1.5°C and avert catastrophic climate disruption, and such plans risk undoing the work of our city to reduce GHG emissions;
AND WHEREAS the fossil fuel industry is currently claiming over 50% of COVID recovery funding from senior levels of government in the G20, thereby siphoning away recovery funding badly needed by cities and other industries;
AND WHEREAS the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure and expanded reliance on fossil fuels exposes communities to untenable risks to public health and safety at the local and global levels;
AND WHEREAS the economic opportunities presented by a clean energy transition far outweigh the opportunities presented by an economy supported by expanding fossil fuel use and extraction;
AND WHEREAS community is committed, as part of our climate emergency response, to a just energy transition and to ambitious investments in the green infrastructure and industries that will create jobs and rapidly decarbonize our economy;
AND WHEREAS the City of Port Moody recognizes that it is the urgent responsibility and moral obligation of wealthy fossil fuel producers to lead in putting an end to fossil fuel development and to manage the decline of existing production;
AND WHEREAS a new global initiative is underway calling for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty that would end new fossil fuel exploration and expansion, phase out existing production in line with the global commitment to limit warming to 1.5°C, and accelerate equitable transition plans;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the City of Port Moody formally endorses the call for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty;
AND THAT that the City of Port Moody affirms its ongoing commitment to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and the GHG reduction targets as called for by the IPCC, and pledges to meet its proportionate greenhouse gas reductions under the Paris Climate Agreement;
AND THAT the following resolution be forwarded to the 2022 UBCM and FCM meetings as recommended in the report dated January 26, 2022 from the Offices of Councillors Amy Lubik and Meghan Lahti regarding Requesting Port Moody Endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty:
WHEREAS, global governments and the fossil fuel industry are currently planning to produce about 120% more emissions by 2030 than what is needed to limit warming to 1.5°C and avert catastrophic climate disruption, and such plans risk undoing the work of our city to reduce GHG emissions, and ignore the health, justice, and economic that a Just Transition would bring to all communities, especially those where fossil fuel extraction is entrenched;
AND WHEREAS, the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure and expanded reliance on fossil fuels exposes communities to untenable risks to public health and safety at the local and global levels, including the health and safety risks of fossil fuel expansion, particularly those who also face socioeconomic and health inequities, including low-income families, those experiencing homelessness, People of Colour and Indigenous people, youth, seniors, those experiencing mental and physical disabilities, and people with health conditions;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT UBCM/FCM call on BC/Canada pledge to support a binding Fossil Fuel Non-proliferation Treaty based on climate justice including
1) Ending all new exploration and production of coal, oil, and gas,
2) Phasing out existing production of fossil fuels, and
3) pledging to work with other intra and international governments to accelerated a Just Transition.