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John Hogan had to leave a fragment of his history when Wildfire Arrived.
They are inlaid in a series of baskets belonging to him and his mother, the Nlaka’pamux people and members of Lytton First Nation, a community spanning 56 protected areas, close to the powerful British Columbia The confluence of the Reze River and the Thompson River.
Before the flames burned his home in late June, Hogan did not have enough time to catch them.
“You will never see them anymore, because the straw craftsmen who created them have disappeared,” said Hogan, the deputy chief of the Litton First Nations. “It’s like your past heritage, others will put it in a museum-but these are all part of a strong family collection and deep family knowledge.”
The mountainous area around Lytton is less than 300 kilometers from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada’s westernmost province, and has become a symbol of the climate crisis this summer because it broke the national high temperature record this summer.
Litton’s temperature Climbs to 49.6 C On June 29, the deadly thermal dome—a weather system that captures and compresses warm air, causing temperatures to rise—expanded to the western United States and Canada.
Houses and businesses were engulfed by violent wildfires, and Litton Village, with a population of 250, was completely destroyed.
“This is incredibly thought-provoking,” said David Miller, the former mayor of Toronto, who is now the managing director of international diplomacy for C40 Cities, a climate leadership organization made up of 97 cities around the world.
“It is tragic and terrible to see that small town disappear. What will happen after Lytton? The latest International Panel on Climate Change report This means that we must take action in the next few years to halve emissions by 2030, otherwise we will not be able to prevent this. “
Popular campaign questions
This message seems to have been conveyed to Canadian political leaders, who are now in pain. Federal election campaign Among them, climate change policy is an important part.
All major political parties have announced plans for how Canada will fulfill its obligations under the Paris Agreement’s international treaty, which aims to keep the global temperature rise this century within 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Nearly one in five Canadians said that climate change is the most important issue that determines their vote on September 20, according to the recent Angus Reed Institute polling.
“There is no doubt that for Canadians, addressing climate change is more important than during the last election,” Miller told Al Jazeera. “The urgency of taking action is incredible, and people are looking forward to taking action.”
A wildfire ravaged Litton Village, British Columbia, forcing residents to evacuate this summer [Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters]But for Ken Wu, executive director of the Vancouver-based Alliance for Endangered Ecosystems, all parties have not said enough.
“We know that due to COVID, it is possible to completely change most parts of society and all the things that need to be done to deal with climate change,” said Wu, who has been deeply involved in the struggle to protect the virgin forests of British Columbia.
“This means stricter targets so that we can stay within the 1.5 degree limit, as well as stronger carbon pricing, and stronger nature protection,” he told Al Jazeera.
Party’s promise
As election polls show Dead heat Between the ruling Liberal Party headed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Conservative Party headed by Prime Minister Irene O’Toole, The country’s stakes cannot be higher.
As The fourth largest oil producer Worldwide, Canada’s climate is warming Twice the speed Global average.Although the Liberal government has signed increasingly aggressive greenhouse gas reduction agreements, the country’s emissions continue to increase, making it a Worst record Between G7 countries.
Environmentalists have long called on the government to stop expanding fossil fuel production and Kill any new items Seek federal approval. But as a country with abundant natural resources and an economy based on its exploitation, efforts to limit the fossil fuel industry have encountered resistance, especially in communities that rely on such projects for employment and income.
The Trudeau government also purchase Although the Trans-Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project strongly oppose Opinions from environmentalists and some aboriginal communities along the route believe that the income generated by the pipeline is needed to fund Canada’s green transformation.
“We will set a cap on oil sands and oil and gas emissions and reduce them to net zero,” Trudeau said in a heated exchange during a recent leadership debate, insisting that the country is expected to exceed its targets .
His plan calls for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% to 45% by 2030 from 2005 levels. He also plans to increase carbon prices and eliminate fossil fuel subsidies by 2023.
The left-leaning New Democratic Party says the Liberal Party is not radical enough.They also promised to end fossil fuel subsidies possible By 2030, reduce emissions to less than 50% of 2005 levels. The Green Party is far ahead in the polls, want to Reached 60% within the same time period, and promised to cancel all new pipeline projects.
For its part, the Conservative Party put forward carbon prices for the first time after years of fighting carbon prices. But the party’s refusal to officially declare that climate change is real earlier this year has weakened its credibility. O’Toole also only promised to achieve the original Paris target by 2030, which is to reduce emissions by 30% by 2005, which is lower than the target agreed by Canada thereafter.
“Bolder” action
For Miller, some solutions already exist—in Canadian cities that have made the necessary commitments to halve their emissions by 2030.He pointed to Vancouver, where the world’s leading building codes require net zero emissions by that year, or to the United States, where the federal fleet is located. Electrification.
He said that the Liberal Party platform is “the best thing [party in] The government has spoken in Canada on climate issues, but if we are not bolder, we will not be able to achieve the goals we need. “
Esmé Decker, a 19-year-old University of British Columbia student and climate activist, is also looking for bold action.
She is working hard to win the youth vote in this election and firmly believes that young voters have the potential to shape environmental policies. She witnessed it firsthand at a climate change storytelling workshop led by a high school near Vancouver, where students talked about the feeling of growing up with climate change.
Decker said: “My message to these leaders is, please do your best to mitigate the climate crisis.” “We have the money and we have the resources to implement these solutions, so we just need to agree on what we will do. Be consistent and make sure it happens.”
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