B.C. election campaigns must include focus on green and just recovery, addressing climate and biodiversity crises

VANCOUVER — The David Suzuki Foundation urges all parties in the newly announced B.C. election to acknowledge that pandemic recovery must also tackle the climate and biodiversity crises, and create green and just jobs.

“As British Columbians prepare to go to the polls next month, it’s critical that every party is explicit about how it plans to address the climate emergency and the ongoing loss of nature we’re seeing in our province,” David Suzuki Foundation director general for Western Canada Jay Ritchlin said. “The twin climate and biodiversity crises were in full swing before the pandemic. While responding to COVID-19 is critical, we cannot afford to miss this opportunity to invest in more resilient nature and communities.

“Voters care about how parties will address energy, transportation, forestry, mining, salmon farming and endangered species like southern resident killer whales. Policies aimed at those issues are integral to any true recovery.”

In B.C., elsewhere in Canada and worldwide, people are demanding that responses to the COVID-19 health crisis also address the concurrent biodiversity and climate crises. An Abacus Data poll found 54 per cent of respondents support bold new action to fight climate change. Seventy per cent of respondents to a Pollara Strategic Insights for the International Boreal Conservation Campaign poll want nature conservation to be part of economic recovery.

“Human health and well-being are inextricably linked to environmental health,” Ritchlin said. “Recently, we’ve seen devastating forest fires and associated air quality impacts, multiple cyclones forming in the Atlantic region and the collapse of major ice shelves in the North. These are clear indications that we don’t have time to spare. We must transform our economies, institutions and lives.

“This election, we expect people to vote for candidates who demonstrate that they’ll take bold leadership and set us on a path to a sustainable, equitable and healthy future.”

Since April, more than 40,000 David Suzuki Foundation supporters have sent messages to the federal government calling for a green and just recovery from COVID-19.

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For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Olga Shuvalova, David Suzuki Foundation, oshuvalova@davidsuzuki.org, 604-732-4228 ext. 1266 | 514-569-6496