REQUEST FOR DECISION
DATE: April 18, 2018 Report No. DEV-18-025
TO: Laurie Hurst, Chief Administrative Officer
FROM: Bill Brown, Director of Development Services
SUBJECT:
Title
Invitation from the Manager of the British Columbia Office of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) to participate in the “Together for Climate” program (Schedule “A”).
End
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
That Council authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to sign the “Letter of Support for the Together for Climate Project” (Schedule “B”) and then forward it to the Manager of the British Columbia office of ICLEI Canada.
Body
RELEVANT POLICY:
Climate Action Charter (The Township of Esquimalt is a signatory)
Official Community Plan Bylaw, 2006, No. 2646
STRATEGIC RELEVANCE:
This initiative is not directly related to any of Council’s strategic priorities.
BACKGROUND:
The Township of Esquimalt is one of eight Vancouver Island municipalities that has been invited by the ICLEI to participate in the Together for Climate Program. Saanich and Colwood have already accepted invitations to participate. The City of Victoria is already participating in a very similar project. Funding for the program will come from the Real Estate Foundation of BC. At this time the ICLEI has passed an initial screening by the Real Estate Foundation of BC for funding. It now needs eight municipalities to sign on in order to secure the funding. No funding will be required from the Township. Its only obligation is to participate fully in the program and commit 15 days of staff time over a two-year period and to provide occasional meeting space for workshops. Staff feel that the benefits listed in Schedule “A” are significant and could not be obtained with 15 days of staff time if the Township undertook this work itself. There are significant synergies available through participating in this program. The ICLEI is an internationally recognized organization that would allow the Township to access significant resources to help it develop a local climate impact report. As outlined in Schedule “A”, “This innovative project will create lasting change in participant communities by creating and strengthening collaboration within and between municipalities, thus enabling broader regional collaboration in the future”. This is consistent with recent trends toward increasing inter-municipal collaboration.
To date the Township has done little adaptation planning to respond to climate change. This program represents an excellent opportunity to work with an internationally recognized organization and with community stakeholders, our neighbouring municipalities, and regional stakeholders to develop a collaborative response to climate change adaptation.
ISSUES:
1. Rationale for Selected Option: This is a unique opportunity to leverage the cumulative wisdom and knowledge of a regional network in a cooperative planning process. Such an opportunity is far beyond the capacity of the Township if it was to try to accomplish the same outcomes by itself.
2. Organizational Implications: Participation requires a minimum of 15 hours of staff time over a two-year period. This can easily be accommodated within the department using existing resources.
3. Financial Implications: There are no financial implications beyond staff time. In fact, the economic value of participating in this program are likely in the Township’s favor.
4. Sustainability & Environmental Implications: This program is focused on building capacity within the Township to address issues that arise related to adapting to climate change.
5. Communication & Engagement: The program involves engaging local stakeholders which will be done through a community engagement process.
ALTERNATIVES:
1 That Council authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to sign the “Letter of Support for the Together for Climate Project” (Schedule “B”) and then forward it to the Manager of the British Columbia office of ICLEI Canada.
2 That Council instruct the Director of Development Services to inform ICLEI that the Township is not interested in participating in the program.