To help communities better prepare for climate-related emergencies and keep people safer, the Province is providing funding for nine community risk-reduction and climate-adaptation projects.
"From floods and wildfires, to avalanche and landslides, we're seeing first-hand the impacts that climate change continues to have on people and communities across B.C.," said Bowinn Ma, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness. "By supporting local governments and First Nations in getting better prepared for emergencies, people and communities across B.C. will be safer and more resilient in the event of an emergency."
Approximately $2.3 million through the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund (CEPF) has been committed to local governments and First Nations projects throughout B.C. under the Climate Risk Reduction-Climate Adaptation stream. The funds will help communities reduce risks from climate-related emergencies, such as floods and extreme heat. It also supports the Province's Climate Preparedness and Adaptation Strategy, which outlines a broad range of actions for 2022-25 to address climate impacts and build resilience throughout B.C.
"B.C. is helping prepare communities for the climate impacts that are already happening and will continue to happen," said George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Action Strategy. "These critical investments in response to climate change will improve our systems, behaviour and infrastructure to better prepare and protect our communities and natural environment from harmful impacts."
Funding may be used toward:
- risk mapping, risk assessments and planning (such as the development of a hazard map);
- land-use planning (amendments to relevant plans, bylaws or policies);
- purchasing equipment (such as monitoring equipment);
- delivering community education; and
- small-scale structural projects.
Funding will go toward projects throughout B.C., including:
- designing and implementing shoreline protection measures at Spanish Banks and Vanier Park in the Vancouver region, which will increase resilience to rising sea levels, extreme weather and wave events;
- planning and designing structural flood-mitigation measures on Bessette Creek in the Village of Lumby;
- developing a detailed engineering design for improvements to the Cache Creek Corridor and updating the official community plan to include flood plain mapping and creation of a flood plain bylaw in Cache Creek;
- installing a cooling system at the local recreation centre in the Village of Sayward to be used during extreme heat events; and
- climate change and hazard risk assessments looking at impacts that hazard events will have on people in the Nadleh Whut'en First Nation.
The CEPF is administered through the Union of BC Municipalities and supports projects that strengthen the resilience of local governments and First Nations in responding to and preparing for natural disasters and climate change.
In February 2023, the Province provided $180 million to CEPF, bringing the total provincial investment in the program to $369 million since its establishment in 2017. More than $118 million has been provided to local governments and First Nations through CEPF for nearly 1,500 projects that help communities mitigate and prepare for disasters and climate-related emergencies.
In response to the growing number of climate-related emergencies in B.C., the Province also launched ClimateReadyBC, which provides hazard and mapping tools, risk data and resources to help communities better prepare for disasters and climate emergencies. The next intake for the Climate Risk Reduction-Climate Adaptation stream is open until Oct. 6, 2023.
Learn More:
For more information about the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund, visit: https://www.ubcm.ca/cepf
For information about disaster- and climate-risk reduction, visit ClimateReadyBC: https://www.ClimateReadyBC.ca
Learn more about the Climate Preparedness and Adaptation Strategy here: http://www.gov.bc.ca/BC-Adapts
Backgrounders: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023EMCR0039-000990
