More City Grants for Climate Issues Say New West's Climate Action Hub

At the September 15th City Council meeting, which was held in Queensborough, there were two delegations from the New Westminster Climate Action Hub. The first presentation was by Sheryl Lewis and Aggie Black, who told council about their very successful Sustainable Homes Info Sessions in the spring, which was in part funded by the city. The event was all about teaching residents about mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity – all important ways that people can reduce carbon emissions in an effort to fight climate change. The event featured 3 homes and a laneway home, and there were expert community members putting on sessions on a range of topics from the electrification of your home to creating biodiverse gardens that attract pollinators. Following there was a delegation by Karen Crosbie of the same organization who asked the Council to consider more grants for climate action projects. She pointed out that of all the community grants that city has given out, only .01 percentage were for projects related to climate action, despite the city having adopted 7 strong pillars of action to reduce carbon emissions and to mitigate the heating of the planet through a wide variety of means. Council seemed amenable to find a pocket of funding for grants for that purpose.