July 28, 2023
Government Must Act Now to Protect New Brunswickers from Climate Change
FREDERICTON – This week climate change-driven disasters have struck around the world and close to home, including wildfires in Europe and flash flooding in Nova Scotia. These events have Green Party Leader and MLA for Fredericton South David Coon calling on the Higgs government to treat its responsibility for protecting New Brunswickers from impacts of climate change with a sense of urgency.
“The climate is becoming unhinged here and worldwide, and consecutive governments have just been wasting time,” said Coon. “What we have seen this week shows us that immediate action is needed to keep New Brunswickers safe and secure in the face of floods, fires, and hurricanes.”
According to the Climate Action Plan, the Higgs government doesn’t intend to identify those communities and areas at greatest risk until 2025, with no action plan to safeguard them until 2026. Municipalities have until 2030 to adopt local action plans to secure the safety of their residents and the infrastructure that serves them.
“Premier Higgs needs to stop treating climate change as if it is a problem to be managed later,” added Coon. “To prepare and protect New Brunswickers against the worst effects of climate change, his government needs to act now and set its priorities for climate protection before the end of the year, and then immediately get to work acting on them.”
The month of July is set to become the hottest month on record in the world.
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