Whereas coastal communities in BC are experiencing the detrimental effects of climate change, including rising sea levels, adverse weather events, and eroding shorelines: Therefore be it resolved that the UBCM urge the BC government to dedicate more resources toward mitigating the impacts of climate change and shoreline erosion in coastal communities.
Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship The Province works closely with local governments, First Nations and other partners to tackle extreme weather, adapt to climate change, and build stronger, more resilient communities. Since 2017, the Province has provided approximately 400 million for more than 2,150 disaster-mitigation projects through the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness funding programs. Approximately half of the funding has gone to communities since December 2022, demonstrating the Provinces commitment to ramping up defenses against climate emergencies in BC. The Disaster Resilience and Innovation Funding DRIF program, announced in 2024, supports First Nation and local government projects that help communities address their climate-risk needs. The fund provided approximately 15 million in its first year and 25 million in its second year. Eligible hazards include drought and water scarcity, extreme temperature, floods, sea-level rise and erosion. Erosion rates are greatly accelerated during large floods, and the new BC Flood Strategy will build flood preparation throughout the province. Actions include completion of a province-wide flood risk assessment that will include evaluations of the need for additional flood protection infrastructure. In addition, updated nature-based flood infrastructure guidelines will inform decision-making on nature-based solutions and nature-based infrastructure and bring in decision support tools for assessing site level vulnerabilities and risks related to climate change including sea level rise. The BC Coastal Marine Strategy, approved in 2024, contains commitments to expand our collective understanding of climate risks to coastal communities, identify and help to address the disparities between coastal communities in their capacity to respond to sea level rise and other climate risks, and improve access to nature-based solutions to climate change. The Province will continue to explore funding opportunities for local governments and communities, including opportunities to leverage federal government programs to improve climate change resilience in BC.