OPINION PIECE: “We are at a moment of truth. Local governments are implementers. This means they can be change leaders. We can make where we live better,” wrote Tim Pringle, Chair, Ecological Accounting Process (EAP) Initiative (Vancouver Sun, September 2018)
Note to Reader:
On Tuesday, September 25th 2018, the Vancouver Sun newspaper published an op-ed article by Kim Stephens and Tim Pringle of the Partnership for Water Sustainability in British Columbia, written in collaboration with Bob Sandford, who represents the United Nations. The article is reproduced below.
Restorative Development: Hydrology is the Engine that Powers Ecological Services
2018 is a teachable year. This past summer, if you wanted to know what climate change will mean to your future, all you had to do was be outside to see what is to come. The entire Northern Hemisphere was impacted by extreme weather – drought, forest fires or flooding.
BC Can Lead By Example
But it is not the end of the world; just the beginning of another. B.C. is one of the last places on the planet where it is still possible to transcend the climate debate and create a better world. B.C. has enough remaining natural capital to protect and restore its way back to true sustainability.
We cannot restore lost biodiversity but we can halt its decline and consciously direct evolution toward a richer future. We can make where we live better. We can be an example for the world to follow.
Getting it right starts with recognition that hydrology is the engine that powers ecological services.
We can make sustainable attainable if we work together. Restore. Restore. Restore. Let that be our imperative.
To Learn More:
To read the entire Op-Ed, click on Opinion: Province must halt the decline of its biodiversity – Kim Stephens, Bob Sandford and Tim Pringle urge change to download a PDF copy of the online version.