FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 22, 2022
VANCOUVER — ABC Vancouver announced today that during their first term in government, an ABC majority will commit to planting 100,000 trees to promote sustainability and address historic inequities.
“Historic bias in zoning practices have led to a heat distribution disparity of up to 20 degrees between Vancouver neighbourhoods,” said ABC Council candidate Mike Klassen “To begin addressing this inequity, ABC will plant 100,000 new trees over existing city targets during our first term in City Hall.”
Exclusionary zoning has had substantial negative consequences on marginalized communities across North America. ABC’s plan will promote equity and sustainability through natural climate solutions.
“It will take up to twenty years for adequate tree canopies to form and have an impact on heat in neighbourhoods, we need to act now,” continued Klassen. “During his term as Mayor, Gregor Robertson initiated a similar plan, ABC Vancouver would like to build upon that work.”
The ABC plan to plant 100,000 new trees in their first term of government will be one of the key pillars of ABC’s platform on sustainability. The plan is more ambitious than any tree planting policies being put forward by Mayor Stewart, the Vancouver Greens, or any other VDLC-endorsed party.
“100,000 new trees will ensure cooler, more enjoyable neighbourhoods and greater carbon sequestration in our city,” said ABC Council candidate Peter Meiszner. “As many existing trees in Vancouver are not being properly looked after, it’s critically important that we develop a plan to ensure all trees in our city receive adequate care.”
ABC supports exploring a wide variety of policy options to reduce Vancouver’s carbon footprint and make our city more sustainable.
“There are many opportunities for our city to promote climate resilience through other initiatives including depaving, greening roads and laneways, encouraging construction of green/white roofs, stream daylighting, and expanding greenway infrastructure,” concluded Meiszner. “Climate resilience and long-term sustainability must be central components of our city’s land use moving forward.”
ABC Vancouver has nominated nineteen candidates for the October 15th municipal elections; Ken Sim for Mayor; Lenny Zhou, Peter Meiszner, Brian Montague, Mike Klassen, and incumbent City Councillors Rebecca Bligh, Lisa Dominato, and Sarah Kirby-Yung for Council; Brennan Bastyovanszky, Laura Christensen, Angela Haer, Marie-Claire Howard, Scott Jensen, and Jas Virdi for Park Board; Alfred Chien, Preeti Fairdkot, Victoria Jung, Christopher Richardson, and Josh Zhang for School Board.
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Media Contact:
Taylor Verrall
604-968-3067 | taylor@abcvancouver.ca