Gibsons council may soon join the ranks of B.C. local governments that have sent “climate accountability” letters to major fossil-fuel producers, but they aren’t prepared to take that step just yet.
Councillors heard Nov. 19 from a delegation that included representatives of West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL) who asked them to consider drafting a letter, which would ask the 20 largest fossil-fuel companies to pay compensation for any costs the Town might face in preparing for, or mitigating the impact of climate change.
Gibsons resident Sarah Daigneault led the delegation and said they were there to “start a conversation on the possibility of recovering climate costs.”
The group also wants the Town’s support in efforts to lobby the provincial government to enact what WCEL calls “climate liability” legislation.
“To ask for this legislation is not to launch a legal action,” Gordon Cornwall of WCEL said. “The legislation would merely strengthen your hand if you ever did file a suit.”
On the Sunshine Coast, Sechelt council authorized an accountability letter in 2018. It says, in part, “As we move forward with preparing our community and infrastructure for climate change, we will be incurring additional costs as a result of the increased severity of climate change... Communities will expect you to pay your fair share of the costs associated with preparing for climate change.”
Squamish and West Vancouver have also sent letters.
“This is a big movement, I think it has a great chance to go a long way and I really hope council supports it,” Coun. Annemarie De Andrade said.
Mayor Bill Beamish told the delegation that climate change is a high priority for the council and as they work to finalize the strategic plan they’ll consider the WCEL request.
Coun. Stafford Lumley, who prefaced his remarks by saying he felt a bit guilty about driving a V8-engined vehicle, asked, “How do you draw the line from a legal perspective… The fossil-fuel companies are producing the fuel, but then the public’s willingly accepting and paying for the fuel. Am I not to blame as much as the fossil-fuel companies and will I eventually get sued?”
Lawyer Dustin Klaudt, who was also part of the delegation, likened the WCEL campaign to the lawsuits already filed by some governments against tobacco companies and manufacturers of addictive opioids.
“Courts are willing to intervene when there has been a product that has been sold that has particular dangers and particular risks, particularly in a situation where there was some element of deception of the withholding of information, ” he said.
