Fwd: invitation to Dialogue on Nature, Climate and Communities
James Butler
From: ben west <weste...@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 2:53 PM
Subject: Fwd: invitation to Dialogue on Nature, Climate and Communities
To: Smart Growth BC - Livable Communities <livable-c...@lists.smartgrowth.bc.ca>, Landwatch Discussion <land...@lists.onenw.org>
Apologies for cross postings; please promote to your networks. Please note this event is free, but has limited space and requires RSVPs/reservations.
RE: Invitation to West Coast Environmental Law’s Dialogue for Legal Innovation Series: Law Reform for Nature, Climate and Communities
Climate change is a serious and immediate threat to BC’s ancient forests and our salmon, grizzly bears and other species. It’s estimated, for example, that a quarter of the world’s species could be lost by 2050 as a result of climate change if we don’t take action now. BC’s forests are also incredibly valuable carbon storehouses, with approximately 18 billion tonnes of natural carbon. Despite these realities, logging continues to be one of BC’s top greenhouse gas emission sources, and BC has barely begun to integrate its nature and climate strategies.
Please join us on Wednesday, February 16th, 2011, 6:30 – 9:30 pm at the Wosk Centre in downtown Vancouver for a timely exploration of how BC’s laws and policies about land use should evolve in light of climate change.
Many of our resource and land-use management laws pre-date the era when climate change was recognized as a problem. What does this mean for nature, and for communities? Looking forward, what vision should we be enabling with our laws and policies? What are the opportunities?
Join our panel of invited guests, representing a broad spectrum of society, including representatives from First Nations, industry, government, and the scientific and environmental communities, to hear insightful perspectives and discover examples of innovation. The evening will begin with introductory presentations from Dr. Richard Hebda, of the Royal BC Museum, Deborah Good, of the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs Office, and Deborah Carlson of West Coast Environmental Law and will then proceed to a facilitated discussion amongst panel members.
There will be a closing question and answer session for audience members.
Moderator:
Jessica Clogg, Executive Director and Senior Counsel, West Coast Environmental Law
Invited Guest:
The Honourable Pat Bell, Minister of Forests, Mines and Lands
Dialogue Participants:
- Dr. Richard Hebda, Curator, Botany and Earth History, Royal BC Museum
- Deborah Good, Chief Siidok, Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs’ Office
- Dr. Bill Bourgeois, RPF, President, New Direction Resource Management Ltd.
- Jessica Verhagen, Director, Business Development, and Lead Negotiator in the Western Climate Initiative, Climate Action Secretariat, Ministry of the Environment, Government of BC
- Dirk Brinkman, CEO, Brinkman Forest Restoration Ltd.
- Jens Wieting, Forests Campaigner, Sierra Club BC
- Dr. Suzanne W. Simard, RPF, Professor, Department of Forest Sciences, UBC
- Ben Parfitt, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
- Deborah Carlson, Staff Counsel, West Coast Environmental Law
Please RSVP by February 10, 2011 to Jeanett...@wcel.org
Event details:
Date: February 16th, 2011
Location: Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue - Asia Pacific Hall
580 West Hastings Street (enter via Seymour Street courtyard entrance)Time: 6:30 – 9:30 pm
Cost: Admission is free but attendees are invited to make a donation to West Coast to support our work: https://wcel.org/donate-west-coast-environmental-law
West Coast is grateful to the Law Foundation of BC, Catherine Donnelly Foundation, Mountain Equipment Co-op, the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia, the Vancouver Foundation, the Bruce and Lis Welch Community Award, as well as the SFU Centre for Dialogue for funding to make possible this second event in our Dialogues for Legal Innovation Series.
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