City looking at signing the Montreal Pledge

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/04/2023 (1238 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Montreal Pledge is a protocol of 15 tangible actions to preserve ecosystems from environmental degradation and for cities to pursue them by reducing threats to biodiversity, sharing the benefits of biodiversity, and providing solutions, governance, and education to citizens, staff, and elected officials.

Working with the community, we developed a motion that I put forward at the last council meeting, which asked council to have the City of Winnipeg sign on to the Montreal Pledge. The pledge implores the city to preserve our ecosystem, including the elimination of plastic waste, reduction of pesticide use, increasing the amount of greenspace with the inclusion of Indigenous ways of knowing and perspectives, all with the hope of helping fight climate change.

OURS Winnipeg and Trees Please Winnipeg brought the pledge to my attention and, along with the 47 cities from across the globe and Canada that have already signed on, we know we must move swiftly to protect our natural habitats and maintain ecosystems through vigorous protocols that strongly consider bio- diversity when decisions are made at all levels of public policy.

The protocol gives us concrete actions that City of Winnipeg leadership can act on to fight climate change and maintain biodiversity. The work has already begun but by signing on we are ensuring that we act to will make a significant difference in protecting our biodiversity and integrating them into our policies at the city level.

Part of our plan is to encourage and inspire our community and others so that tangible actions are documented and analyzed to determine best practice. This will help make Winnipeg an even nicer place to live. We are committing to more green space and protecting our urban forests and water sheds and ensuring the plants and animals have natural environments where they can thrive.