Panellists at a discussion in Halifax today said some individual citizens and political leaders will continue to avoid the subject of climate change unless tense political divisions are overcome.
Megan Leslie, chief executive of the Canadian arm of the World Wildlife Fund, said there are “extreme outliers” among political parties on the issue, and efforts must be made to shift them from denial to discussion.
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She told the MacEachen Institute of Public Policy and Governance forum that further alienating Canadians fearful of the economic consequences of the fight against climate change will only make the situation worse.
Panellist Kate Sherren, a professor at Dalhousie University’s school for resource and environmental studies, said in her research coastal residents struggle to accept that the old landscape is going to change, and there are even homeowners who prefer not to have flooding maps completed due to fear of plunging property values.
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Dr. Robert Strang, the chief medical officer of Nova Scotia, says one of his approaches is to mention the impact of climate change on health, whether he’s discussing the spread of infections or the need to act to prevent damage from intensive storms hitting the coast.
Canada’s Changing Climate Report, released earlier this year, projects that Atlantic Canada will experience extreme sea-level change in the coming years.
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