Vancouver mayor proposes a climate levy

Vancouver’s mayor wants a new levy to fight climate change in the city’s 2022 budget.

If it’s adopted by city council, Kennedy Stewart says the money raised from the levy would be used to cover infrastructure upgrades needed because of climate change.

He estimates the levy could raise more than $100 million over the next decade.

Vancouver’s climate plan has set a goal of a 50 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

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Stewart says the new fund would allow Vancouver to reach the targets in its plan quicker.

Council will hear the proposal at its meeting next week and is scheduled to make a decision on the budget on Dec. 7.

Stewart said this year has shown the effects of climate change.

“In 2021, we find ourselves in a constant state of climate emergency, with out-of-control wildfires and heat domes in the summer, and now devastating rains and flooding in the winter,” he said in a news release.