Rothesay Town Hall. Image: Staff photo
Rothesay Council is sending a climate change adaptation plan for staff review.
Jamylynn McDonald, the climate change coordinator at Atlantic Coastal Action Program Saint John, presented the plan.
She said when ACAP got funding to complete the adaptation plan, it was clear Rothesay was in a good position.
“Rothesay has a high adaptive capacity to climate change, they’ve already completed successfully a lot of projects and they have ongoing and proposed projects as well which is fantastic,” she said.
McDonald said the plan identifies impacts and vulnerabilities that exist in relation to climate change and provides recommendations and opportunities for the town to increase resilience and protect residents and municipal infrastructure in the future.
“One of the best ways that we’ve talked to the town about getting the community involved is first of all for them to really set an example and set some demonstration sites up to showcase the ways we can adapt,” she said.
McDonald said the infrastructure upgrades already completed as well as proposed and ongoing upgrades by Rothesay are phenomenal and put them a step ahead. In Rothesay the highest risk ACAP found is medium to high risk which means they can reduce that.
“It’s very costly for municipalities to do those upgrades and I don’t want to say it’s ineffective to put those things into an adaptation plan but it’s challenging to put those things in because they are so cost dependant,” she said.
The next step of forming a committee to discuss the three strategies recommended by ACAP won’t happen until after the municipal elections in May.
The strategies include advancing climate action through municipal leadership, community education and emergency planning and preparedness.
