Environmental groups call for action toward a sustainable New Brunswick

Environmental groups across New Brunswick issued a call for action today. The climate emergency requires radical improvements in our treaty relationship and our relationship with nature and the environment, the way we produce and consume energy and food, and our approach to education and health services and management of our forests, waters and coastlines.

The groups’ call for action is being shared with the more than 110 members of the New Brunswick Environmental Network (NBEN) and other groups working to address the climate and ecological emergency we are experiencing. The link to the action plan Greenprint 2021: Towards a Sustainable New Brunswick is HERE.

Some actions require changes in provincial and federal government policy and legislation, but many other actions are being tackled now by non-governmental organizations, including environmental, Indigenous, social justice and public interest group across the province. Groups are invited to submit actions or projects they are working on to help collectively meet the goals and objectives outlined in the document.

“Many groups across the province are engaged in climate action work, from watershed organizations planting trees for flood mitigation to activist groups like Extinction Rebellion NB and Symbiose organizing public protests demanding political action,” said Lynaya McKinley, spokesperson for Leap4wards in Saint John. “We are inviting all groups to share information about their actions for a sustainable New Brunswick.”

“Non-governmental organizations are doing the work now,” said Susan O’Donnell, lead investigator for the RAVEN project at the University of New Brunswick. “Our call is to identify existing actions to give us a more comprehensive picture of what’s being done and what still needs to be tackled to get our province on a path to sustainability.”

Greenprint 2021: Towards a Sustainable New Brunswick is a citizen-fed document that outlines goals and priority actions in nine thematic chapters. The publication represents a broad consensus within New Brunswick’s environmental community for a shared vision and action plan for the province, although not every goal and measure listed is necessarily endorsed by each participating organization.

“Greenprint 2021 is above all a vision document that we hope will inspire New Brunswickers to stand up and say, ‘This is the province in which we want to live: political leaders and policy-makers take heed!’, added McKinley.”

The action plan was coordinated by members the NBEN’s Just Transition Caucus, NBEN member groups working toward the goal of a low-carbon New Brunswick. Over the last year during the pandemic, the Caucus organized online strategy sessions to engage with a wide variety of environmental groups and experts in the health and education sectors to develop the plan. Several additional groups contributed as reviewers for specific sections.

“Tackling the climate and ecological emergency requires action on many fronts. Our plan identifies the highest priority actions to move us to a situation where our province is on a sustainable path for the future,” said Lauren Clark from EOS Eco-Energy and a member of the Greenprint 2021 core editing team.

Members of the NBEN Just Transition Caucus and lead contributors to Greenprint 2021 are: Leap4wards, EOS Eco-Energy, the RAVEN project at the University of New Brunswick, Extinction Rebellion NB, Citizens Coalition for Clean Air, Concerned Citizens of Saint John and Friends of Musquash.

The New Brunswick Environmental Network (NBEN), established in 1991, is a communication network linking more than 110 non-profit environmental organizations.