Christmas Letter from the Chair 2023
Dear CERCA members and friends of the Cowichan Estuary,
It would be too depressing to start this Christmas letter with comments on the global effects and human hardships caused by the continuing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. I rather would like to draw your attention to at least one piece of positive news which may give us a glimmer of hope to save our precious planet after all. I am referring to the final declaration of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) which terminated on December 12th, 2023 with an Agreement by over 200 countries to phase out the use of fossil fuels in favor of renewable energy. Although it remains to be seen how this translates into urgently needed tangible action by the signatories, it is at least a step in the right direction. We should hold Canada and BC accountable for transitioning away from fossil fuels. Any new pipeline for example should be a thing of the past and so should be “dirty oil”.
The pessimists amongst us may rightly argue that since the first COP held in Berlin in 1996 the targets set by each of the following Conferences (28 in total!) have never been met in full. Greenhouse gases and temperatures continue to increase causing more and more severe weather extremes at enormous economic, ecological, and social costs. Meanwhile, more than 120 Million people have lost their homes and livelihoods either as a result of climate change, wars, or wars caused by climate change.
In the 2022 Christmas letter, I optimistically highlighted the most promising Agreement signed by more than 190 Nations party to the ‘Convention on Biological Diversity’ (CBD) in Montreal in 2022. It was considered a landmark Agreement to halt the destruction of the ‘natural world’, its ecosystems, and biological diversity. However, to date, not much of the ambitious goals have been met. It is obvious that signing an agreement is easy, implementing it a different story!
After 2 years of online meetings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, CERCA’s Board meetings in 2023 resumed to be in-person.
In the following, CERCA’s major 2023 activities are described in chronological order. CERCA’s lobbying for different causes via correspondence, phone conversations, media interaction, and meetings, as well as website management and general correspondence, continued throughout the year from January to December and will not be specifically mentioned in this report.
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Wishing you a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2024,
Goetz
Dr. Goetz Schuerholz,
Chair CERCA
