Read on Twitter
The suggestion that BC should have a “chief climate officer”—akin to Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer—is an interesting one. But I’m not sure it entirely hits the mark. Unlike COVID-19, #climatechange is a slow motion emergency... https://www.timescolonist.com/comment-the-case-for-a-chief-climate-officer-in-b-c-1.24232169 1/ #bcpoli
& so the sustained visibility Dr. Henry currently has wouldn’t be granted to a Chief Climate Officer (CCO). Even amidst acute climate-related events—wildfires, floods, etc.—a CCO wouldn’t be guiding the response. And what kind of expertise shld a CCO have? It’s suggested… 2/
have a PhD in climate science or experience in “climate related planning.” But a lack of public understanding of the science of #climatechange isn’t the thing preventing more & faster efforts to address it (see https://twitter.com/JaneAFlegal/status/1324402727540027392?s=20 ). Guiding the response requires skills in 3/
engineering (from buildings to industry to transportation), urban planning, economics, forest & agricultural carbon mgmt etc…but you hire people with those. IMO, an effective CCO would need to understand political economy, the machinery of gov’t & be a masterful communicator. 4/
I think we already have some of the key pieces of the puzzle - the external Climate Solutions Council, the Auditor General, & the Climate Action Secretariat (although arguably all should be empowered/resourced to do more). What’s missing is the *synthesis* & *integration* 5/
of #climatechange into everything government does. Everything gov’t does ought to consider climate change. Something akin to Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA+), but for climate. Does this policy, program, budget line item etc. lead to more or less (or NA) carbon pollution? 6/
Does it present an opportunity to do more/something to help mitigate or adapt to climate change? The BC NDP have committed to Indigenous peoples to create something along these lines wrt ensuring policy & legislation is consistent with UNDRIP. 7/
When Gordon Campbell developed BC’s first climate action plan, he did so with the help of a “Climate Action Secretariat” (CAS) housed (correctly, IMO) in the Premier’s Office. Christy Clark shifted CAS into the Ministry of Environment. In many respects, this is fine. But what 8/
was lost is the power/influence of being at the “centre” of government, & the acknowledgment that an all-of-gov’t response is required. Strange as it might seem to sum, the Ministry of Env has relatively few levers to pull to tackle #climatechange - Energy, Transport & Infra, 9/
Housing, Ag, Forests, Indigenous, Finance, Health, Labour, Jobs & Ec Dev, Advanced Ed etc. ALL have critical roles & responsibilities vis a vis #climateaction 
We don’t need a new super-ministry for climate, we need a better coordinated all-of-gov’t approach. A CCO ought to be 10/
We don’t need a new super-ministry for climate, we need a better coordinated all-of-gov’t approach. A CCO ought to be 10/
housed in the Premier’s Office, reporting to the DM to the Premier, supported by a small team with a diversity of experience & skills, & mandated to develop new tools (like GBA+ or Treasury Board directives etc.) & to convene & enable climate considerations & collaboration 11/
across all Ministries. In sum, helping re-tool government to deliver the all-encompassing, all-of-gov’t approach we’ll need to succeed. We spend a lot of time talking about systemic change to combat #climatechange, but I’ve seen little consideration of how we need to evolve 12/
how gov’t organizes and functions to address #climatechange effectively (quickly, equitably, at lowest cost etc.). We need innovation in tech, yes, but also in how gov’t tackles wicked problems! With a new majority gov’t & a new #netzero 2050 target 13/
