Enhancing Disaster Resilience

Blair Gable Photography

Eva Cohen (CPYC President) and Bettina Koschade (CPYC Program Director) were excited to be participating prominently at this year’s National Climate adaptation Summit in Ottawa.

In the member led session facilitated by Engineers Canada, Eva gave a presentation to explain why Canada needs a citizen-based federal agency, and how - through youth leadership - we can lay its foundation and change our culture of preparedness.

In 3 panel discussions with the Honourable Harjit Sajjan (Minister of Emergency Preparedness), Conservative MP Dane Lloyd (Shadow Minister for Emergency Preparedness) and NDP MP Laurel Collins, (Critic for Environment and Climate Change and Deputy Critic for Families Children and Social Development), Eva was advocating for climate proof’s recommendation #1:

“Immediately commit to establishing a whole-of-society approach to disaster preparedness, response and recovery, to explore the development of coordination measures, including, but not limited to, a National Emergency Management Agency, where each level of government and sector enables the other to do their part to close existing capacity and capability gaps. This effort must include clearly defined roles and responsibilities of response actors and ensure that equity and inclusion are a key foundational aspect of approaches and related efforts.”

Read all Climate Proof Canada recommendations to implement the National Adaptation Strategy here