Climate

City of Vernon Climate Action Plan
The City of Vernon’s plan to lessen our impact on the environment by reducing emissions and prepare for the changes that are coming quickly. Includes links to Vernon’s Climate Action Storymap and Climate Action Plan.

Climate Action Ripple Effect
Initiated in spring 2022, the Climate Action Ripple Effect (CARE) is a partnership between the Fresh Outlook Foundation (FOF) and School District 22, which supports senior high students from four area high schools, working in small mentored teams to create climate-action projects in support of Vernon’s Climate Action Plan and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Initial projects focused on diverse topics ranging from beekeeping and hydroponics to a solar-powered windmill and a solar power plan for a Vernon high school. Students and their projects were celebrated by students, speakers, judges, and community guests at a well attended Vernon Youth Climate Action Summit, which was designed and delivered by the Students Without Borders Academy with FOF guidance. Projects are ongoing each semester.

First Things First Okanagan
Penticton based non-profit, organized in 2015 by local elders and leaders, educates Okanagan communities on climate breakdown by promoting and organizing actions that help build a sustainable society. Using a broad range of activities, including school programs, online Deep Dive webinars, alternate energy symposia, sponsorship of election debates, lobbying of local, provincial and federal politicians, art-based events and more, FTFO delivers the message that climate change is real, and together we can make the changes that will leave a better world for future generations.

Shuswap Climate Action Society
“Supporting Community Knowledge and Solutions”
A non-profit, non-partisan group of volunteers and concerned citizens formed in fall 2019, based in Salmon Arm, providing information and community support for climate action in the Shuswap and North Okanagan. Our main goal is to educate and support climate solutions for residents in our community, as well as through collaboration and assistance to other local organisations and businesses, and all levels of government. We have fostered several initiatives and have held many events to raise awareness and encourage greater community resilience. Includes links to Armstrong/Spallumcheen Climate Action and Chase Environmental Action Society.

Sustainabiliteens
We are a movement of young people across Metro Vancouver—united by the urgency we feel to stop climate catastrophe and by a shared vision to exercise our agency, and create a more just and sustainable world. We exist to create space for youth to engage with these issues and lay the foundations for a future that they can look forward to. Our generation is not only inheriting an environmental collapse, but also this collapse’s cause: a broken worldview where the profit of corporations is valued over peoples’ lives. With our roots in climate striking, we understand the power of coming together to shift public consciousness around what change we urgently need. By using mass mobilization and other tactics to build and escalate our political power, we can achieve this change. Although deep systemic transformation is our ultimate goal, we recognize that people are being hurt right now—by a system that continually emits greenhouse gases and worsens existing injustices. In order to reduce harm towards those most affected, we are focused on pushing for policies which reduce emissions at a greater scale and speed, while also addressing the dual challenges of the climate crisis and inequity.

Sustainability Hub (UBC)
“Inspiring people to act upon the planet’s most urgent challenges through UBC’s academic and operational sustainability leadership.”
Created in 2009 to build collaborative communities, attract diverse individuals with heterogeneous knowledge, and facilitate creativity and collaboration in physical and digital spaces. UBC Sustainability Hub aims to create an inspiring and welcoming space for climate action and sustainability, transformative learning, research excellence, and local and global engagement.

Nature

Allan Brooks Nature Centre
Promotes the enjoyment of nature and increasing awareness of habitat conservation through environmental education and nature-related activities in the Okanagan region.

Boundary Environmental Alliance
“Working to Protect Natural Resources in the Boundary”
The Boundary Environmental Alliance is currently working on range cattle effects on grasslands streams, water quality and economic costs, the Kettle River Watershed Management Plan, Big White’s reserved claim on Kettle River water and bioaccumulation of heavy metals in Kettle River mussels.

Friends of Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park
A volunteer, registered, charitable non-profit Society since 2004 dedicated to preserving and protecting the environmental integrity of Kal Park for the benefit of the general public and future generations.

Friends of Rose Swanson Ecosystem Society
A society bringing people together to protect Mount Rose Swanson

Granby Wilderness Society
“Our mission is to conserve and protect the ecosystems of the boundary and the diversity of life that they sustain.” Based in the Grand Forks area, the Granby Wilderness Society works to help protect the unique and diverse ecosystems that exist in the Boundary area.

Kelowna Climate Coalition
The Kelowna Climate Coalition is a non-partisan volunteer organization comprised of Kelowna based organizations and individual citizens deeply concerned and committed to acting on climate change. They believe a stable climate is needed for the business and economic activity that our community and families rely upon. The Kelowna Climate Coalition has a shared interest in creating the best possible future for our community, and welcomes all members of our community to join in urging Kelowna City Council to work collaboratively to elevate climate change mitigation and adaptation measures.

North Okanagan Naturalists’ Club
“Know Nature and Keep it Worth Knowing”
The North Okanagan Naturalists’ Club is a member of BC Nature, the Federation of British Columbia Naturalists. Founded in 1951, the club remains active locally and provincially, enjoying experiences in nature, sharing our knowledge and passion with others, and protecting our natural environment.

Okanagan Climate Hub
As part of the nationwide Climate Hub network, the Okanagan Climate Hub is a volunteer-led, non-profit organization that unites individuals, youth leaders, and organizations throughout the Okanagan for effective, cooperative action on climate change mitigation and adaptation locally and throughout the Okanagan Valley.

Okanagan Collaborative Conservation Program
“Realizing a Vision for Conservation through Collaboration”
A partnership of organizations and government focused on conservation issues in the Okanagan basin, and a hub of information and resources helping our community take action to improve environmental protection in the Okanagan by maintaining regional biodiversity and ecological connectivity, protecting species at risk, and balancing growth and conservation.

Shuswap Environmental Action Society
“Environmental watchdog for the Shuswap”
The Shuswap Environmental Action Society shares information through its listserv, raises awareness of the need to address climate change with mitigation and adaptation, monitors local forestry and watershed issues (particularly the Shuswap Watershed Project https://www.shuswapwatershed.ca/ ), studies the Shuswap’s melting glaciers, and sponsors forums and other events on provincial issues.

Sustainable Environment Network Society (SENS)
“To work towards a healthy sustainable environment for our community through education and by supporting constructive action.”
SENS’ mandate is to provide a healthy sustainable future for our community, by educating and raising awareness about sustainability, health and the environment, leading initiatives, getting involved with and helping to fund community projects.

Energy

BC Energy Step Code
Provincial guide to best practices for energy efficient buildings – a tool for local governments to achieve their policy objectives, while providing the construction industry with a single set of consistent standards for energy efficiency across British Columbia.

Clean BC
British Columbia’s plan to address climate change and protect and preserve our environment. Includes links to CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, Climate Preparedness and Adaptation Strategy, and BC’s latest Climate Change Accountability report.

Frack Free BC
https://stand.earth/our-work/campaigns/we-want-a-frack-free-bc/
Frack Free BC is a broad-based alliance made up of allied organizations including NGOs, Indigenous partners, grassroots organizations, community groups, and individuals who are organizing their communities to raise awareness and apply pressure to the government to end fracking in BC. Frack Free BC has a chapter in Vernon !

HomeZero Collective
https://www.homezerocollective.com
HomeZero Collective is a Vernon non-profit with funding and support from the Green Municipal Fund and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and industry-leading partner, Okanagan Geothermal, which has started with a pilot program to switch up to 15 homes in the Foothills and East Hill neighbourhoods to green energy systems such as air-source and geothermal heat pumps, solar panels and more

Food

North Okanagan Land to Table Network
A network of individuals and organizations from various sectors of the North Okanagan food system who aim to build a thriving, healthy, just, and resilient regional food system that nourishes and connects people, sustains livelihoods, regenerates the environment, and builds community in the North Okanagan.

Forests

BC Coalition for Forestry Reform
The BC Coalition for Forestry Reform is a grassroots alliance of community-based associations advocating for culturally and ecologically sustainable forestry practices. The members of BCCFR support data-driven, long-term stewardship of the timber and non-timber values of BC’s forests. We advocate for forest management based on long-term landscape-level planning, a mandatory shared decision-making process with local communities, careful incorporation of public needs and values, and full recognition of our forests’ non-timber values including water, wildlife, tourism, and recreation.

Code Blue BC
Code Blue BC exists to take bold action to move the BC government towards the creation of a BC Watershed Security Strategy and a permanent BC Watershed Security Fund to secure and sustain our critical fresh water sources forever. Code Blue BC believes that it is time for stronger rules, better enforcement, damage deposits and real penalties for industries that waste, overuse or contaminate our fresh water. Code Blue BC believes that we need better watershed management in BC, which gives local people, including First Nations, the authority, training and funding they need to secure, restore, monitor and manage the health of their local watersheds.

Boundary Forest Watershed Stewardship Society
The Boundary Forest Watershed Stewardship Society is a non-profit, grassroots, citizens’ society formed in February 2019 that advocates for culturally, economically, and ecologically sustainable forestry practices in the forest and watershed of the Boundary Region. Our Board of Directors and members have diverse backgrounds, interests and areas of expertise that include logging, government services, silviculture, fisheries, farming, advocacy, and environmentalism. Many have experienced the ravages of floods, fires, and drought first hand. All are deeply concerned about the looming threats of floods, wildfires, extended droughts and their increased intensity and frequency. We have in common the recognition that our forests are in crisis and as a result there are, already, dire consequences to the humans, eco-systems, biodiversity, and wildlife of our region.

Evergreen Alliance
“Citizens, foresters, scientists and journalists collaborating to protect the future of BC forests”
The Evergreen Alliance is making the case for much greater conservation of BC forests. BC is experiencing catastrophic forest fires, transportation infrastructure damage, devastating flooding and species extirpation. BC’s logging industry plays an out-sized role in making each of these worse. Our governments urgently need to shift from state-sponsored industrial exploitation of forests to conservation, restoration and regeneration. This shift will not happen unless there is greater public awareness of those problems and pressure applied on the political process to resolve them. The logging industry and its supporters create myths that logging “pays the bills,” is “sustainable,” provides a “climate solution” and even that “clearcuts are a thing of the past.” The Evergreen Alliance’s goal is to provide an accurate account of the problems, the solutions, the actions people are taking, and the myths to be aware of and challenge.

Glade Watershed Protection Society
Very active in the protection of forests in the Glade Community Watershed in the West Kootenay. “The value that the forest adds to the health and welfare of all life is paramount and how we care for the elements of nature that provide us with these benefits should be foremost in our actions. This value is as important as or, or even more important than, economic gain, for without the forest ecosystems we cannot flourish. Water is the priority – our forests that produce that water is our priority. Water is life and without clean water, nothing can live.” 

Help Our Watershed Society
Help Our Watershed Society is a non-profit society, established in 2017, dedicated to protecting source water. Our specific concern is the quality of water in the Duteau Creek Community Watershed and the impact of industrial, agricultural and recreational activities on this source of drinking water. Our broader concern is the overall health of watersheds in the province of British Columbia. We aspire to join with other groups in the province to advocate for a more reliable system of environmental assessment and protection in community watersheds.

Interior Watershed Task Force
Formed in May 2023, the Interior Watershed Task Force (IWTF) brings together several grassroots organizations, NGOs and individuals to deal with growing concerns over commercial clearcut logging in BC watersheds.  Our work in documenting logging industry wrongs, interacting with agencies and practice boards, and raising public awareness has not provided the desired results.  BC communities are at a crisis point from the impacts of industrial logging and this MUST change. IWTF is proposing a paradigm shift in forest and watershed management, including:
1. An immediate plan to stop clearcut logging, including building excessive logging roads, in BC watersheds, particularly those used for water supply or those close to human habitation;
2. A change in forest governance that cancels industrial forest tenures and replaces them with community forest boards. These boards would be administered by provincial, indigenous, and local governments, advised by a non-partisan panel of experts and community stakeholders;
3. A change to existing forest-management legislation that places protection of water supply, public safety, ecological integrity and biodiversity before resource extraction. All other land and resource uses must be subordinate to this legislation.

Joe Rich Forestry, Trails and Watershed Committee 
www.facebook.com/groups/JRForestryTrails

Kelowna Tree Protectors
A non-profit group of concerned citizens dedicated to the tree canopy and interested in protecting the historical significance of older trees in Kelowna.

Last Stand West Kootenay
www.facebook.com/LastStandWestKootenay
Grassroot organization. Old growth & Inland Temperate Rainforest protection. Very active in protection of old growth and temperate rainforest in the West Kootenays.

Neighbours United
Neighbours United is a non-profit community-driven charitable organization started in 1994, based in the Kootenays, that brings together local residents to protect the natural environment while building just, equitable, healthy, and livable communities by organizing with grassroots and community leaders to advocate to decision-makers on developing local social, political, and economic solutions to environmental and equity problems. Neighbours United recently hired Liz Stewart as community organizer for Vernon and is holding “Deep Canvassing” training and experience sessions on the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Health framework. Neighbours United has a presence in Vernon !

Old Growth Revylution, Revelstoke
@oldgrowthrevylution
Active in defending Old Growth forests in the Revelstoke area.

Peachland Watershed Protection Alliance
“Working to Protect Peachland’s Water Source”
A passionate, volunteer driven alliance where every member helps protect the health of our watershed and our community. Part of a global movement that understands water is precious and deserves our respect and protection. Their goal is to implement their 10-point protection plan, which includes a moratorium on clear cutting, a full watershed review and cumulative effects study, decommissioning/deactivating legacy roads, giving communities power over consumptive watersheds, removing cattle ranging, a moratorium on mining and mining exploration, adopting legislated land use zoning on crown land, making a provincial water sustainability fund a key budget priority, restoring the forest, and placing the burden of proof on industry.

Protectors of Box Mountain Watershed
Created to protect the water supply coming from Box Mountain by protecting the mature forests of Nakusp.

Silver Hills Watershed Watch (no website or Facebook page)

West Kootenay Climate Hub
“Accelerating climate action in the West Kootenay”
Our mission is to accelerate climate action in our region, primarily through facilitating connections, communication and collaboration among those locally engaged in addressing the climate crisis. Formed in 2021, volunteer members of our organizing team and partners connect monthly to discuss local climate initiatives, create networking opportunities, host webinars, organize community events and meet with elected representatives. We are part of the Canada-wide community climate hub initiative.

Ymir Community Watershed Society
Formed in 2018, the non-profit Society serves as a voice for the Ymir community to ensure protection of the Quartz Creek watershed as the long-term potable water source for Ymir. The YCWS is a community-based, pro-water organization inclusive of people who share our vision of potable water security for Ymir. We are committed to non-violence and peaceful process, and creating a sustainable future for our community.  We work on a team model, providing all people supportive of our Vision a way to work towards our goals. It is important to the YCWS that all communities in BC have access to and be able to protect their own potable water sources.

Transportation

City of Vernon Master Transportation Plan

The current Master Transportation Plan https://www.vernon.ca/sites/default/files/docs/bylaws/OCP/25_year_master_transportation_plan.pdf provides a framework for how the City of Vernon  manages its transportation network over the next twenty-five years.

A new TMP is underway through the Official Community Plan & Transportation Master Plan Joint Review. The new plan will be developed in 2024-2025 with opportunities for the public to be involved.

City of Vernon Official Community Plan

Vernon’s Official Community Plan (OCP) defines the vision of the community – i.e. how the community sees itself growing and developing in the future and ultimately what kind of place Vernon will be. This community-driven vision is balanced with Vernon’s expected population growth, opportunities for development, and the availability of resources for infrastructure projects.  

A new OCP is underway through the Official Community Plan & Transportation Master Plan Joint Review. The new plan will be developed in 2024-2025 with opportunities for the public to be involved. To read the current OCP please visit: https://www.vernon.ca/government-services/bylaws/official-community-plan-2013-bylaw-5470

Okanagan Transit Alliance
Envisions a publicly-managed transit system for the Okanagan that is safe, sustainable, accessible, and community-driven, and that will meet the transportation needs of this growing region. Current goals are to bring Okanagan transit under local management, ​expand HandyDart service to 7 days a week (including holidays), develop frequent service in high density areas, expand the number of available buses, and expand fare-free service from ages 12-and-under to ages 18-and-under.

Health

Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment
CAPE collaborates with other organizations, nationally and internationally, to work effectively and build power together, supporting physicians to be advocates for healthier environments and ecosystems, and taking action to enable health for all by engaging with governments, running campaigns, conducting research, and drawing media attention to key issues. Includes links to countless scholarly reports on climate, environment and health.

BC Environment

BC Mining Law Reform
Founded in 2019, the BC Mining Law Reform network promotes changes to mineral development laws and mining practices to ensure they are environmentally sound, do not pollute waters, respect community decisions, and account for the costs to clean up toxic mine waste sites. The network grew out of a shared concern of weak mining laws and a lack of enforcement and oversight in a context of increased demand for minerals mined in BC, and today represents nearly 30 local, provincial and national organizations from a wide range of sectors, including citizen and community groups, First Nations, academics, and social justice and environmental organizations.

Dogwood
Founded in 1999, Dogwood harnesses the power of community organizing to defend our home and counter corporate greed. Driven by a deep love for our neighbours and the places we live, we campaign for climate justice, Indigenous rights and a healthy democracy. Our work is often political, but never partisan. We tackle issues British Columbians care about deeply, partnering with allies across B.C. as part of a broad network of social movements. Our staff are members of the BC General Employees’ Union and our volunteers, including board members, come from a wide range of backgrounds.

My Sea To Sky
My Sea To Sky is a people-powered environmental organization founded in 2014 to defend, protect, and restore Átl’ḵa7tsem/Howe Sound by organizing educational events; coordinating research; building partnerships and respectful relationships, lifting up First Nations voices and culture, facilitating public engagement with our municipal, provincial, and federal governments, and making it as simple as possible for people to take action.

The Wilderness Committee
Founded in 1980 as a registered non-profit society and federal charity, we are united in our mission to protect life-giving biological diversity through strategic research, community mobilizing and grassroots public education. Our grassroots campaigns are grounded in relationships with communities and the land. They challenge systems to create equity and justice for all. We believe people taking informed action together create change. We work protecting nature with Indigenous communities, grassroots activists and all levels of government to advance new protected areas from the ground up and advocate for swift conservation that benefits all. We defend wildlife by campaigning for strong laws to protect all threatened, endangered and special concern species. We defend the critical habitat of these species so they can survive and thrive. We fight climate change by campaigning to keep all fossil fuels in the ground and transforming the way we live and move around.

Valhalla Wilderness Society
Champion of conservation since 1975. We are a BC-Based wilderness conservation organization, specializing in the creation of parks and protected areas for wildlife and ecosystems. Valhalla Wilderness Society started in New Denver by a group of local residents who wanted to save the forested slopes of the Valhalla Range from logging. It took eight years of extensive involvement to win the park. Along the way, the Society became involved in efforts to attain better forest practices outside of parks. Since its inception, the Society has had on its Board of Directors and staff a mixture of scientific and planning professionals, political strategists, and literary and artistic talent. The Valhalla Wilderness Society has spearheaded three other successful campaigns, for the Khutzeymateen grizzly bear sanctuary, the Goat Range (White Grizzly) Provincial Park, and the Spirit Bear Protection Area. VWS has played a major role, in cooperation with other environmental groups, in the creation of many other new parks in British Columbia (such as the Kitlope), has worked to expose poor forest practices in BC and across the nation, and has worked cooperatively with many aboriginal people on issues of environmental and social justice.

West Coast Climate Action Network (WE-CAN)
“We’ll end the climate emergency together.”
The West Coast Climate Action Network strives to unite the multitude of climate change organizations, groups, and initiatives in British Columbia whose members share a deep concern about the global climate emergency and who wish to see more urgent, rapid action. We work to serve, support, amplify and promote their work, and to take whatever further actions we deem necessary to help end the global climate emergency. We invite environmental organizations, big and small, to join us – whether you’re a grassroots movement, a research institution, or an advocacy group, your unique perspective and skills are invaluable.

National Environment

Fridays for Future Canada
Global Days of Actions: 600 000 people, 60 countries, and 700 actions – 55 of them in Canada! In the past decade, over 85 percent of deadly greenhouse gas emissions have come from burning fossil fuels. The IPCC and the UNFCCC are over 30 years old, yet greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow. Why is this happening? Fossil companies have spread disinformation. It is time to stop funding the liars. It is totally possible to do this and create a better world. Get out on the streets on Fridays like Greta, connect, and demand the end of fossil fuels – fast, fair, and forever.

Government of Canada 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan
Canada’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change, while strengthening our economy with sustainable jobs and clean industrial growth. Includes a link to the most recent progress report.

KAIROS
KAIROS is committed to a vision of ecological justice where humanity lives within natural limits, in connected relation to all of creation. Within a vision of ecological justice, areas of ongoing KAIROS priority include ensuring climate justice, addressing impacts of resource extraction, and protecting water and watersheds, as well as the building of sustainable alternatives. Our work is inspired by eco-theology, and influenced and informed by Indigenous wisdom. We work in consort with social movements, in Canada and around the globe.

National Climate League
https://www.climatehub.ca/national-climate-league
The National Climate League is a yearly project of Climate Reality Project Canada that brings volunteers across Canada together to collect open data on a set of sustainability indicators relating to Canadian municipalities -things like kilometers of bike lanes, transit ridership, waste diversion rates, housing affordability, climate targets and more! The data is then compiled and visualized into a document that shines light on best practices and inspiring solutions being implemented across Canada. Includes link to Stat Tracker database.

Project Drawdown
Project Drawdown’s mission is to help the world stop climate change—as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible by advancing effective, science-based climate solutions and strategies; fostering bold, new climate leadership; and promoting new climate narratives and new voices. Includes Project Drawdown’s Table of Solutions – a very useful list of climate actions, comparing their potential for atmospheric greenhouse gas reduction.

Stand.earth
“Delivering large-scale solutions to climate and environmental problems worldwide.”
At Stand.earth we combine world-leading research with people-powered actions, strategic communications, and a firm but compassionate presence at the negotiating table. On the ground and online, we build collective power through campaigns that turn small actions into massive, lasting results in three key impact areas: protecting forests, moving beyond fossil fuels, and reinventing cities and transportation. We use: people power and frontline leadership, investigative research, international communications and social media, networks and alliances, corporate movement, and government action to achieve our goals.