Celebrating Vancouver's Local Climate Heroes

In November, we took time to acknowledged the significant contributions of some our our colleagues, friends and allies who have distinguished themselves as Champions of Climate Action.

In Vancouver, 10 local climate heroes were presented with copies of The Climate Challenge:101 Solutions to Global Warming, BCSEA president Guy Dauncey's new book.

The celebrated heroes are: Dominica Babicki, Herb Barbolet, Ian Bruce, Helen Goodland, James Hoggan, Matt Horne, Robert Safrata, Arno Schortinghuis, David Van Seters, and Kevin Washbrook.

Here are their brief bios:

Dominica Babicki is the Energy Manager at the District of North Vancouver where she has been leading the proposal to have the DNV nominated as a “Solar Community”, and an initiative to conduct a comprehensive energy retrofit all the District owned buildings and streetlights. Dominica is a Board Member of the Community Energy Association; Founding Board Member of the B.C. Chapter of the Urban Land Institute and Advisory Board Member to the European Union funded Partnership Energy Planning Project.

Herb Barbolet is a Co-founder of FarmFolk/CityFolk, though he has recently been working more directly on climate chaos than before. He consulted for the City of Vancouver on the creation of the Vancouver Food Policy Council and has been a member since its inception. He is a Steering Committee member of Local Food First – working to localize and re-localize the food system. Heb is also an Associate with both the Centre for Sustainable Community Development and the Dialogue Centre at SFU, as well as a member of Vancouver Peak Oil Executive.

Ian Bruce is a Climate Change Specialist with the David Suzuki Foundation. Ian has worked on the implementation of the carbon tax in the BC budget and the stop coal campaign. He is also the spokesman for the David Suzuki Foundation.

Helen Goodland, the Executive Director of the Lighthouse Sustainability Centre, Helen has designed and built a wide range of green buildings in Vancouver and around the world. She has worked as an architect in the UK as well as Vancouver, and then in the world of government: first with CMHC and then the GVRD where she was responsible for the BuildSmart green building program. Helen does not drive, and is an avid Translink supporter.

James Hoggan, President of Hoggan & Associates. James is a leading authority on public perceptions about business, the environment, climate change and sustainability. He is Chair of the David Suzuki Foundation and author of Do the Right Thing – PR tips for a Sceptical Public, and The Climate Cover-Up – exposing the PR crusade to Deny Global Warming.

Matt Horne, Director, B.C. Energy Solutions, Pembina Institute. Matt focuses on policy changes towards GHG reduction in BC, working on initiatives with the province, municipalities and first Nations. Prior to joining Pembina, Matt worked extensively with energy-economy models on projects attempting to estimate the costs and benefits of climate change policy in Canada.

Robert Safrata, CEO of Novex Courier. In 2004, Robert launched the Novex Clean Program, the company’s commitment to reducing the environmental impact of its operations. He was a finalist for the Individual Impact Award for Ethics in Action and the Spirit of Vancouver Awards. His company has won numerous awards including the 2008 GLOBE Awards for Environmental Excellence for ecoFREIGHT Transportation.

Arno Schortinghuis is President of the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition. The VACC is creating incentives for people to get on their bikes, through bike education workshops for adults land children, as well as city wide events like the Bike to Work Week and organized Great Rides to explore metro Vancouver. Arno is currently working hard to keep the Burrard Bridge bike lanes for Vancouver Cyclists.

David Van Seters, President and CEO of spud! Spud is the only home grocer in North America that is 100% carbon neutral, it was the first Canadian retailer to sell Fair Trade bananas and mangoes, and the first Canadian retailer to purchase carbon offsets. A recipient of the Torch Awards 2009- Green Award, Spud strives to be the most socially responsible, environmentally sound and financially viable organic delivery company in North America.

Kevin Washbrook is a Director with Voters Taking Action on Climate Change. Along with his team, he recently organized “Bridge to a Cool Planet”, which was Canada's largest contribution to the International Day of Climate Action, likely the largest event in North America or Europe as well, and undoubtedly one of biggest climate action events in the entire world, with a crowd of more than 5,000 people. Kevin has an MA in anthropology from UBC and a Masters in Resource Management from SFU. He has consulted for a variety of ENGOs, including Smart Growth, BEST and the David Suzuki Foundation.