June 24, 2024

New funding program helps protect people, communities from climate emergencies

Source Name
BC Gov News
Source URL
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2024EMCR0031-000950

 

British Columbia is launching the Disaster Resilience and Innovation Funding (DRIF) program to enhance protection against natural and climate-related emergencies. This initiative will provide financial support for First Nation and local government projects aimed at bolstering defenses against hazards like floods, droughts, extreme heat, and landslides.

Key points of the DRIF program:

  • Bowinn Ma, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, emphasizes the need for funding certainty to address climate risks.
  • The program will allocate $15 million in the first year and $25 million in the second year for qualifying projects.
  • Eligible hazards include drought, erosion, extreme temperatures, floods, sea-level rise, earthquakes, tsunamis, and geohazards.
  • Wildfire-risk reduction continues to be supported by the Ministry of Forests.
  • First Nations and local governments can submit Expressions of Interest (EOI) by September 15, 2024, for the first funding round in the 2024-25 fiscal year.

The DRIF program’s objectives are to:

  • Enhance risk understanding and reduction measures through data acquisition, risk assessment, mapping, partnership building, and planning.
  • Implement non-structural risk reduction projects like policy development, community education, and temporary mitigation equipment.
  • Support structural risk reduction projects, including nature-based infrastructure.

Since 2017, the Province has invested approximately $400 million in over 2,150 disaster-mitigation projects. The DRIF program complements existing provincial disaster preparedness and mitigation programs, such as the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund (CEPF), the Community Resiliency Investment (CRI) program, and the Agricultural Water Infrastructure program, which collectively aim to enhance emergency preparedness and reduce risks associated with wildfires and water scarcity. The recent investment of $100 million will further support the CRI program and the BC FireSmart committee over the next three years.