Climate protesters added a little heat to a Kelowna city council meeting on Tuesday, donning signs calling for the city to declare a climate emergency.

The eight protesters, affiliated with both Climate Save Kelowna and Extinction Rebellion, stood in silence for about 20 minutes as city council continued its meeting as scheduled.

sa国际传媒�(The city has) set unambitious targets, fails to meet the targets from previous plans and lies about meeting those targets,sa国际传媒� said Extinction Rebellionsa国际传媒檚 Anna Ciocoiu. sa国际传媒淚t seems like nobody is listening. Wesa国际传媒檝e decided to peacefully come here and crash these meetings and start escalating the situation if they keep ignoring it.

sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 so much we can do to be climate leaders and Isa国际传媒檓 just not seeing that.sa国际传媒�

Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran said the city is doing a number of things to help mitigate the impact of climate change.

sa国际传媒淲e are undertaking some major planning initiatives right now sa国际传媒� our Official Community Plan being the main one, as well as our Transportation Master Plan sa国际传媒� that will definitely be forward-looking,sa国际传媒� said Basran after the meeting had adjourned. sa国际传媒淚 hear their concerns; I share them. And I certainly welcome their right to share their opinion.sa国际传媒�

As far as declaring a climate emergency goes, Basran said he believes actions are better than words.

sa国际传媒淢y personal opinion is we could declare a climate emergency but itsa国际传媒檚 not going to change any of the things wesa国际传媒檙e doing,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭he question I would put back on them is: what do they think would happen as a result of declaring a climate emergency?

sa国际传媒淚t would be words on paper and Isa国际传媒檇 rather take action.sa国际传媒�

Both Climate Save Kelowna and Extinction Rebellion hold small protests outside city hall every Friday since the fall as part of their efforts to push elected officials to do more to fight climate change.

In the fall, hundreds of people turned up for a series of large protests in Kelowna and across B.C. as part of a series of global protests. Students at the University of British Columbia Okanagan also held a protest and portions of Water Street were temporarily shut down during another protest.

READ MORE: Environmental rally held in front of Kelowna City Hall

READ MORE: Climate protesters stage protest near William Bennett Bridge

michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
Like us on and follow us on .