Item 8.10 Additional Information May 4, 2020 Council Meeting

Patrícia Galvão Ferreira | Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law

To Windsor City Council,

I write to express my support to the motion on “Acceleration of Climate Change Actions in response to the Climate Change Emergency Declaration – City Wide”, moved by Councillor McKenzie and seconded by Councillor Kashshak.

I have been conducting research on transnational climate law and governance since January 2015 and, as a member of the Research and Independent Institutions Constituency group (RINGOs) at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, I have had the opportunity to closely observe the international climate negotiations before and following the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. The important role of cities in the global efforts to address climate change has been increasingly recognized and supported at the international level. By approving this motion Windsor Council will help to protect present and future generations of Windsorites, by continuing to contribute to the 2015 Paris Agreement goals on climate mitigation, climate adaptation, and aligning finance with a climate friendly future.

The importance of this motion has become even more evident in the context of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. We have witnessed how early science-based responses to this global public health threat by cities, provinces and countries have reduced fatalities and hospitalizations in the short run, while being expected to ease the economic tool in the medium to long run. There is substantial evidence that the climate challenge presents us with a similar scenario, only with a more protracted timeframe. The cities, provinces and countries that take early action on climate change will reduce human and economic costs in the medium and long term.

I therefore express my support to this motion, which moves Windsor climate actions forward.

Windsor, 1 May 2020

Sincerely, Patrícia Galvão Ferreira