New Delta seniors group working to raise awareness of climate change
New Delta seniors group working to raise awareness of climate change
Published 5:40 am Thursday, March 5, 2026
A new group is looking for local seniors — and others concerned about the environment — to help put climate change back on people’s radar.
Delta Seniors for Climate is the local chapter of a national organization working to build a Canada-wide community of seniors to create a livable future in a world beyond fossil fuels, according to the parent group’s website.
“We’re very much focused on needing to act now; later is too late,” Diane Ockerman, one of the three founding members of Delta Seniors for Climate, told the Reporter.
“In particular, with all the threats going on from the U.S. and the need to build Canada, we’re concerned that climate has fallen out of focus, to say the least. What we’re going to focus on nationally is breaking through this silence, trying to get people back to talking about how we can transition away from fossil fuels and build a stronger Canada.”
The local chapter, which covers both North and South Delta, was created this past fall and held its first meeting in January. Since then, it has quickly grown to nearly a dozen members, and the group is hoping to reach even more like-minded Delta residents.
“We’re focused on outreach right now, we’re trying to engage others locally,” Ockerman said.
[We’re looking for] mostly seniors, but we’ll take anyone. We welcome anyone that’s interested in engaging in activities that can help us raise the profile of climate change and the actions we need to take, and hopefully get our leaders — governmental in particular, but also others — to also focus on it. We are a Seniors for Climate group, but we have youth in the national group. We’re intergenerational, we want anybody who wants to make a difference.”
The group meets in person every month, and also participates in the provincial hub’s monthly meetings via Zoom. In addition to advocacy work (the group is trying to arrange meetings with the community’s MP and two MLAs), Delta Seniors for Climate provides its members with educational opportunities as well.
For example, in February the group began hosting an eight-week course presented by Dr. Martin Bush called “The Changing Climate: A Canadian Perspective.”
“It’s really about learning about what’s driving climate change and how it’s affecting us — Canada — specifically, and then the solutions around that, clean energy transitions and those kinds of things,” Ockerman said.
There are also webinars offered through the national group, which last week hosted a talk and Q-and-A with former federal environment minister and sitting MP for the Quebec riding of Laurier–Sainte-Marie Steven Guilbeault.
Next month, on April 8, the national group is bringing in writer and climate activist Bill McKibben, who created Third Act, an American organization for people over 60 focused on safeguarding the climate and U.S. democracy. Later this spring, they will host a talk with Canadian climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe focused on messaging and engagement.
“So there’s lots of learning, as well as participating,” Ockerman said. And then we have our spring campaign coming up in June for Environment Week. That’s really still being defined right now, but it’s all about breaking through the climate silence — more to come on that.”
Those interested in getting involved locally are encouraged to email sfc.deltabc@gmail.com. For more information on Seniors for Climate, visit seniorsforclimate.org.