People are waking up to the looming environmental apocalypse – global heating and biodiversity extinction is no longer a far-off threat but a regular headline. Desertification, thirst and starvation, flood displacement, wildfires, violent storms and infrastructure failure are in our future if we do not take immediate, dramatic action, according to The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s “Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C”.
The science has been known for at least thirty years, however special interest groups have intentionally sowed doubt about global warming, its causes and the many policies and technologies we could use to better the situation. As a result, we are decades behind in addressing the cause of the ecological crisis.
One thing is clear – if complacency persists and we continue doing business as usual, no amount of recycling will stop runaway global warming and mass extinction.
Today at 2pm, students and supporters will gather at Owen Sound City Hall and MPP Bill Walker’s office to peacefully demand climate action in their tenth weekly Fridays for Future demonstration.
Fridays for Future is a youth-led, non-partisan movement begun by Swedish teenage activist and Nobel Prize Nominee, Greta Thunberg.
Her first school strike in August 2018 was done silently alone, skipping school for two weeks to sit on the steps of the Swedish Parliament with a modest sign calling for leaders to act on climate science, and posting her actions on social media. “Why go to school to learn science when our leaders don’t listen to science?” says Thunberg.
In ten short months, Fridays for Future strikes have gone global. On March 15th, (the first global Fridays for Future strike), 1.6 million youth in over 100 countries called on leaders to act to save their future. Owen Sound youth began on that day with a dozen children and their adults at Owen Sound City Hall, taking time out from what is supposed to be a carefree March Break to engage in democratic and peaceful protest.
Since then, students of the OSDSS ecology class have led weekly demonstrations, including the May 3 Canada-wide Fridays for Future strike that brought out 77 locals of all ages in Owen Sound. The students have collected hundreds of signatures in a petition to the City of Owen Sound to declare a Climate Emergency, to be presented in a June deputation.
If passed, council will become accountable for passing by-laws, policies and motions with measurable targets for reducing carbon emissions and waste beginning immediately. This will require bold action on a timeline with measurable results.
Impact The urgency of The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s “Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C”, and the activism of Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion are making an impact. According to https://climateemergencydeclaration.org as of May 20th, 2019, 549 governments across 12 countries representing over 65 million citizens have declared a climate emergency. Notably, Britain has passed a motion to declare a climate emergency and is the first country to do so with bipartisan support.
Shared responsibility
Individuals and government cannot do this without industry cooperation; the systemic change required rely on public-private collaboration, supported by effective environmental policy and proven carbon pricing schemes. Polluters must no longer be permitted to sacrifice the commons of healthy air, water and soil – and our children’s future -- for the unimaginable profit of the elite few.
In Owen Sound we have long-standing stewards doing much of the hard work needed to protect our environment, but massive mobilization is called for. Indeed, it is our duty to act – now.
Demonstration schedule:
2:00pm – Gather at City Hall
2:15pm – OSDSS students arrive
2:40pm – march to MPP Bill Walker’s office
2:45pm – Call to sign the Climate Emergency Petition and attend the Deputation
2:50pm – Organizers and participants available for comment
3:00pm – End
For more information, please follow:
FridaysforFuture.Owen.Sound
Fridays for Future BGOS
Fridays for Future Canada
Fridays for Future International Strike OWEN SOUND
Demonstrators and media are asked to reference these links and hashtags:
#fridaysforfuture
#climatestrike
#schoolstrike
#strike4climate
@gretathunberg
For those who wish to participate but cannot physically attend, take a picture of yourself and your sign and post with the hashtag #digitalstrike.
For an up-to-date map and number of strikes announced for May 24, please visit: https://www.fridaysforfuture.org/events/map
source: media release
