On Friday, September 27 th at 4:30, concerned citizens will be gathering at the Owen Sound City Hall as part of the fourth International Climate Strike #climatestrike.
After Greta Thunberg and Autumn Peltier addressed the UN this week, public demonstrations have continued to grow. Across the world, more than 6.9 million protesters have been on the streets with religious, non-governmental, educational and business leaders supporting the strikes. (source: fridaysforfuture.org, as of September 26, 2019)
A new IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report released this week detailing faster than predicted global heating has given organizers more evidence of the urgency for action.
Local youth have been participating in Fridays for Future school strikes since April. It was the students of the Ecology class at OSDSS who galvanized the Fridays for Future movement in Owen Sound with weekly demonstrations from April to June. Organizers report that formal education around ecology is no longer offered at OSDSS, thanks to the provincial education cuts.
Organizers note that the event is not-partisan, 'Addressing climate change requires political leadership and action but it is not the mandate of the movement to dictate how this is done, only that we must unite behind the science.'
Other climate change rallies taking place in the region on Friday September 27 include 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm outside the Grey Highlands municipal office in Markdale, 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm outside the Bicycle Cafe in downtown Flesherton, and 4:30 in the Knox United Church parking lot (beside the old library) in Durham.
sources: media releases