It has been 124 weeks since youth in Greater Sudbury began striking as part of Fridays For Future, and the group says it sees no end in sight in its efforts to raise awareness and galvanize their community into action to address climate change.
Today with the region still in the Grey Zone, the group released a virtual demonstration video as they continue their efforts.
“It has been a year since Ontario went into its first COVID lockdown and it has made something clearer than ever,” the group said in a press release.
“Climate and environmental justice can not be achieved as long as we continue to ignore the social and racial injustices, along with the economic oppression that laid the foundations of our modern world.
"Adults must stop pretending that we can solve the climate and ecological crises without treating them as a crisis. These are some first steps, essential to our chance of avoiding a climate and ecological disaster.”
The group says “the evidence is clear: the world is on track for climate catastrophe but we still have time.” They are demanding deeds, not words.
- Effective immediately, halt all investments in fossil fuel exploration and extraction, immediately end all fossil fuel subsidies, and immediately and completely divest from fossil fuels;
- Advocate to make ecocide an international crime at the International Criminal Court.
- Include total emissions in all figures and targets, including consumption index, international aviation and shipping.
- Starting March 19 – establish annual, binding carbon budgets based on the current best available science and the IPCC’s budget which gives us a 66% chance of limiting the global temperature rise to below 1.5 °C. They need to include the global aspect of equity, tipping points and feedback loops and shouldn’t depend on assumptions of possible future negative emissions technologies.
- Safeguard and protect democracy.
- Design climate policies that protect workers and the most vulnerable and reduce all forms of inequality: economic, racial and gender.
- Treat the climate and ecological emergency like an emergency.
“The changes necessary to safeguard humanity may seem very unrealistic,” said the group. “But it is much more unrealistic to believe that our society would be able to survive the global heating and biodiversity collapse we’re heading for, as well as other disastrous ecological consequences of today’s business as usual.
"We have repeatedly said over the past 124 weeks we must listen to the experts and work together because we are in a climate emergency.”
While the group commends the City of Greater Sudbury for listening to the experts and working together, they are concerned about the actions taken by the Ontario government.
“Premier Ford made an election promise not to develop in the Greenbelt. Yet, he is planning a new four-lane highway to go through Ontario’s Greenbelt,” the press release said.
“We are also concerned about mining exploration here in Sudbury’s Wolf Lake region which is the world’s largest known contiguous ancient red pine forest.
"Ontario used to be a climate leader. Now we are climate laggards. Premier Doug Ford weakened Ontario’s climate target, ripped apart clean energy contracts and is expanding natural gas produced electricity production in Ontario. Natural gas is primarily methane and is at least 20 times more damaging than carbon dioxide.”
The group said greenhouse gas emissions rose by 10 Mega T in 2018 - accounting for two thirds of Canada’s increase in GHGs during that time.
“We are not old enough to vote. All we can do is strike every Friday to demand that adults protect our future. We demand deeds not words. We can do this, Canada.”
