September 27 & 28, 2024
Building an exit ramp from “the highway to climate hell”
Every day the headlines bring more disasters, fuelled by climate change: fires, floods, and hurricanes in Canada and around the world. Scientists say we are all heading for catastrophe but Governments are not acting as if it is a crisis.Many Canadians have suffered, this year alone, from forest fires in Alberta and British Columbia, flooding from torrential rains in Toronto and Quebec, and destruction from Maritime hurricanes. Yet some of us see only small signs like outdoor community skating rinks becoming puddles of slush, and we tell ourselves that the changes are not so bad that we can’t adapt – like frogs not jumping out of the slowly heating pot of water.
What can just one person do? A lot. At the very least, taking action combats climate anxiety: but also, as Margaret Mead has said:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.“
Though It’s clear that leaving solutions to governments and the private sector is not working and we are running out of time, UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, insists that “There is an exit off ‘the highway to climate hell’” but we must act in the next 18 months to insist that the fossil fuel conglomerates stop profiting from planetary destruction and governments to clamp down on the fossil fuel business. (UN News)
That’s why The Group of 78’s annual conference Citizens Confront Climate Crisis focuses on citizen-involvement and re-activation of hope.
The program for our conference focuses on citizen movements in Canada and other countries. Movements such as the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and EcoJustice litigation brought forward by youth. Adrian Harewood will moderate a discussion between generations. We will examine lessons from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and how we can effectively advocate at International Summits building on the achievements of national citizen collaborations. We will converse with experts from Environmental Defence, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Nature Canada, Below 2 Degrees, Grandmothers, and Local Community Associations to create an action plan for us to collaborate and amplify each other’s work and save the planet for us all.
Register here to attend the Group of 78 Conference: Citizens Confront Climate Crisis.