If you're in or near Toronto on 22 June 2014, please come meet us at the Climate Emergency Countdown event.
See details on the poster below.
CLIMATE EMERGENCY COUNTDOWN: Numerous major climate reports -- especially the epic 2013/2014 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Fifth Assessment (AR5) -- have warned that:
The most important international Climate Change Conference ever (COP21) will be held in Paris late 2015, with the goal of finally reaching agreement on a global pact to see heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions decline FAST from 2020.
To help catalyze momentum and pressure action, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called a momentous climate summit in New York City this September 23rd. Civil society groups plan to organize a massive turnout in the tens of thousands (on September 20th).
This will be followed by the crucial annual international Climate Change Conference (COP20) in Lima, Peru, from December 1-12 of THIS YEAR, at which all the key parameters must be determined for there to be any hope of a signed 2015 agreement in Paris.
So it's New York to Lima to Paris, or bust!
The purpose of our afternoon mini-conference is:
1) To launch an action alert communication initiative to pressure all participants in the UN COP (Conference of the Parties) negotiation process to sign an EMERGENCY agreement at Paris 2015 that is consistent with both the stated agenda of the UNFCCC secretariat AND the most aggressive IPCC scenario (RCP2.6), which require global heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions to peak AND fall fast from 2020 [reaching virtually zero carbon -- NOT "net zero," as you might start hearing -- by 2070 or so].
2) To outline the true extent and negligence of continued direct and indirect subsidies to fossil fuel corporations ($1.9 trillion per year), to explain the necessity for the rapid phase out of subsidies, and to call / build support for their reallocation in order to speed up our transition to perpetual (non-burning renewable) "zero carbon" energy sources (such as wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, wave, micro-hydro).
3) To summarize the vital information in the IPCC 5th assessment and other recent climate reports, and expose their little-known or publicized shortcomings / dramatic underestimates. How bad do they indicate the situation to be, and what do they miss?
4) To communicate the importance of the next 18 months, with particular emphasis on the next 6 months, when so much of the eventual outcome of international negotiations will be determined.
5) To propose the best, most rapid and achievable action responses we can demand and expect from the UN climate convention process through to a signed EMERGENCY agreement at Paris 2015.
- Human-caused global warming and climate change from heat-trapping fossil fuel emissions pose a clear, present, accelerating danger that has ALREADY resulted in unprecedented global-scale impacts everywhere, with financial costs estimated to be at least $1.2 trillion dollars a year and rising.
- EMERGENCY international action must be taken FAST because, on our current, "business as usual" trajectory, catastrophic, irreversible, runaway threats to civilization, humanity and most life are projected to ensue over the next few decades, and there is a high risk that we could become committed / locked in to some over the next few years.
The most important international Climate Change Conference ever (COP21) will be held in Paris late 2015, with the goal of finally reaching agreement on a global pact to see heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions decline FAST from 2020.
To help catalyze momentum and pressure action, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called a momentous climate summit in New York City this September 23rd. Civil society groups plan to organize a massive turnout in the tens of thousands (on September 20th).
This will be followed by the crucial annual international Climate Change Conference (COP20) in Lima, Peru, from December 1-12 of THIS YEAR, at which all the key parameters must be determined for there to be any hope of a signed 2015 agreement in Paris.
So it's New York to Lima to Paris, or bust!
The purpose of our afternoon mini-conference is:
1) To launch an action alert communication initiative to pressure all participants in the UN COP (Conference of the Parties) negotiation process to sign an EMERGENCY agreement at Paris 2015 that is consistent with both the stated agenda of the UNFCCC secretariat AND the most aggressive IPCC scenario (RCP2.6), which require global heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions to peak AND fall fast from 2020 [reaching virtually zero carbon -- NOT "net zero," as you might start hearing -- by 2070 or so].
2) To outline the true extent and negligence of continued direct and indirect subsidies to fossil fuel corporations ($1.9 trillion per year), to explain the necessity for the rapid phase out of subsidies, and to call / build support for their reallocation in order to speed up our transition to perpetual (non-burning renewable) "zero carbon" energy sources (such as wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, wave, micro-hydro).
3) To summarize the vital information in the IPCC 5th assessment and other recent climate reports, and expose their little-known or publicized shortcomings / dramatic underestimates. How bad do they indicate the situation to be, and what do they miss?
4) To communicate the importance of the next 18 months, with particular emphasis on the next 6 months, when so much of the eventual outcome of international negotiations will be determined.
5) To propose the best, most rapid and achievable action responses we can demand and expect from the UN climate convention process through to a signed EMERGENCY agreement at Paris 2015.
Sunday, June 22, 1pm to 5pm
Metro Hall, 55 John St (King and John), Room 308, Toronto
Presentations, videos, Q and A, FREE admission and refreshments
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I would appreciate hearing your thoughts or questions on this post or anything else you've read here. What is your take on courage and compassion being an important part of the solution to the climate change emergency?