You’re Invited: Canadian Fast & Vigil for Climate Justice on Parliament Hill Sept.21-Oct.2, 2012

This video presents “Climate expert says Arctic warming twice as fast”:

  • Climate change researcher Matthew England discusses the changing Arctic climate

Furthermore, the consequences of climate change have been reported as follows:

“And in a year when sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk to a record low level, worries of climate change are front and centre.

Aariak said the effects are being felt first-hand in many ways, including hunters falling through sea ice that has become dangerously thin.

Earlier in the week, Bob McLeod, premier of the Northwest Territories, said the effects of global warming are becoming apparent across the N.W.T., too.

“It’s something we notice in our everyday lives,” McLeod said in an interview.

This past winter, it never got below –40C in Yellowknife for the first time since records have been taken. Over the hot summer, the territory has suffered an outbreak of forest fires.

“We’re starting to see hybrids, polar bears and grizzly bears, species of wildlife never seen before,” he said.”
Toronto Star

“The unusually hot spells and extreme drought that North America and other parts of the world have experienced over the last few years are inextricably linked to global warming, a prominent NASA scientist claims in new study.”
cnews

“But the U.K.-based Center for Low Carbon Futures, a network of universities, said in a new report that within 10 years large parts of Asia may face long periods of severe drought. Especially hit will be northern China, India, Afghanistan, Mongolia, and Pakistan. Other parts of Asia are likely to face longer and wetter monsoon seasons.

The threat from global climate change comes as rice and wheat yields in Asia are declining, said Paul Teng, a professor and senior fellow at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.”
Voice of America

This video presents ” People Everywhere Connect the Dots on Climate Change”:

  • to depict the global consequences of climate change due to global warming
  • “On 5/5/12, people around the world volunteered, documented, educated, and protested to connect the dots on climate change”


A Fast and Vigil for Climate Justice

12 Days on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada

September 21 – October 2, 2012

Meet the fasters on Parliament Hill from 9am to 6pm every day

Join our Candlelight Vigils
7:30 pm Sept 21 and Oct 2

Hungry for Climate Leadership:

  • is organizing a Fast and Vigil for Climate Justice on Parliament Hill which will take place over 12 days
    • This action will begin September 21, on the International Day of Peace, and continute until the International Day of Nonviolence on October 2
    • “This demonstration has been organized to demand that the Canadian government take action on climate change, the greatest threat to our children“
  • gives us the following explanation for A Fast and Vigil for Climate Justice today and for the next 12 days:

    “As the Earth warms and extreme weather events become increasingly common, hundreds of thousands perish each year. Our children will feel the deadly effects of the carbon we pump into the atmosphere. In the second half of this century, the vast majority of humanity may perish from the droughts, floods and diseases that climate change is expected to bring. Experts estimate that by 2100 the Earth may only be able to support one billion people. Climate change is humanity’s biggest challenge, yet Canada is not making even the most modest effort to reduce this threat.

    Canada’s role has been particularly damaging. We allow our emissions to grow and our government obstructs international negotiations. Canada signed the Kyoto Protocol and then declared that we have no intention of meeting our reduction commitments. With no real reduction programs in place, our emissions continue to grow. Countries that have not benefited from industrial development spurred by fossil fuels will experience the most devastating effects.

    Our vigil and fast is to draw attention to the misery we are unleashing on our children and on this living world. We appeal to our lawmakers to take positive steps to reduce our emissions. Our action is a peaceful and hopeful one. We aim to inspire people and decision makers in Canada to find the courage and wisdom to press for, and put into action, the changes our children need.

    First, we must eliminate fossil fuel subsidies of well over $1billion each year (about $40 for each Canadian). In 2009, Canada agreed to eliminate these subsidies. We have not done this. We give our public money to hugely profitable industries which further accelerates the damage to our climate. This shows a reckless disregard for the climate crisis. We should not promote destruction of the climate with public funds.

    We must put a price on greenhouse gases and develop a real plan to emphasize conservation and renewable energy.

    We ask you to contact your government representatives and demand urgent action, especially the elimination of all fossil fuel subsidies.

    We suggest that you write letters to the editor of your local newpapers with the same demands.

    We encourage you to join in a day of fasting. You can donate the money saved to a climate or hunger relief organization.

    We invite you to endorse this statement and join us in taking action.“
    Hungry for Climate Leadership

  • To find out how you can get involved check out their website here!

Here is an itinerary of events for A Fast and Vigil for Climate Justice:

  • International Day of Peace: Fri, 09/21/2012 – 12:00am

    • The United Nations has declared September 21st the International Day of Peace every year

  • Fast: 12 Days to Save Our Children: Fri, 09/21/2012 – 9:00am

    • The fasters will be on Parliament Hill in Ottawa each day from 9am to 6pm.

  • Candlelight Vigil: Fri, 09/21/2012 – 7:30pm

    • Please join the candlelight vigil on Parliament Hill in Ottawa
    • Bring your own candle with its wind guard and drip catcher

  • Mother Earth – Protect our Living Planet: Tue, 09/25/2012 – 7:00pm

    • 7 :00 Youth voices on the future:  Rio + 20 – 20 minutes – Tiffany
    • 7:15 What and Why: Climate Fasters introduced – 15 minutes
    • 7:30 Earth: Alive Finite Hurting vimeo.com/28701717. – 5 minutes –  short reflection
    • 7: 40 Raven Courtney, on the Campaign to Eradicate Ecocide, and the Mother Earth Walk – 10 minutes
    • 8:00 Polly Higgins – TED TALK – 17 minutes – on the crime of ecocide
    • 8:20 SPOIL – the Great Bear Rainforest and the fight against the Northern Gateway Pipeline – 44 minutes
    • 9:00 circle of sharing

  • Protecting our Oceans: Thu, 09/27/2012 – 7:00pm

    • 7:00 Film: Sea Change: Imagine a World Without Fish – 88 minutes
    • Circle of sharing – 30 minutes

  • Changing the World – why we must and how we can: Sat, 09/29/2012 – 6:00pm

    • 6:00 Tipping Point: Wake Up Freak Out and Get a Grip – 10 min
    • 6:15  Why I must speak out on Climate Change by James Hansen 17 min
    • 7:15 How to Boil a Frog – an excellent introduction to activism on the climate issue (and linking it to overshoot)  (one hour)
    • 8:30 The Story of Change by Annie Leonard (6.5 minutes)
    • 8:40 Sharing circle

  • Screening: Climate Refugees: Mon, 10/01/2012 – 6:00pm

    • Where: Ottawa Public Library – Auditorium (basement), 120 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa
      • Parking available on street or at World Exchange Plaza
      • Buses: 2 blocks from Albert and Metcalfe (all major bus routes)
    • Screening and panel discussion
      • Documentary: “Climate Refugees” (climaterefugees.com/)
      • “Climate change is the threat multiplier for overpopulation, over-consumption and lack of natural resources. Our mission is to create a platform that will illuminate the facts about climate refugees, their lack of international protection, our national security issues and solutions to these civilization-altering issues,“ writer/director/producer Michael Nash.
      • “Climate Refugees” was filmed in Bangladesh, Belgium, Chad, China, Denmark, Fiji, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Kenya, Maldives, Poland, Switzerland, Tuvalu, UK, and the US.
      • Donations go towards the screening of the film

  • International Day of Nonviolence, Gandhi’s birthday:  Tue, 10/02/2012 – 12:00am

    • The International Day of Nonviolence began on 2 October 2007, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of non-violence
    • According to General Assembly resolution A/RES/61/271 of 15 June 2007, which established the commemoration, the International Day is an occasion to “disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness“
    • The resolution reaffirms “the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence” and the desire “to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence“

  • Candlelight Vigil: Tue, 10/02/2012 – 7:30pm

    • Please join the candlelight vigil on Parliament Hill in Ottawa
    • Bring your own candle with its wind guard and drip catcher

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