Climate activists march for binding emissions targets

THUNDER BAY – Local climate activists joined voices around the world on Sunday, calling for elected leaders meeting in Paris to sign a binding agreement that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A group of seven environmental organizations led an afternoon march from Hillcrest Park to the Paramount Theatre, where over 200 people watched a screening of the climate change film, This Changes Everything.

The rally was one of 2,461 events across the globe aiming to show popular support for a shift in energy policies. Those include ending subsidies to fossil fuel industries, investing in clean energy solutions, and

Speaking through a bullhorn, Citizens United for a Sustainable Planet member Paul Berger told the crowd the outgoing Conservative government has made Canada a “pariah on the world stage” as he appealed for the new Liberal government to make the country a leader on reducing the impact of climate change.

“We need to stop subsidizing the fossil fuel industry. We need to move quickly toward the technologies we already have and we could be employing,” he said.

“This is a case of we know what we need to do, we know a lot of how we need to do it but we need to get doing it. That’s what this walk is sending the message to politicians we need to get going with."

While Berger praised Thunder Bay’s approach to wastewater treatment, he pointed out the city is already experiencing flooding, Lyme disease, and ecosystem changes in mammals and migratory birds. Those phenomena, he argued, fall under the purview of a global approach.

“The problem is bigger than what one city can do. We can do all that we can but we also need to act globally. We need to act together to stop putting greenhouse gasses into the air because at a point, it will get so bad that we can’t anymore prepare for it. We need to do what we can now but we need to stop the problem from getting really severe in the long term.”

Council of Canadians local chair Ruth Cook said the impressive turnout on a chilly November day is doing its part in the broader global chorus. Now, she said, it’s up to elected representatives to hear those voices and change course. 

“It makes me feel I’m not alone,” Cook said.

“Environmentalists have felt, for many years, that we’re voices crying in the wilderness. When you see a whole lot of people coming out and saying, ‘I agree with you,’ that’s a good feeling.”