At least two bus-loads of Hamiltonians will join the Toronto march for jobs, justice and climate action starting at Queen’s Park on Sunday July 5 that will be addressed by Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein. It comes as Klein has been recruited by Pope Francis to lead a global conference on the environment, and as scientists warn that climate change has already committed the planet to at least five metres of sea level rise.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have confirmed last month was the hottest May with the fourth highest departure from average for any month on record. The two highest departures were recorded in February and March of this year, and the only month this year that wasn’t the hottest in the NOAA’s 136 year record was April which came in as the fourth hottest.
In the last ten days of May, a heat wave in India killed more than 2200 people when “temperatures surpassed 42C (108F) across much of the country and 45C (113F) in northern and central India.” Pakistan is now enduring a similar catastrophe with nearly 1200 fatalities and more than 65,000 heat stroke victims in Karachi before the end of June.
Scientists now think that melting of some polar ice sheets has passed a point of no return that means a rise in sea level of five metres is now locked-in and another 15 metres “will soon be unavoidable”. The pace of that increase remains uncertain, but at least one metre is assumed in this century.
The Toronto march seeks to unite movements for aboriginal rights, social justice, environmental action and secure employment. It is taking place on the eve of two Pan-American summits in Toronto – one on climate change and one on economic development – and is calling for a “just transition to a clean energy future”.
In response, Environment Hamilton, the Hamilton 350 Committee and the local chapter of the Council of Canadians have combined to provide two buses to the 1 pm march, while others – like a newly-formed “Hikers for 350” group – are taking GO transit to the event. On-line registration is available.
“We don’t have to choose between the economy and the environment. Real climate action means investing in public transit, clean energy infrastructure and affordable housing,” argue the organizers of the Hamilton buses. “It means expanding low-carbon sectors like healthcare, education and sustainable agriculture. By taking real climate action, we can create an economy that is more fair and equal and offers hundreds of thousands of good new jobs.”
The three groups also have a showing of the new film Directly Affected on Friday July 3 at the Tower (corner of Cannon and Victoria) at 7 pm. It tells the stories of the lives and livelihoods of people in the path of the Kinder Morgan pipeline proposed to carry tar sands bitumen through Vancouver which has faced civil disobedience and condemnation from First Nations and the mayors of cities in its path.
Climate campaigners got a huge boost from the encyclical issued two weeks ago by Pope Francis which defined it as a moral issue and linked it and world poverty to the global economic system and excess consumption.
“The pace of consumption, waste and environmental change has so stretched the planet’s capacity that our contemporary lifestyle, unsustainable as it is, can only precipitate catastrophes, such as those which even now periodically occur in different areas of the world,” the pontiff declared.
He’s also invited Canadian author Naomi Klein to lead a high-level church conference on climate change.
“The fact that they invited me indicates they’re not backing down from the fight. A lot of people have patted the pope on the head, but said he’s wrong on the economics. I think he’s right on the economics,” Klein said. “The holistic view of the encyclical should be a catalyst to bring together the twin economic and climate crises, instead of treating them separately,” she said.