Dear Friend,
It’s been a tough couple of years and a tougher few weeks. We just marked two years since the beginning of the pandemic in Canada. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has horrified people around the world. And in the middle of all this, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the second installment of its sixth report.
Its overall message could not be any clearer. Any delay in action to slow climate change and to limit its impacts means we:
“ . . . will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.”
It’s not good news and Elizabeth May’s excellent speech in the House of Commons summed it up clearly for me. In many ways, this latest IPCC report drives home the same message: our failure to take climate change seriously and to act on it in an equally serious way is making the planet a more dangerous place.
In the face of the IPCC findings, it can be tempting to give up. What can we possibly do, individually and collectively, to make things better when everything just seems to be getting worse? Well, a good start is to chip in and help us support the work of our amazing Green MPs, Elizabeth and Mike Morrice, as they make the case in parliament for real action on the climate crisis.
As the Green Party Shadow Cabinet critic for Climate Change, I urge you not to give up or get pessimistic. There are things we can do. There are things that many of us have already been doing and need to keep doing. Some examples:
- Initiatives to protect our natural environments, save our local forests from destruction, and mitigate against further species loss.
- Increasing local food production.
- Building community resilience and educating the public about climate change.
- Creating welcoming communities for individuals and communities impacted by climate change. And keeping the pressure on government and industry to take real action on climate change.
These initiatives matter. Government and industry are now being forced to account for their inaction on climate. The climate emergency is now front and centre and will never again be consigned to the back pages.
The latest greenwashing efforts by fossil fuel companies show how desperate they’ve become to preserve the status quo. Some governments and companies are even using the Russian invasion of Ukraine to push for expanding fossil fuel production. Greens know that the only way to safeguard our energy security and our environmental future is to invest in clean, renewable energy.
The role of our resurgent Green Party is clear: We have to hold the government to account for what it does and doesn’t do and make sure that Canada develops and implements policies to mitigate and adapt to climate change. We take the IPCC’s findings seriously. The time for action is now.
Please help me and the other Shadow Cabinet members as we work with the Green Party MPs to develop policies that create a liveable and sustainable future for all the earth’s inhabitants.
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Dr. Imre Szeman, F.R.S.C. |
PS. Did you get a chance to watch the press conference our leader Dr. Amita Kutner and our two MP’s Elizabeth May and Mike Morris held? The Green Party has been front and center on the climate emergency. I’m so proud to be part of this team and this party!