Stop climate chaos - all out September 23

The flooding in Pakistan is the worst ever seen in that country’s history. Almost a third of the country is under water. Thousands have died and millions have lost their homes. The rains have wiped out key crops and drowned hundreds of thousands of animals. All of this will result in an acute food shortage. 

 

A combination of heavier than usual rainfall and accelerated glacial melt from the recent heatwave is the immediate cause of this crisis. But the real cause is that the capitalist system is addicted to the burning of fossil fuels and our political and business leaders have done all they can to sabotage and action on climate. 

 

The situation in Pakistan is indicative of the injustice of climate change. Pakistan is responsible for less than 1% of the global greenhouse gas emissions but they and other states in the global south will bear the brunt of the crisis caused by the major industrial nations. 

 

The rest of the globe is in no better shape. Heatwaves and wildfires have been widespread across Europe. Most of Southern Eurasia and Africa are in the depths of prolonged drought with soaring temperatures. Rivers in Europe are drying up. The Po river in Italy, the source of a third of the country’s agricultural production, has dried up and rice crops have failed. 

 

The energy crisis is making things worse with many European countries abandon their emission targets which were already insufficient to deal with the crisis. 

 

In the US, drought is followed by flooding. In an 11 day span the US saw 4 flooding events that would normally only happen every 1000 years.  Andreas Prein, a climate change scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research told the Guardian newspaper, “We are going to have to change the labeling because these are not one-in-1,000-years events any more. It’s shocking to see all of this flood damage but it follows a pattern. These rare events are becoming more and more common and our infrastructure is just not keeping up.”

 

In Canada we are also seeing these extremes. Lytton, BC was the site of the highest recorded temperature north of the 45th parallel last year and the area was hit again this summer. The areas around the town have experienced fires and floods and fires again all within a year. Each catastrophe has interfered with efforts to build back from the previous one. When we look at Lytton, we look at the future for us all as increased exploitation of fossil fuels dumps more and more greenhouse gasses into the air.

 

Scientists have been warning about these scenarios for decades. Severe storms, flooding and drought are all increasing in both frequency and are becoming more widespread.

 

A new Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) reporthas stated that the new zero pledges made by various countries is insufficient to stop warming. Pledges need to be more than 4 times more stringent to meet the 1.5 degree targets set out on the Paris accords. 

 

Canada is one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions but politicians of all stripes are lining up to expand oil and gas production. The Trudeau Liberals are still actively building pipelines to expand markets for tar sands oil and other LNG being extracted in Alberta.

 

It has never been clearer that we need to topple the capitalist system if we want any kind of future on this planet. A movement that combines the call for Indigenous Sovereignty, climate justice and a just transition for workers is crucial if we are going to reverse the tide. 

 

Join the global climate strike on September 23rd and help build the movement to end this climate chaos.

 

To find your local event listings see: https://fridaysforfuture.org/

 

In Toronto the protest starts at Queen's Park at 2pm on Friday, September 23

More info at:https://www.fridaysforfutureto.org/september-23-strike