Climate Action Network Canada responds to the release of the ‘Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C’ from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Climate Action Network Canada responds to the release of the ‘Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C’ from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

On the ground as head of delegation for observer civil society organizations working with Climate Action Network International, CAN-Rac Executive Director Catherine Abreu issued the following statement

INCHEON, South Korea (October 8, 2018) – No more excuses, no more delay. That is the message the IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C (#SR15) has for the world. If we want to continue living on a planet that resembles the paradise we inhabit now, we must act immediately and without relent.

Importantly, this report also tells us that we have the time and we have the means. Limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C is possible with strong international cooperation and resource deployment to vulnerable communities, many of which are already leading the charge while being heavily affected by the impacts of climate change.

So what’s holding us back from taking the action demanded of us? Short-sighted politics and the reckless self-interest of polluting industries. Political courage is necessary to expand the transition underway in many sectors around the world and scale it up to effect the transformational change required. The science is clear and it has handed us a way forward: all of us must do all we can, all at the same time.

Nowhere is this more true than in Canada, where Indigenous, northern, and coastal communities are on the frontlines of climate impacts and the tension between policy ambition and economic decision-making continues to undermine climate action. It will take courage to start the conversation Canada needs about the incompatibility of its fossil fuel industry with a liveable planet, and plan for a just transition that reimagines Canadian prosperity and jobs.

In less than two months, countries will gather again for the 24th UN climate conference, where SR15 will be the core element driving ambition-raising conversations in the Talanoa Dialogue and the forthcoming review and enhancement period for national pledges under the Paris Agreement. Canada must enter these conversations prepared to increase its climate ambition and get on track to exceeding its current insufficient 2030 emissions reduction goal.

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CONTACT:

Catherine Abreu
Executive Director, Climate Action Network – Réseau action climat (CAN-Rac) Canada
WhatsApp: +1 902 412 8953 | catherineabreu@climateactionnetwork.ca

Canada’s primary network of organizations working on climate change and energy issues, CAN-Rac is a coalition of more than 100 organizations operating from coast to coast to coast. Our membership brings environmental groups together with trade unions, First Nations, social justice, development, health and youth organizations, faith groups and local, grassroots initiatives.