Join us on Sunday, November 13th at 5:00 pm for a candlelight vigil for COP27.
From November 6th – 18th of this year, world leaders will gather at the COP27 conference in Egypt to discuss their plans to address global heating. We are holding a candlelight vigil to reflect and share our concerns and hopes for real progress on climate action at COP27.
At 5:00 pm we will congregate at Trinity-St. Paul's United Church and Centre for Faith, Justice and the Arts,
427 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 1X7 (at Spadina), where we will write postcards to deliver to Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Finance.
At 5:30 we will leave Trinity-St Paul’s and walk east on the south side of Bloor, cross Spadina Rd, and gather at Matt Cohen Park, 393 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 2J4, with our candles.
At 6:00 pm we will leave Matt Cohen Park and walk as a group, with candles, across the intersection of Spadina and Bloor to the NW corner and west to Chrystia Freeland’s office at 344 Bloor St W.
Despite increasingly clear evidence of the climate emergency, leaders across the world and particularly in Canada are failing to take the decisive action needed to protect our world, and particularly the most vulnerable member of the global community. Canada has yet to reduce our national emissions, our government continues to approve and subsidize new fossil fuel infrastructure, and we are falling behind in our commitments to fund energy transitions in less developed countries. This cannot continue.
In recognition of the need for change, members of ClimateFast and For the Love of Creation invite groups across Canada to host candlelight vigils in their own communities on the weekend of November 11-13, 2022. This will be a time to reflect and share our love for our planet, our concern for ourselves and our fellow human beings at risk from climate change, and our hopes for truly transformative action to happen at COP and through each other. This invitation coincides with and complements the call for a Global Day of Action on November 12. Candlelight vigils are already being planned in several places.
We encourage people to use their local events to highlight local climate-related issues that are important to them, as well as international issues such as the demand for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. Information on key pan-Canadian asks will be provided in advance of the date. We will amplify each other’s voices by acting on the same weekend. Let’s light up the whole Canadian map!
If you or a group you are part of is interested in hosting a vigil, please contact climatefast@climatefast.ca to add your event details to the national list.