FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Climate Activists Envision a Green, Just and Healthy Recovery in 50th Anniversary Earth Day Webcast
Wednesday, April 22, 2020, 7-8:30pm EDT
Eventbrite registration: https://34CPrK6
LIVE YOUTUBE LINK: https://youtu.be/L2droCHmZTI
Faced with the challenge of commemorating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day while observing physical distancing, ClimateFast, a Toronto-based climate justice advocacy group, has organized a live webcast featuring presentations by a stellar list of Canadian and Indigenous climate activists. This public webinar will inspire, inform and motivate Canadians to take action to usher in a green new decade amidst the simultaneous crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerating climate disruption.
The Wednesday evening webcast will be hosted by student activist and coordinator of Fridays For Future Toronto, Alienor Rougeot. She is excited to lend a youth voice to the online event and notes, “We are, in the end, all one generation: the last generation capable of saving ourselves from extinction.”
The live streamed webcast for nearly 1000 activists will consist of calls to action and short, powerful presentations from an impressive array of speakers. This includes Katharine Hayhoe, the acclaimed climate scientist who was named a U.N. Champion of the Earth in 2019. Hayhoe sees the connections in how we address both the climate crisis and the COVID-19 recovery. “Long term, stimulus packages may hold the key to whether this disaster significantly delays or advances progress on climate …. Will they move us forward into the future, or back into the past?”
These thoughts are shared by another presenter, Catherine Abreu, who is the Executive Director of Climate Action Network Canada. “We need the kinds of measures that will help Canada rebuild better,” Abreu insists, “putting us on path to a net-zero future that runs on renewable energy.”
Another of the webcast’s keynote speakers is Dianne Saxe, the former Environmental Commissioner of Ontario and one of Canada's most respected environmental lawyers. Focusing on the need for citizen involvement in the fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Saxe reminds us, “Every tonne counts. Every action matters.”
There will also be a presentation by Deborah McGregor, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice at York University. Anishinaabe from Whitefish River First Nation, McGregor points out that our actions now have effects for generations to come. “All of us are going to be ancestors. What kind of ancestor are you going to be?”
In speaking about the upcoming Earth Day webcast, ClimateFast Co-Chair, Lyn Adamson, strikes a positive tone, “This is a good news story for Canadians. We can achieve the transition we need to a green, equitable and healthy future while we recover from the economic crisis brought on by the COVID pandemic. Let’s make this the start of a Green New Decade and make sure the next 50 years bring the change we need to achieve a zero carbon future.”
The complete list of presenters is here: www.climatefast.ca
For interviews: CONTACT: Brian MacLean, 647.906.5075, brianpmaclean@
Or Lyn Adamson 416-731-6605, Francais: Allie Rougeot: 647-920-1050, allie.rougeot@gmail.com
Facebook: ClimateFast Action
Twitter : @ClimateFast
Instagram: @ClimateFastAction
