A group of citizens concerned about the impacts of climate change will be gathering at Cranbrook city hall on Friday as part of a worldwide movement urging governments to take action.
The Fridays for Future is a global phenomenon inspired by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, with the intent to strike every Friday as a way to raise awareness for climate action.
Sue Cairns was involved with the first climate strike last Friday at Rotary Park as a way to mark a global climate summit in Madrid, Spain, which is running for the next two weeks.
“Today was an opportunity to be counted as a person who is in support of strong climate action and so it wasn’t really an organized event with any speakers, but just a chance to be counted as a concerned individual who wants to see strong action and let our politicians know that we’re out here,” she said.
Another gathering outside city hall is set for Friday, Dec. 6, starting at 12:15 pm
Cairns said that the strikes are about starting a conversation about climate change and working towards action and solutions, such as legally binding greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and more transparent reporting and enforcement of those targets.
“I would really like to see us put our heads together around solutions and ways that we can look at renewable energy,” Cairns said. “It’s an incredibly challenging issue in a rural area that is resource dependent and realize that there’s nothing simple about this conversation at all — it’s incredibly complex and that’s why we need everybody at the table.”
trevor.crawley@cranbrooktownsman.com
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