Walk for the Climate

Article by Hamilton 350 Organizer Betsy Agar

December 11th-Some one hundred people braved sub-zero temperatures in Hamilton, Ontario on Friday night for a candlelit walk, drawing attention to the urgent need for real action on climate change.

Coinciding with the monthly James North Art Crawl, a diverse group of people (age five to eighty-five) carried a diverse group of candles (mason jars, tealights, beer mugs, scented candles, skip the battery ones, and a few camping lanterns) down James Street from York to Barton. The wind blew out the candles but not the message:

Hamiltonians want Canada to commit to real climate action policy during the ongoing Copenhagen negotiations. We want fair, ambitious, and binding targets to reverse our contributions to climate change.

The walk, organized by the Hamilton faction of the 350.org group, stopped off for a warm-up in Christ's Church Cathedral. Local KAIROS members and Hamilton Churches are also part of the campaign to draw attention to dangerous climate change, and on Sunday rang their bells 350 times.

Most recently, the Premiers of two of Canada's largest provinces publicly declared their opposition to our Prime Minister's lack of commitment. This is significant because our provinces can be our greatest Lobbyists, and can make many of their own decisions regarding energy and environment and economy.

We are with you, even if our Prime Minister is not!

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The Kairos website reports over 150 churches committed to ringing their bells that day.
In Hamilton and area, St James Anglican in Dundas, MacNeill Baptist in Westdale and St Luke’s Anglican in Burlington, Appleby United Church in Burlington, East Plains United Church in Burlington, and Emmanuel United Church on the mountain in Hamilton.

Hamilton 350 Committee

The coalition of a dozen local community groups is part of a global movement campaigning for a reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels to 350 parts per million – a level of the greenhouse gas which that leading climate scientists believe will avoid the worst impacts of global climate change. Atmospheric levels are currently at 387 parts per million and rising.

There are multiple other ways you can continue to make your voices heard. You can sign the Avaaz petition being delivered on Friday to Prime Minister Harper. Sign the petition, then forward it to everyone you know: http://www.avaaz.org/en/harper_enough_is_enough.

You call also phone a Member of Parliament. Call Parliament at 1-866-599-4999 now. Ask to be put through to a member of parliament in your area (or a leading government representative such as Ministers Prentice, Flaherty and Raitt) to demand action to help save Copenhagen. Calling an MP is easy; watch a Sierra Youth Coalition member call Parliament from Copenhagen.

Please let us know if you’d like to help with the work of the Hamilton 350 Committee. Just respond to this email.

Walk for the Climate

*A candlelight walk on James Street North*
starting from the City Centre at York and James in support of real
action on climate change
(Coinciding with the monthly James North Art Crawl)
*7pm- December 11th*
*Take action on climate change. Send a message to Copenhagen**

We must quickly lower the atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases to no
more than 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide. Please join us in
Hamilton’s contribution to the world-wide actions taking place mid-way
through the negotiations in Copenhagen on a new global climate treaty.
Contact , Beatrice at 905 549 0900 for more information

Impact of religions will have 'deeper roots' than Copenhagen

Ecologist

31st October, 2009

Archbishop speaks of the lasting impact of a religious movement to tackle climate change ahead of major summit of religious leaders

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has spoken out about the crucial role of the world's religions in tackling climate change ahead of a major summit of faith leaders.

Speaking at Lambeth Palace this week, the Archbishop said religions held the 'moral vision' and that ultimately their impact would have 'deeper roots' than anything achievable at the Copenhagen summit.

His comments come as leaders from nine of the world's major faiths - Baha'ism, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Dhintoism and Sikhism - gather at a major summit in Windsor next week to announce commitments to tackling climate change.

Faith commitments

Among the practical measures being announced is a commitment by The Northern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania to plant 8.5 million trees, and by Sikhs to source sustainable fuel for India's Sikh gurdwaras, or temples, which cater for 30 million people every day.

Leaders will also announce a new Islamic eco label for goods and services, eco-tourism packages for pilgrimages (still the world's biggest tourism events) and the turning of Shabbat into an environmental celebration of avoiding consumption.

Biggest civil movement

The event, being organised by the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC), has been described as 'the biggest civil society movement on climate change in history,' by the UN.

Faith communities own between 7-8 per cent of the habitable land surface of the planet, run (or are involved in) half the world's schools and control more than 7 per cent of international financial investments.

UN Assistant Secretary-General Ola Kjorven said with more than 85 per cent of the world's population adhering to a religion the commitments made at the Windsor summit had the potential to be, 'the biggest mobilisation of people and communities that we have ever seen on this issue.'

Useful links
Full list of commitments being made
Windsor 2009 summit

350 Hamilton

What a tremendous success! The faith community joined community groups in Hamilton to demonstrate their concerns about global climate change.
St James Anglican United Church rang their bells 350 times to summon people to action (in solidarity with 6 other Hamilton churches).
I held a GSS workshop at Christ Church in support of the 350 events; our volunteer screened The Power of Community at Centenary United.

Ring Them Bells!

Gooooooo Hamilton! Who said our city was apathetic when it comes to climate change action? They're wrong. Read the article below by our Don Mclean of Environment Hamilton. Greening Sacred Spaces is proud of the hand we had in helping to mobilize Hamilton faith groups to action for the 24th October;World Climate Day of Action.
All through the planning of this day's events,we've had consistent faith representation-as many as seven leaders at a time. We're proud of you!



Bells of warning for planet

By DON MCLEAN, COMMUNITY COLUMNIST

Columns
Oct 16, 2009
Large Medium Small Print This Article Tell a friend Church bells ringing across Hamilton Mountain this month are calling to more than the Christian faithful. They are warning us all of the growing climatic dangers that confront the world’s governments trying to construct a post-Kyoto agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The ringing is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 24 — the day when Hamiltonians will gather in Gore Park to participate in a global day of action on climate change.

It’s one of over 1,700 actions taking place that day in 140 countries, and will include a 3 p. m. walk to the federal building at Bay and York to deliver a message to Canada’s climate treaty negotiators.

The bells of a half dozen Mountain Anglican churches will ring out 350 times in total to mark the safe level of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere: 350 parts per million. Unfortunately, the level has already exceeded 385 and is climbing by two or three parts per million every year.

That puts us currently about 40 per cent higher than pre-industrial levels. The negative results are already painfully evident in extreme storm events and rapidly melting glaciers and polar ice caps that are disappearing far faster than expected. The two “100-year” storms that flooded over 7,000 Hamilton homes this summer appear to be one small part of a worsening global climatic crisis.

Last month, the United Nations reported that greenhouse gas emissions have been going up, not down. In the 1990s they increased by 1.1 per cent a year, but since 2000 the rate of increase has climbed to 3.5 percent annually — higher than even the worst-case scenario contemplated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that combines the efforts of climate scientists from every UN country.

The Oct. 24 events in Gore Park have a dozen sponsoring organizations, and include musical performances, displays and hands-on activities from noon to 3 p. m. There are also workshops, presentations and film showings starting at 1 p. m. in multiple downtown locations (register between noon and 1 o’clock in Gore Park at King and Hughson). The walk to the federal building starts at 3 p. m. See www.Hamilton350.com for full info.

The city has declared October to be climate change action month. Other activities include a high school environmental conference at Mohawk and an Oct. 18 “Eco-Walk” linking together four Dundas churches.

Mike Nickerson is one of the featured speakers at the Oct. 24 action. The author of “Life, Money and Illusion: Living on Earth as If We Want to Stay,” is also speaking at a school, two churches and a Dundas town hall meeting that weekend.

Don McLean is a director of Environment Hamilton and a volunteer with CATCH (Citizens at City Hall). He teaches environmental studies.

The Community Columnist is a regular feature of the Mountain News. If you would like to write in this space, call editor Gord Bowes at 905-523-5800 ext. 335 to discuss your idea.