Projects

(Our current and most important project)

Rationale:

Time is running out for a livable planet. We know this is true and that governments are failing to act appropriately. They have been lying to us and increasing the dangers we face now and into the future.  Citizens, governments and corporations must do everything in their power to create radical change; otherwise this catastrophe will steadily escalate out of control.

Our organization, “qathet Climate Alliance” (formerly Climate Action Powell River) will be eight years old on November 29 this year. We have worked hard to raise awareness and educate the public about the crisis we are in and what needs to be done. Our latest challenge is “doomers” i.e. those who adamantly proclaim that it is too late to save the planet.  This is patently unscientific. Others may believe in ‘incrementalism’ but as Alex Steffan (American author and journalist) says, “Winning slowly is the same as losing”.

Climate change is a crisis taking lives every day and causing irreplaceable extinctions and damage to our basic life support systems. What we do in qathet should be a model to other communities. There is already a fast growing global movement and we are strengthened by their commitment and creativity.

The Plan:

We have a plan.  It coincides with the latest scientific peer reviewed consensus from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), first stated in the Paris Agreement and then in later Assessment Reports. Their best case recommendation is that if the world reduced its total GHG emissions by 50% by the year 2030, we would have a roughly 60% chance of staying below 1.5 degrees of global warming. These figures may well worsen. We have only to look at the daily CO2 parts per million readings to surmise it is going to get tougher to stay within a compatible heating range.  We are basing our plan on that estimate i.e. 50% reduction by 2030.

What can we do?   What must we do?  Will it be individual or systematic change?  The answer is we need both approaches now, or as UN Secretary General António Guterres put it, “Everything, Everywhere, All at once”.

A Brief Summary of the 50% by 2030 Project

There are many components to this project. Our focus is local and global. It is based on inclusion, fairness and social justice. The areas of focus are:     

• Social justice and system change
• Rapid emission reduction
• Environmental Protection and Restoration
• Drawdown
• Complete “Mobilization” at all levels of government and institutions 

Our Ecological Footprint

Reducing our GHG emissions 50% by 2030 requires specific action.  We have a detailed baseline study called the  Ecological Footprint Tool (see Resources) which lists specific goals in order to reach a credible 50% emission reduction.  It was done by some of the best experts in the field of emission analysis and is the ‘technical’ foundation of our strategy. Page 20 of the Ecological Footprint Tool lists seven action areas with specific reduction targets that would get us to 50%. Please refer to the Sept. 2022 edition of CAPRicorn newsletter for a more detailed discussion and three sample reduction scenarios (the centrefold graphic).

Strategy:

We will ally ourselves with the following sectors to reduce our collective footprint and will measure the impacts that this alliance will create:

1. agriculture
2. building
3. transportation
4. food
5. business
6. education

Conclusion

The above is a brief synopsis of the 50% by 2030 Project. We have a mere six years to take our community and the world to what is in effect the potential survival of a livable planet. Greta Thunberg says we must begin as follows: Tell the Truth and treat the crisis like a crisis. We cannot recommend her recent book enough. It is an anthology of the best science and thinking from the best minds in every related field.  It supports the 50%  by 2030 Project road we now begin.

CAPRicorn got its name from our organization’s first name which was Climate Action Powell River Society.

Since its beginning in the winter of 2021, we have strived to share the truth about the climate crisis.

We are interested in offering our friends and allies the opportunity to contribute articles of 500 words or so as well as fun cartoons and graphics. We are also very interested in the voices of young people.

The newsletter is available to read at the library or we would be happy to add you to our mail-out list of supporters. Download past editions and subscribe here.

qCA endorses the Non-Violent Resistance (NVR) group’s general project of developing the local capacity to engage in non-violent resistance in the struggle for climate action. NVRG is an independent group, but may request the endorsement of qCA and/or other organizations for specific campaigns or actions on a case by case basis. In all cases, however, individuals engaging in NVR take full responsibility for their actions and their consequences, and absolve qCA of liability.

Fossil fuels contribute over 75 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause climate disruption. The three largest oil corporations alone produce about 10 per cent of global GHG pollution. Oil companies make enormous profits (a record $219 billion in 2022, according to Reuters) partly because they offload the damage from producing, transporting and consuming their product – by treating our atmosphere as a private sewer.

 Big Oil covered up and deceived the public about what they knew, and undermined potential alternatives that could have avoided today’s climate crisis. This is superbly documented by Geoff Dembicki in The Petroleum Papers.

West Coast Environmental Law, a nonprofit society, suggested strong legal muscle: get enough BC municipalities to set aside $1 per resident to file a class-action lawsuit.

We have choices: deteriorating infrastructure, steep tax increases, or Big Oil paying its fair share. Let’s encourage our local governments to join the suit.

See the petition at suebigoil.ca/declaration.

We are renting a window in the mall in order to share information with the general public about the climate crisis. The window demonstrates some of the effects of climate change around the world. Contact us to let us know what you think.