On behalf of youth and voters from across Canada, we ask that our government take real and immediate action to prevent climate catastrophe.

We are in a climate crisis, with the lives of hundreds of millions of people – and the stability of civilization – at risk. Canada is not immune – we are experiencing warming at twice the global rate; in Northern Canada, three times. British Columbia and Alberta now have a “wildfire season”. Increased flooding is spilling over the banks of Prairie rivers. The ground is literally collapsing below the feet of Indigenous peoples in the North due to permafrost melt.  Millions in coastal cities are threatened by sea level rise. We, as a nation, must take immediate action to stop this crisis.

On October 8, 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report detailing the catastrophic consequences of 2.0 degrees Celsius of global warming. Thousands of climate scientists from 195 countries stated the imperative need for bold climate action now. To limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, we have less than 11 years to cut global greenhouse gas emissions in half.

The virtually unanimous scientific consensus is that humans are causing the climate crisis and that it disproportionately affects marginalized people, including but not limited to: Indigenous peoples, racialized communities, people of colour, and the poor, populations that overwhelmingly make up the Arctic, the Global South, and lower and middle-income countries.

Canada, as the worst polluter per capita in the G20, has a responsibility to make deep emissions cuts and to support lower and middle-income countries in their transitions to fossil free economies.

The urgency of the climate crisis compelled over 1.6 million students from over 120 countries to walk out of class on March 15th, 2019, including over 160,000 Canadian youth.

On May 3rd, youth across Canada are striking again. Youth will continue to act until we see the action that we demand.

On March 15, 150 000 students took to the streets of Montreal alone!

We, as citizens, therefore call upon all political parties and politicians to create and commit to a science-based and human rights focused Emergency Plan for Climate Justice that limits global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

We, as citizens, pledge to vote only for political parties and politicians that include the following demands in their Emergency Plan for Climate Justice.

1. Bold Emissions Reductions Targets: Legislate greenhouse gas emission reductions of 65% by 2030, reaching net zero emissions by 2040.
2. Separation of Oil and State: Reject all new fossil fuel extraction or transportation projects, eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, and price pollution.
3. A Just Transition: Transition to renewable energy and sustainable transportation infrastructure while guaranteeing opportunity for fossil fuel workers in the new economy.
4. Environmental Rights: Enshrine in law the fundamental right to a healthy environment. This would include, but is not limited to, the right to safe air, clean water, and healthy soil.
5. Indigenous Rights: Commit to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in full.
6. Conservation of Biodiversity: Maintain and protect old growth forests, restore cut blocks, reduce habitat fragmentation and strengthen the protection of at risk species.
7. Protection for Vulnerable Groups: Recognize Canada’s disproportionate role in the climate crisis and subsequent responsibility for the protection of the most vulnerable. Include the addition of climate displacement as a basis for refugee status. Provide climate aid to lower and middle-income countries, as well as Arctic Canada, which disproportionately experience the impacts of the climate crisis.

Climate Strike Canada echos the demands presented in the Platform for Emergency Action on Climate and Environment.