Greenpeace in Ottawa with a message from over 16,000 Canadians as part of global protest telling Australian government
Ottawa – Greenpeace organisations are holding peaceful protests at Australian embassies around the world today, including in Ottawa, asking people to tell Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to take immediate action to phase-out coal and stop fueling the climate crisis.
Protests are expected in America, Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, South Korea and Sweden.
Greenpeace Canada Forest expert Reykia Fick said:
“Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s failure to lead on climate ensures a future of worsening wildfire devastation for his country. The impacts of climate breakdown, from fires to floods, dying forests and overheating oceans, are harming Australians and people right across the world. Mr Morrison’s government and all governments – including here in Canada – must phase out polluting fossil fuels and cut emissions. Instead, his policies are digging us deeper into climate emergency.”
CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific David Ritter said:
“Australians are now on the frontlines of severe climate damage – and coal is the number one driver of the crisis. This summer we’ve seen nearly thirty people killed, hundreds of thousands evacuated or directly threatened by fires, and millions suffering through days of thick hazardous smoke. What will it take for Morrison to act to protect Australian families from the climate emergency? Delaying action on reducing emissions is costing Australian lives now and in the future.”
Greenpeace is asking people to sign the petition to Prime Minister Scott Morrision to ask him to act immediately on the climate crisis, and to leave messages of support or koalas at Australian embassies. Greenpeace is delivering a list of the names of over 16,000 Canadian signatories to the Australian High Commission in Ottawa today.
Australia is one of the world’s largest coal exporters.[1] Projected global heating, based on current global plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, shows a catastrophic future with temperatures set to rise between 2.9C and 3.4C by 2100.[2] The Australian fires in recent months have killed 29 people, destroyed thousands of homes, and left tens of millions of people breathing unsafe air, as well as killing over 1 billion animals.[3]
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
Reykia Fick, Communications Lead (Forests), Greenpeace Canada, 819-918-0470,
Photo and video:
New images of fire affected communities in Australia are available here
External media images available here.
Notes to editors:
[1] https://newclimate.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/CCPI-2020-Results_Web_Version.pdf
[3] At least 29 lives have been lost across this fire season, including four volunteer firefighters. SOURCE. More than 2100 homes have been lost across Australia and over 2,500 buildings are gone. SOURCE 1, SOURCE 2. Air pollution in Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra recently ranked among the most harmful in the world. SOURCE
