Despite — or perhaps, in part, because of — the disappointingly “very weak agreement” at the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, the North Columbia Environmental Society says it will continue to work to help Revelstoke “resiliently adapt” to the demands of climate change.
“The North Columbia Environmental Society will continue climate change education, action, and initiatives to aid Revelstoke to resiliently adapt to climate change impacts,” the group said in a statement issued Wednesday evening.
“At the end of the United Nations Climate Change Summit, leaders have reached a very weak agreement. This agreement fails to set the emissions targets needed to prevent catastrophic global warming. The agreement was stronger on funding, but it was not binding, and set no urgent deadline to sign a real climate treaty. Big polluters like China and the US wanted a weak deal, and potential champions like Europe, Brazil and South Africa didn’t fight hard enough to stop them.”
While the world’s major leaders failed to make a binding deal on climate change, the NCES said it was apparent that people around the world reached their own agreement.
“ike the three climate action rallys held in Revelstoke, there were thousands of vigils, rallies and protests, hundreds of thousands of phone calls, and millions of petition signatures; an unprecedented movement rose to this moment,” the NCES said in its statement. “There were over 9,000 vigils during the Copenhagen summit, in 140 countries. Revelstokians should be proud of standing up to have their voices heard.”
The NCES noted that work will continue not just here but elsewhere and it issued a “big thank you to everyone who has been involved, and who will continue to be part of the biggest challenge of modern civilization.”
