I recently went to  see Rahul Bose speak with Solomon Islands youth activist Christina Ora, on their Climate Justice Tour.  They were travelling across Canada, telling how their communities have been affected by climate change, and outlining what we need to do to get Canada to be a climate leader.

In describing the relationship between Canada and developing countries, Rahul used the metaphor of a rich family and a poor family living in the same neighbourhood.  The rich family has a few kids, and is able to use their relative wealth to make their lives easier - buying labour saving devices, vehicles to give them freedom to travel, and heating to keep them warm and healthy.  Eventually, through sheer hard work and determination, the poor family gets to a level where they can start thinking about enjoying the same creature comforts as their rich neighbours, when the rich neighbours come over and ask them to halt their progress to protect the climate.   Obviously this is a really simplified metaphor, but the way Rahul describes it in the video below, you get a sense of how any global cooperative agreement has to be framed fairly.  It helps give context to why developing nations walked out on Canada at the G77 in Thailand when we talked about abandoning parts of the Kyoto Protocol (though Environment Minister Prentice denies this happened).

It’s a long video, but worth checking out.  His “rich family/poor family” comparison begins at about 5:15.

Rahul Bose - Climate Justice Tour from Greenpeace Canada on Vimeo.

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Guest post by UWO student Sarah Bugeja

One wintery day after a class at the University of Western Ontario, and an inspirational campus visit from David Suzuki a few weeks earlier, a couple of UWO students were motivated to try to Fill the Hill.  Fill the Hill is an event that is being held on Climate Day, October 24th 2009.  Climate Day is about Canadians coming together to demand environmental change, and Fill the Hill aims to do just that.  At UWO, a group of students are organizing a bus trip to Ottawa to fill Parliament Hill.

We’re hoping that thousands of students will show up, demanding that our government take serious action on climate change.

We’re looking to start something here, a movement that inspires students across Canada to take a stand and get involved.  C-Day is about our Earth, and an opportunity to show how much we care about the environment and climate justice.

Fill the Hill aims to be the largest climate action event ever to take place. We can’t do it alone - we need busses sent from every college and university in the country.

So now, you are left with this question: where will you be on October 24th?

Why we should wake up Harper?

As part of a massive global climate movement marking the October 24th International Day of Climate Action, come join our local demonstration aimed at forcing Stephen Harper to take real action on climate change now!

With only weeks to go before a crucial United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen this December, come join us in making 350 seconds of cacophonic sound and noise to wake up Canada to the terrible job the Harper government has done in addressing climate change. In addition to doing nothing to solve the climate crisis, Canada remains one of world’s 10 worst polluters and continues to act as a drag on international negotiations.

Make your own Harper mask by downloading the file at www.equiterre.org/cacophonie and bring any kind of standard musical instrument, home-made musical instrument or noise-maker you want! Together we’ll create a thunderous 350-second cacophony of sound and dissonance to represent the Harper government’s noise-fest on climate change!

Why 350?

The number 350 is symbolic because scientists say that 350 parts per million (ppm) is the safe upper limit for CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere. 2009 is a crucial year for climate negotiations. This coming December, leaders from across the entire planet will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, to reach a new global treaty on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But the treaty in its current state does not address the climate crisis and does not pass the 350-ppm test. We need to act now!

For more information, go to www.350.org
Download the poster here

What you can do

1. Post your presence at the event and invite your friends on facebook
2. Download the event poster and put it at school, at your job or everywhere you can.
3. Bring your own Harper mask and your traditional or imaginative musical instruments!

An initiative of: AQLPA, David Suzuki Foundation, Équiterre, ENvironnement JEUnesse, Greenpeace, Québeckyoto and Nature Québec.

Contact: Chantal Girard, Équiterre, cgirard@equiterre.org, 514-522-2000 (Ext. 233)

My friend Bonita sent out a note yesterday to all of her friends, asking them to join her for Climate Day on Parliament Hill, October 24th - the International Day of Climate Action.  ”I’m going…And no, it’s not just because I’m a Green … it’s because I want Logan to know some day when he gets older that his MeMe added her voice on Climate Day hoping for a better future for him and our planet Earth :)”

© Greenpeace / Paul Hilton

Greenpeace offices across Canada are hitting the street on Friday, October 23rd to collect KYOTOplus petitions, and we’ll be joined by thousand of Canadians like Bonita the day after, on the October 24th day of action, to send a message to the government that we want a climate deal out of the talks in Copenhagen.  We’re asking Prime Minister Harper to be a leader, not a politician, and to stop climate change.

Do you want to put on an event in your city on October 24th?  The following is adapted from the Greenpeace USA guide to putting on an event for the International Day of Climate Action [Download the PDF].  It will help you:

• brainstorm ideas for a powerful event.

• register your event online.

• recruit attendees.

• run an excellent event. (more…)

A look at the Greenpeace “Stop the Tar Sands” action from the perspective of activists on the ground - featuring executive Director of Greenpeace Canada, Bruce Cox, and Chris Daley from Greenpeace International.