Climate emergency declaration news in June 2019

Posted on by Mik Aidt

“A rising tide of communities across the country from the ground up are having their views represented by local leaders.”
~ Nic Seaton, deputy program director of Greenpeace Australia Pacific

The following are examples randomly picked from the newsstream, in no way covering the vast amount of news coverage that has been published during the month of June 2019. There are plenty more stories, reports, videos and podcasts out there. Google. Twitter.

Three of the big ones in June, which received world-wide media coverage, were Sydney’s, London’s and New York’s climate emergency declarations:


→ Read more about New York




More about Sydney below.



UN Secretary-General:

“The world is facing a grave climate emergency”

“We are here because the world is facing a grave climate emergency.
Climate disruption is happening now, and it is happening to all of us.
It is progressing even faster than the world’s top scientists have predicted.
It is outpacing our efforts to address it. Climate change is running faster than what we are. Every week brings new climate-related devastation. Floods. Drought. Heatwaves. Wildfires. Superstorms.”
~ Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, speaking at the Climate Summit Preparatory Meeting in Abu Dhabi on 30 June 2019


→ UN News – 30 June 2019:
‘Act now with ambition and urgency’ to tackle the world’s ‘grave climate emergency’, UN chief urges UAE meeting

→ UPI – 30 June 2019:
U.N. secretary-general warns of ‘grave climate emergency’ in Abu Dhabi meeting

→ UN News – 30 June 2019:
‘Act now with ambition and urgency’ to tackle the world’s ‘grave climate emergency’, UN chief urges UAE meeting
“The world is facing “a grave climate emergency”, Secretary-General António Guterres told a climate meeting in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital of Abu Dhabi on Sunday, urging all participants to “seize this opportunity to take bold climate action”.”

. . .


“Patricia Espinosa, head of the United Nations climate change secretariat, said existing country pledges to cut planet-warming emissions would heat the planet by 3 degrees Celsius (5.4F) from pre-industrial times. “That is just not possible,” she said, adding it would leave people sicker and result in battles over resources such as water and land, with coastal residents losing homes to rising seas. “We are literally in a climate emergency, and… we are increasingly hearing that this is the fight of our lives,” she said.”


→ Thomson Reuters Foundation – 17 June 2019:
UN climate chief says 3C hotter world ‘just not possible’
“Climate change is an “existential issue”, and stepping up efforts to keep warming to agreed limits is urgent, the U.N. climate chief says.”

→ Green Report – 14 June 2019:
António Guterres: The climate emergency threatens the security and stability of the world (article in Italian language)
“More and more wars in the world of sovereignties and the risk of a global nuclear conflict reappears.”



AUSTRALIA:

Australia’s financial capital declares climate emergency

The City of Sydney has officially declared a climate emergency.

Greenpeace wrote on Facebook:
“Earlier this week, the City of Sydney became the latest jurisdiction to officially acknowledge the truth of our climate crisis and declare a climate emergency. ✊ The City of Sydney is the 24th local government or territory in Australia – and one of more than 600 globally – to make the step. It proves that change is coming. And it’s coming from the ground up.” 

Lord Mayor Clover Moore wrote on Facebook:
“In 2007, when the City of Sydney consulted for our long term strategic plan – Sustainable Sydney 2030 – 97% of people said they wanted strong climate action, so we made it our top priority.
Successive Federal Governments have shamefully presided over a climate disaster, and now we are at a critical juncture.
Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions have increased for four consecutive years. It is clear that the current Federal Government’s policies are simply not working.
By declaring a climate emergency, we call on the Federal Government to respond urgently, by reintroducing a price on carbon to meet the Paris Agreement emissions reduction targets, and establishing a Just Transition Authority to ensure Australians employed in fossil fuel industries find appropriate alternate employment.”


“This emergency is not just about the numbers, it is about our communities, and its impacts are felt by us all, particularly the poorest amongst us – the vulnerable, the marginalised and those that live in remote communities.”
~ Clover Moore, Sydney lord mayor




→ SBS News – 25 June 2019:
The City of Sydney has officially declared a climate emergency
“City of Sydney councillors have voted to declare that climate change should be treated as a national emergency.”

→ The Guardian – 21 June 2019:
City of Sydney councillors to vote on declaring climate crisis a national emergency
“Clover Moore says ‘successive federal governments have shamefully presided over a climate disaster’.”



First Australian state capital declares climate emergency

“Hobart has become the first capital city in Australia to declare a climate and biodiversity emergency and demand urgent action. The motion passed last night eight votes to three, with Aldermen Tanya Denison, Simon Behrakis and Marti Zucco voting against it.
Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds says the declaration of an emergency reflects the concerns of the community. “Acknowledging that you have a really strategic problem for the future is more than symbolic, it’s about recognising that this issue is going to effect our operations and our community is incredibly concerned about the impact of climate change on the future of our city,” she said.
But Alderman Behrakis has described the council’s to declare as emergency as “hypocritical”. He says several of the councillors and aldermen who supported the declaration, also voted against an amendment showing support for a zero-emission power generation program.”

→ ABC News – 18 June 2019:
Hobart City Council declares climate emergency


National General Assembly of Local Government 2019:

Call on the Australian government to declare a climate emergency

Darebin City councillor Trent McCarthy wrote on Facebook on 17 June 2019:
“We just got the National General Assembly of Local Government 2019 to call on the Australian Government to declare a #ClimateEmergency and set up a $10B fund to enable councils to build the resilience of climate change vulnerable communities. Thanks to Moreland Council, Yarra Council and Blue Mountains Shire for co-sponsoring Darebin’s motion and to the 134 delegates who voted for it.”

→ The Guardian – 3 June 2019:
We must mobilise for the climate emergency like we do in wartime. Where is the climate minister?
“A realistic assessment of climate-related impacts and threats depends on understanding the strengths and weaknesses of climate science projections. Unfortunately, much scientific knowledge produced for climate policymaking is conservative and reticent.” By Ian Dunlop and David Spratt

→ Sydney Morning Herald – 3 June 2019:
Time to flick climate emergency switch: a plea to our new Parliament
“A year ago, there was little discussion of climate change as an existential threat, or the corresponding need for emergency action. Today, in the face of rapidly accelerating climate impacts, “existential threat” and “climate emergency” are common currency globally, existential meaning the potential to destroy humanity as we know it.” By Ian Dunlop

→ The Guardian – 15 June 2019:
Australia’s oldest things: how mind-boggling timelines meet the climate emergency
““As the world becomes more unstable in the grip of vast and all-pervasive change,” Falconer writes, “it’s difficult to discern exact chronologies, relationships and meaning.” More than anything, I think, climate change politicises time.”





CANADA:

House of Commons declares a climate emergency

“The House has voted to “declare that Canada is in a national climate emergency which requires, as a response, that Canada commit to meeting its national emissions target under the Paris Agreement and to making deeper reductions in line with the Agreement’s objective of holding global warming below two degrees Celsius and pursuing efforts to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.” Forcing a vote on the motion meant all MPs had to stand up and be counted, whether or not they support Canada meeting the Paris targets.”


→ CTV News – 17 June 2019:
Canada’s House of Commons has declared a national climate emergency
“The House of Commons has passed a motion declaring a national climate emergency, and supporting Canada’s commitment to meet the Paris Agreement emissions targets. Conservative MPs voted against the motion, but it still passed 186-63 with the support of the Liberals, New Democrats, Bloc Quebecois and Green MPs.”

→ Global News – 17 June 2019:
National climate emergency declared by House of Commons
“The motion was put forward by Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, with the vote passing 186-63.”









https://twitter.com/mackaycartoons/status/1141177015560806400


→ The Link – 8 June 2019:
Climate Activists Hold Town Hall for Green New DeaL
“A Green New Deal would be a dramatic transformation of the economy tackling the climate crisis and the injustices related to it”


Story change

Al Jazeera asks: “Has the media narrative changed around climate change?”

Lawyer Farhana Yamin:

“We have three choices: to die, to survive or to thrive”

“At this point in human history we have three choices: to die, to survive or to thrive. From the wildfires in the U.S., coral die-back in the tropics and the deadly hurricanes battering small islands, the signs are crystal clear: climate devastation is already here. The world’s poorest people and indigenous communities are on the front line. They are also bearing the brunt of the sixth mass extinction, which is under way due to conversion of their forests, wetlands and other wild landscapes into concrete cities, dam reservoirs and fields growing soya.”
~ An excerpt from This is Not a Drill: An Extinction Rebellion Handbook, published by Penguin Books. By Farhana Yamin, an international environmental lawyer and activist with the Extinction Rebellion movement.

→ Time – 14 June 2019:
This Is the Only Way to Tackle the Climate Emergency


→ The Guardian – 15 June 2019:
We must transform our lives and values to save this burning planet
“The case for action to tackle the climate emergency, on a scale far beyond anything that has yet been attempted, is increasingly widely understood.”

→ CommonDreams – 12 June 2019:
Adding to Planetary Alarm Bells, Top US Finance Official Warns Climate Crisis a Recipe for Global Economic Collapse
“It’s abundantly clear that climate change poses financial risk to the stability of the financial system.”

→ Inequality – 15 June 2019:
Global Inequality in a Time of Climate Emergency
“Our world’s richest have a great deal of money. They also have the power to decide whether our civilization sinks or swims. So what can we do?”

FAITH

Leader of 1.3 billion Catholics declares a climate emergency


On social media

https://www.instagram.com/p/Byk97UNFuyl/



GREECE
→ Greek Travel Pages – 5 June 2019:
Greek Green Groups Calling on Parties to Declare ‘Climate Emergency’
“Dozens of local environmental groups are calling on the Greek government and political parties to take immediate action and move swiftly ahead with the implementation of measures against global warming and are demanding a “climate emergency” be declared.”


INDIA
On 29 June, the news agencies Reuters and Ritzau distributed stories to various newspapers in Northern Europe, and India, about two Indian petitions:

→ SN.dk – 29 June 2019:
Close to 500,000 Indians require stronger climate policy
“Inspired by the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Indian has collected signatures.”

Up to 500,000 people in India have participated in petitions that require the Indian government to declare a climate emergency due to severe heat waves and lack of water.

Inspired by the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Indian, Aman Sharma, has taken the initiative for the action on the Internet at Change.org. He took the initiative in May after he had noticed that year by year, it has become warmer, more dry and more polluted. Over 183,000 had signed his petition on Friday.

“I started this campaign to put pressure on the government because if we are silent now, it will affect our survival in the future,” he said.

In Mumbai, another activist, Jatindra Sharma, has started a similar petition where he has received nearly 300,000 signatures. Jatindra Sharma is a popular Instagram influencer under the handle name Ted the Stoner.


His demands on the Ministry of the Environment include the fact that a faster green transition must take place and that India must live up to the Paris Agreement from 2015. The key purpose is to get the climate emergency in focus. Sharma’s action has been supported by several filmmakers – including actress Nathalie Kelley from the television series “Dynasty” as well as several other Bollywood celebrities.

→ Reuters – 29 June 2019:
Nearly half a million people urge Indian government to declare a ‘climate emergency’

→ Times of India – 29 June 2019:
Nearly half a million people urge govt to declare a ‘climate emergency’

→ Bold – 29 June 2019:
An Instagrammer Influencing Climate Change

IRELAND
→ The Guardian – 18 June 2019:
Ireland to unveil bold plan to tackle climate emergency
“Ireland has unveiled an ambitious plan to tackle the climate emergency by weaning the state, businesses, farms and households off fossil fuels. The government published a long-awaited report on Monday outlining more than 180 measures to curb the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and set a path for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. It envisages a rise in carbon taxes, a multibillion-euro scheme to retro-fit houses, almost a million electric vehicles and a number of other measures to change behaviour by institutions, companies and individuals.”

NEW ZEALAND



→ TVNZ – 13 June 2019:
It’s time for NZ to declare a climate emergency, majority of Kiwis say in new poll
“Of those who were polled, 53 per cent answered yes, 39 per cent said no, and eight per cent did not know. Those who were more likely to agree that the Government should declare a climate change emergency were Green Party supporters, Pacific peoples, people aged 18-34, Labour Party supporters and Māori.”

→ Insurance Business NZ – 15 June 2019:
Climate emergency declared in Auckland
“Auckland City Council has become the latest to declare a climate emergency, joining Canterbury, Nelson, and Kāpiti Coast councils and other cities around the world that have formally recognised the urgency for climate change action.”

UNITED KINGDOM


→ Wired UK – 19 June 2019:
The 10 facts that prove we’re in a climate emergency
“The UK has declared a climate emergency and not enough is being done about it. These are the climate change facts you need to know in 2019.”

USA
→ New York City Council declares a climate emergency on 26 June


Existential climate-related security risk

Media coverage generated by the release of the Breakthrough policy paper on climate, security and risk by Ian Dunlop and David Spratt:

→ CNN:
Climate change could pose ‘existential threat’ by 2050: report says

→ ABC News: (US)
Climate change could pose ‘existential threat’ to humanity by 2050, advocates say

→ Al Jazeera:
‘Reaching end game’: New paper on climate change raises alarm

→ New Scientist:
Is it true climate change will cause the end of civilisation by 2050?

→ The Independent:
‘High likelihood of human civilisation coming to end’ by 2050, report finds

→ CBS News:
Climate change report: Human civilization at risk by 2050, according to new Australian climate change analysis

→ Adelaide Advertiser:
Civilisation will be under threat by 2050 if we don’t tackle climate change, report warns

→ Mirror: (UK)
Human civilisation ‘will collapse by 2050’ if we don’t tackle climate change

→ NZ Herald:
Climate change doomsday report predicts end of human civilisation

→ Live Science:
Human Civilization Will Crumble by 2050 If We Don’t Stop Climate Change Now, New Paper Claims

→ Science Alert:
Climate Change Could End Human Civilisation as We Know It by 2050, Analysis Finds

→ Pro Bono Australia:
Climate change: ‘A near-to-mid-term existential threat to human civilisation’

→ People:
The End of Civilization May Begin in Just 30 Years, According to a New Harrowing Report

→ Climate News Network:
Thirty years to climate meltdown – or not?

→ Alternet:
‘Existential’ risk of climate crisis could lead to civilizational collapse by 2050: report

→ Medium:
Climate Change Alarmists Have a Point

→ Heute:
Researcher: Humanity is at its end in 30 years (article in German language)

→ Bild:
Shock forecast for the climate catastrophe (article in German language)

→ Klimareporter:
Is humanity dying? (article in German language)
Translation on www.climatecodered.org