Media releases
25 February 2017:
Kayak4Earth Media Release, media very welcome to attend.
Event time: 11am-12noon Saturday Feb 25 2017
Event Location: West Basin Lake Burley Griffin near the jetty and boat ramp
Hi res images: http://climateemergencydeclaration.org/media/#hiresphotos
Media enquiries to Jodie Green: 0450 520 303 jodie.green@bze.org.au on site
Steve Posselt: 0438 138 982 steve@kayak4earth.com
“ACT MLAs Chris Steel and Caroline Le Couteur will be among those today welcoming kayaking ecowarrior Steve Posselt to Canberra, along with a petition calling on the Australian Parliament to declare a climate emergency and mobilise resources to reverse the climate crisis”
“After 1200km of ocean paddling along the New South Wales coast from his home in Ballina, Steve Posselt – engineer, grandfather of 5 and ocean-kayaking ecowarrier – is now set to complete 180km of dusty hot trekking and a 4km paddle down the Molonglo River into Canberra’s West Basin at 11am today.
As well as dragging his kayak behind him from Moruya to Queanbeyan, he and his team are also lugging a big box of petitions containing over seventeen thousand signatures gathered from all over Australia, and all asking the Australian Parliament for one thing – a Declaration of a Climate Emergency by the Australian Parliament.
Caroline Le Couteur MLA and Chris Steel MLA will officially receive and welcome Steve to Canberra and will join a range of experts speaking about the climate emergency declaration at the lakeside reception starting at 11 including Phil Sutton, the coauthor of Climate Code Red, David Hood AM deputy chair of Beyond Zero Emissions and John McIntosh the President of Engineers Australia.
Then on Monday February 27 at noon on the Parliament House front forecourt the Kayak4Earth team will pass the petition to Adam Bandt MP, and be part of a hand-over event including John Hewson former Leader of the Liberal Party and Ian Dunlop the former Chair of the Australian Coal Association.
“The petition I will deliver on Monday to Adam Bandt MP asks Parliament to declare a climate emergency and mobilise resources to restore a safe climate. It can be signed at http://climateemergencydeclaration.org/sign.”—-Steve Posselt
Canberrans wishing to add their names to the petition before it goes to Parliament on Monday can do so at any of the several public appearances of Steve and his yellow sea kayak ‘Old Yella’ all weekend in Canberra. Check the Kayak4Earth Facebook and climate emergency mobilisation Facebook pages for details – and look for the yellow kayak.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1822743721344138/
https://www.facebook.com/kayak4earth/
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QUOTES
‘Engineers have always been at the forefront of providing solutions to humanity’s most pressing problems. But sometimes engineers have to do more than just respond to a design challenge. They need to lead. And Steve is doing just that with his climate change journey. A great inspiration to all of us.’—-Adrian Piani, Environmental College of Engineers Australia
‘Given the latest evidence, it is almost impossible to now keep the temperature increase below 1.5°C or even 2°C with the current approaches,’ says Ian Dunlop, former chair, Australian Coal Association. ‘We have left it too late to solve the climate dilemma with a graduated response; emergency action, akin to placing economies on a war footing, remains essential.’—–Ian Dunlop, former chair, Australian Coal Association
‘If everything promised at Paris is delivered, the planet will likely see global warming exceed a three degree rise above pre-industrial temperatures. Three degrees means no Arctic or Antarctic ice, no glaciers, and very likely no humans.’—–Steve Posselt, a fellow of the Australian Institute of Engineers
‘In World War 2, faced with an extreme threat, countries mobilised their economies for action in years not decades. Now, faced with the accelerating catastrophic impacts of climate change we need to act equally decisively and at the same huge scale – to deliver ‘victory’, that is the restoration of a safe climate. The Climate Emergency Declaration petition is putting this approach on the agenda for the community and governments.’—-Philip Sutton, co-author of Climate Code Red
‘The Climate Emergency Declaration and Mobilisation petition is a tangible expression of the growing public demand for an effective full-scale response to the climate reality.’—-Margaret Hender, one of the organisers of the petition
CONTACTS
Jodie Green 0450 520 303 jodie.green@bze.org.au on site
Steve Posselt 0438 138 982 steve@kayak4earth.com
Lyn Thomson (Steve’s support crew) 0410 319 311 lynthomson17@bigpond.com
Petition comment: Margaret Hender 0413 639 592 mhender@westnet.com.au
INFORMATION
http://climateemergencydeclaration.org/kayak/
IMAGES
http://climateemergencydeclaration.org/media/#hiresphotos
To sign the petition: http://climateemergencydeclaration.org/sign