LAST CALL!
Public Consultation on the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act
Participate in the federal government’s public consultation for their first ever federal emissions reduction plan - the deadline has been extended to January 21st! The Climate Messengers Consultation Toolkit is a great help!

Let’s put Climate in the Budget! Toronto - 2022 - Sign up now to depute!
You need to sign up by Friday Jan 21st to speak on Jan 24th or 25th on what we need to see in Toronto’s 2022 budget to ensure action on the Net Zero by 2040 plan moves forward with the funding it needs. Submissions can also be submitted in writing by the 25th. Write to buc@toronto.ca to secure your speaking spot, or to submit your thoughts to the committee. ClimateFast held a training on Jan 19th with speakers Councillor Mike Layton and Kathryn Tait, climate campaigner from Toronto Environmental Alliance, and Lyn Adamson on deputation tips.  Watch the recording here. You can also read Deputation tips by Lyn Adamson and view Kathryn Tait’s 2022 Toronto Budget - Analysis of Climate Funding slides .

 If you’d like to connect with others from your ward to lobby your councillor before the budget vote on Feb. 17th, please email lyn@climatefast.ca and include your ward and phone number.

This is an election year - so it’s an especially important time to make sure councillors know we care about climate, that big actions are needed to reach the 2030 target, and that we want to know they support the needed funding and staffing, and a climate lens applied in all departments.

Stop the “Big Sprawl”
Land use decisions are crucial for a livable climate.  Urban sprawl has been called 'Ontario’s tar sands’ for its impact on emissions. Compact cities and inter-city transit are ways to reduce emissions rather than increase them. You may send a message to your MPP using this Environmental Defence letter against the Big Sprawl.

Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass
The Ontario government is planning two mega-highways in the GTA, the 413 and the Bradford Bypass, despite opposition from regional and local municipal councils, environmental organizations, and many citizens. These highways will pave over farms, forests, wetlands and a portion of the Greenbelt and cost taxpayers billions. It will also add over 17 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Write a letter demanding that the provincial government stop Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass. You can use the letter template provided by Environmental Defence.

To learn more about these issues read this explainer from the Narwhal

Petition Against the Bradford Bypass
Go to e-3766 Environment to call upon the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to designate the Bradford Bypass project for a full federal impact assessment. The petition is open until Feb.6, 2022:

Protect the National Experimental Farm
Sign this petition halt the destruction of the 41 acres of the Central Experimental Farm and 12 acres of the NCC parkland at Queen Juliana Park. Help us get to 7,500 signatures!

Support Conversion to Heat Pumps
Send a message to Ontario Energy Minister Todd Smith to establish a no down payment, zero-interest loan program to help electrically heated homes convert to air source heat pumps for home energy savings up to $2,000 per household 

216 Million Climate Refugees Projected by 2050

According to the article “Environmental disasters are fuelling migration — here’s why international law must recognize climate refugees”, by Daniel L. Huizenga, University of Toronto, the World Bank estimates that without radical and concerted efforts to slow climate change, 216 million people will be displaced within their own countries by 2050. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, climate change impacts the human rights to life, self-determination, development, health, food, water and sanitation, adequate housing and cultural rights. International refugee and human rights law must be urgently overhauled to recognize deadly environments as sites of persecution. The United Nations Refugee Agency has already established links between climate change and persecution, but it is only a first step towards recognizing that people displaced by climate change are, in fact, refugees. For more information read Protecting Climate Refugees by the Environmental Justice Foundation or view Climate Refugees - The Film.

Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2022
Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2022: Canada is critical of Canada’s performance in 2021. While acknowledging that the federal government has made efforts on advancing rights issues, it has fallen short on addressing Indigenous inequality, tackling climate change, overseeing Canadian mining operations overseas and assisting Canadians trapped in Syria. Also, Canada is a top G7 greenhouse gas emitter, and the world's top financier of fossil fuel producers. "Canada is contributing to the climate crisis taking a growing toll on human rights around the globe".

Good News Report
Despite the intensification of the climate crisis, the disappointments of COP26 and the on-going impacts of pandemic, there was actually a lot of progress made in 2021. Read What went right in 2021: the top 26 good news stories of the year

Climate Science - in just 6 charts
In order to better understand the policies and impacts of global warming, it’s useful to understand the science behind it. Betsy Weatherhead, an atmospheric scientist, has provided 6 slides for a better understanding of the science of climate change. 

You may donate online or by cheque, made payable to:
ClimateFast
and mail c/o Lyn Adamson
Friends House
60 Lowther Ave.
Toronto, Ontario, M6E 2Y4

Your support is very much appreciated!