Vancouver –
On the eve of COP26, the United Nations climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, observers from British Columbia point to local heat-induced disasters that claimed lives in the province this summer as proof that the world must act now to slow down the climate crisis.
A heat wave in late June that saw temperatures soar to nearly 50 ° C in parts of the province is responsible for hundreds of deaths.
A day after the town of Lytton set a Canadian temperature record of 49.6 ° C, a rapid wildfire roared through the town, leveling everything in its path and killing two.
The Lytton Creek Wildfire, as it was ultimately named, burned for months and consumed 837 square kilometers.
“I think more and more people here in British Columbia are realizing it, seeing it and obviously being affected by it,” said Esme Decker of Climate Justice UBC.
“And it’s really important that we don’t forget what happened this (last) summer and will continue to happen.”
More than 25,000 delegates from 200 countries will attend the 26th annual conference in Glasgow.
Although they have already met 25 times for similar discussions, observers, climate activists and even some COP delegates say this time is the last and best hope to keep the increase in global temperature below 1.5 ° C, the number defined in the Paris Agreement.
“Guess what everyone? Governments can fight climate change. And we have to make sure they do, ”said Severn Cullis-Suzuki, executive director of the David Suzuki Foundation.
She presents the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of how quickly governments around the world can act in the face of disaster.
“Two years ago, I wouldn’t have believed you if I had been told that governments can come together, move billions of dollars, work across party lines and effectively resolve an existential crisis. just did it, ”she said, urging people to pressure elected officials to make meaningful progress on the climate issue.
The University of British Columbia is sending a delegation of eight students, faculty and staff as observers to the conference.
“I think it’s really important to remember that Canada is also heating twice as fast as the rest of the world,” said Juvarya Veltkamp, director of the Canada Climate Law Initiative at UBC. “So we are experiencing these impacts and we can no longer ignore the climate emergency, so we need this action urgently. ”
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