Extinction Rebellion Forres to protest off Findhorn beach calling for immediate action on climate change
LOCAL environmentalists are staging a protest in the sea to highlight the need to act now on climate change.
Extinction Rebellion (XR) Forres members and other concerned citizens are taking a socially distanced wild swim carrying placards bearing the messages ‘Act Now or Swim Later’ and ‘Love Earth – Fight for 1.5°C' to celebrate Earth Day and call on leaders taking part in the American president's climate summit to do more on the ecological emergency.
The event is being staged the day before President Joe Biden’s Climate Summit on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22, five years to the day since the Paris Agreement was opened for signatures.
Julia Tucknott of XR Forres said: "On Earth Day we are celebrating the natural world upon which our wellbeing depends. We cannot continue to deify growth at all costs in a world with finite resources. We are at a crisis point.
"Never before has our climate changed so rapidly, and if we miss this chance to match our words with real action, the consequences will cause untold suffering to millions.
"We are already starting to see some of those consequences. In 2021, we are facing multiple famines due to the combined impacts of conflict, climate change and inequality, coupled with the Covid-19 crisis.
"Further global warming and our continued destruction of nature, means we are increasing our risk of future pandemics, not to mention coastal flooding, more severe and frequent wildfires and extreme weather events, and the loss of the ecosystems that sustain life."
She added: "Governments have a duty to protect their people but they are failing us. This is a time to be bold in charting a path to a better future for all: to invest in new green jobs, renewable energy, and clean public transport systems. It is time for our leaders to start walking their talk – fine words without rapid, ambitious action won’t wash anymore. We are watching you!"
A maximum of 15 socially distanced participants will take part in the swim off Findhorn's back shore at the end of Dunes Road at 12.30pm on Wednesday, April 21.
Julia said: "We are calling on world leaders to strengthen their national commitments and back them with concrete policy measures to bring down the world's current greenhouse gas emissions to levels compatible with limiting global heating to an average of 1.5°C, as agreed in the Paris Agreement. We want to ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson to back the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill, to ensure in law that the UK takes full responsibility for its entire carbon footprint, acts to protect our vital ecosystems, and gives citizens a say in the transition to a zero carbon society. "
US president Joe Biden has invited 40 world leaders to take part in a digital summit, starting on April 22 to galvanise efforts by major economies to reduce GHG emissions ahead of UN talks G7 and COP26 being hosted by the UK. Biden's special presidential envoy for climate, John Kerry, has stated that the 20 top emitters - the world’s richest countries - are collectively responsible for 81 per cent of the world’s CO2 emissions so need to to take the lead in reducing emissions.
The Nationally Determined Contributions ahead of November’s COP26 meeting in Glasgow are not sufficient to limit global heating to an average rise of 1.5°C. A UN assessment shows that current NDCs would lead to a reduction in emissions of just one per cent by 2030.
CO2 emissions are forecast to jump by the second biggest annual rise in history, as global economies pour stimulus cash into fossil fuels. Nations are planning fossil fuel production increases of two per cent-a-year and G20 countries are giving 50 per cent more Covid-19 recovery funding to fossil fuels than to clean energy.
The UK's projected carbon emissions are two to three times higher than required to comply with limiting global heating to 1.5°C.
Westminster's Public Accounts Committee says ministers have no plan to meet climate change targets enshrined in law two years ago; no coordinated strategy to reach net zero by 2050; and no means of ensuring that current emissions are not simply transferred overseas where many of the carbon-intensive goods bought in British shops are made.
Julia said: "The Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill provides a route map to get out of the mess we are in. We urge Boris Johnson to expedite its progress through Parliament. Our security and wellbeing are dependent on climate action being prioritised."