Transition Kamloops is calling for strong leadership on climate action in our community. Sign the pledge here!

As a follow-up to the climate rally held in November attended by over 150 people in conjunction with the COP26 United Nations’ Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Transition Kamloops is urging community leaders as well as citizens to sign onto a climate action pledge. The pledge, available online and in paper form at various locations around the city, is as follows:

• I acknowledge the need for urgent action to keep global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, as called for by the International Panel on Climate Change and discussed at COP 26;
• I pledge to do everything within my power, with my fellow citizens and all levels of government, to meet that goal.

At the rally, local politicians and community leaders were among the first to sign the pledge including Councillors Dale Bass, Kathy Sinclair, and Arjun Singh as well as new MP Frank Caputo, who pledged to do his “personal best”.  Other signers include Nancy Bepple; Michael Mehta, TRU; Rev. Dr. Michael Caveney of the Kamloops United Church; Rev. Emily Cooke, Mt. Paul & Plura Hills United Churches; Richard McCutcheon, Dean of Faculty of Arts, TRU; and James Gordon, TRU Manager of Sustainability Programs.

Organizer George Johnson says, “We hope that other local politicians follow the lead of the early signers. They should recognize that if we don’t invest in climate action now, we’ll end up paying a lot more later.” 

“We are calling on community leaders as well as all citizens to sign the pledge because we need action on all levels. As individuals, it’s easiest for us to take action on a local level,“ organizer Gisela Ruckert of Transition Kamloops said. “Our City has a brand new Community Climate Action Plan―now we have to make sure that it gets implemented.”

Kamloops Climate Cafes and Transition Kamloops will continue to collect pledges from people in Kamloops over the next two months, and hope to present the signatures to City Council in the new year . 

Says Climate Cafes organizer Margaret Huff, “Kamloopsians want concrete actions to limit temperature change to 1.5 degrees Celsius. We have seen the devastating effects in our community already, and we can be sure we’re in for more of the same, and worse. The time for action is now, because climate change is already here, and is already affecting everyone.” 

Sign the pledge!