U of T students join People’s Climate March

Hundreds of thousands of environmental activists, including some U of T students, took to the streets of New York City on September 21 to demand world leaders to take action against climate change. The People’s Climate March coincided with the United Nations (UN) Climate Summit, a preclude to the UN Climate Change Conference scheduled to take place in Paris in December 2015. 

Indigenous groups, labour unions, environmental organizations, celebrities, and politicians — including the Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May — were among those in attendance.

The People’s Climate March was widely lauded as a success, with attendance far exceeding expectations and many expressing optimism that the protest was effective in garnering the attention of politicians. “By getting 400,000 people on the streets of NYC and nearly 600,000 people worldwide protesting climate change, we made our voices heard,” said Riley McCullough, University of Toronto Students’ Union sustainability commissioner. 

The mood at the event was largely celebratory, with protestors expressing their dissent through colourful costumes, song and dance, art, and creative slogans. 

For Sam Harrison, a first-year engineering student, inspiration abounded in both silence and sound. “For two minutes during the march, the crowd fell silent to take a moment for the frontline communities of climate justice. Following this, a wave of sound rushed through the crowd as 400,000 people made as much noise as they could to sound the burglar alarm on the fossil fuel industry stealing our future,” Harrison said.

Fossil fuels seemed to be one of the top concerns at the march: the issue was tabled at the UN Climate Summit and is on the agenda for the 2015 Paris Conference. The burning of fossil fuels is one of the main contributors to greenhouse gases, the increase of which is causing the earth’s temperature to rise and the ice caps to melt. 

While over 100 countries have signed the Kyoto Protocol, which calls for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by seven per cent or more below 1990 levels, there are some nations, including the United States, that have not ratified the treaty. 

Although Canada did ratify Kyoto in 2002, the government withdrew its name in 2011 in order to avoid an estimated $14 billion dollar penalty for its inability to lower CO₂emissions. This year’s Climate Summit was an opportunity for heads of state from around the world to demonstrate their environmental commitment by offering their ideas on how to alter the current trend of environmental degradation. Stephen Harper, prime minister of Canada, did not appear at the summit.

Ben Donato-Woodger, a fourth-year anthropology student, expressed his disappointment at Harper’s absence. “It’s embarrassing. Our leaders aren’t leading. So we will,” he said. 

Toronto350, a local chapter of 350.org, an international environmental group working to build a global movement to solve the climate crisis, sent five buses to the march.

Toronto350 has also called on U of T to divest its shares in global fossil fuel companies. The group submitted a briefing in March and are waiting for approval from U of T president Meric Gertler to continue their investigation. 

“U of T’s endowment is invested in dirty coal and oil. If U of T is serious about social responsibility and sustainability, they will divest as soon as possible,” said Donato-Woodger.

In the wake of the march, students expressed optimism for Canada’s environmental movement. “[C]limate change is positive in one crucial way — its power to wake people up and bring them together. This is when humanity is at its best: mobilized and exhilarated,” said Ariel Martz-Oberlander, a fourth-year drama student.

McCullough called on more people to get involved in the battle against climate change. “More work needs to be done to convince many of the people not involved that this is not an extremist movement or one that only a few people feel really passionately about. This is something that will impact everyone, and we all need to work together to demand the change that needs to happen,” she added.