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According to the the head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction “the weather and climate are implicated in 90 per cent of major disaster events attributed to natural hazards. Droughts, floods, storms and heatwaves have the potential to undermine many developing states’ efforts to eradicate poverty. Climate change is adding to pre-existing levels of risk fuelled by exposure and socio-economic vulnerability.”  

We need to step up our actions to protect the environment.

Commitments are being made, albeit not so binding ones. Over 165 countries, including all of the world’s largest economies and the largest greenhouse gas emitters, have indicated that they will sign the Paris Agreement. The signing is the first step towards ensuring that the agreement enters into force as soon as possible. After signing, countries must take the further national (or domestic) step of accepting or ratifying the agreement.  

The agreement will enter into force 30 days after at least 55 countries, accounting for at least 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, deposit their instruments of ratification or acceptance with the Secretary-General.

However as many of us know, if we really want to mitigate the impact of climate change a lot more needs to be done.  

We need stronger targets and therefore, John Dhillon’s Earth Day blog asks us to take stronger action. Of course, we also need alternatives to oil and gas extraction industries if Canada is going to meet any commitment to curb climate change.  

One initiative is led by Iron and Earth, a group of former oil and gas workers who are asking the Alberta government to commit to retraining laid off oil and gas workers in green jobs.  

Read about their plans and support them here.

Of course Earth Day is supposed to be about individuals going out, rolling up their sleeves, and taking action to protect the Earth.  

So if you want to do more than signing petitions the Earth Day Network, has chosen Trees for Earth as the 106 Earth Day theme and has set a target of planting 7.8 million trees in the next five years.  So if you want to get out and plant some trees to hook into the work of the Earth Day Network and let them know about the work you are doing.