Grandparents' Movement G-Force Takes Call For Action On Climate Change To Parliament On Wednesday And Thursday

On Wednesday 29 February at 12.30pm, three generations of one New Zealand family, from grandmother to granddaughter, will be on the steps of Parliament to protest against our continuing slide towards runaway climate change. The following day at noon they will be joined in the vicinity of Parliament by many other members of “G-Force” – grandparents, great-aunts and –uncles, and other mature New Zealanders, together with their grandchildren and younger relatives.

Some of those demonstrating have never taken part in a protest before. The reason they are turning out now, is that for almost the first time in history, the human race has the power to extinguish our planet’s capacity to support life. All we have to do to accomplish this ultimate catastrophe, is to continue to burn all the world’s coal reserves. According to a recent Canadian study, this would result in global temperature rising at least fifteen degrees Centigrade. The authors of this study conclude that we are not going to “run out” of fossil fuels; long before then, we will run out of liveable planet.

The elderly protesters wish to draw the attention of their fellow New Zealanders and of our government, to the fact that the urgent need is to reduce our carbon emissions (rather than hastening to exploit fossil fuels, as our government is currently doing, which by increasing our emissions will not only break our commitment under the Kyoto Protocol, but will also hasten climate change). They feel that our government has an ethical duty to act in the interest, not just of the current generation, but of future generations and of life on this planet. To carry out this duty, it must take effective action to reduce our emissions and encourage other countries to do the same. Our world is too precious to fry.

Ends.

This press release was sent by Coal Action Network Aotearoa on behalf of G-Force.

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Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CAN Aotearoa) is a group of climate justice campaigners committed to fighting the continuation of coal mining in Aotearoa New Zealand.

CAN Aotearoa's objectives are to:
1. Phase out coal mining and coal usage within 20 years, initially by opposing new and expanded coal mines.
2. Promote a cultural change so that mining and using coal are unacceptable.
3. Work towards a society where people and the environment are not exploited for profit.
4. Work towards a socially just transition to a coal-free Aotearoa New Zealand.

Find out more at: http://coalactionnetworkaotearoa.wordpress.com/

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