As COVID-19 chases us inside and shuts the door behind us, it also shines a bright light on the cracks in our society. People struggle to meet their families’ needs and care for loved ones who are ill, immunocompromised or disabled. They face isolation and uncertainty. Groups of people, including migrant workers and precarious workers, the homeless and low-income renters are especially vulnerable. Health care workers raise the alarm about inadequate supplies and resources. 

Photo by Porapak Apichodilok from Pexels

As the IPPC report, the recent Lancet report on health and climate change and others show, we are in a climate emergency and have very few years left to act, to keep global temperatures from warming over 1.5°C. Every incremental temperature increase matters, bringing with it more disastrous effects, such as life-threatening heat waves and extreme weather. As the environmental commissioner writes in her 2018 report, Climate Action in Ontario: What’s Next (ER Report), ”if we continue at current global emission rates, the toddlers of today will see severe, widespread and irreversible impacts, far beyond what they may be able to adapt to….Every tonne counts, and every action matters.”¹

Since Ontario saw its new government instated, climate action in Ontario has been disrupted. At the same time, some of the most recent reports show that we have as little as 10 years to stop using fossil fuels and that emissions must be on a decided downward trend by 2020 - just fifteen months. The need for effective, targeted and immediate climate action is critical. We must speak up for good climate plans and demand accountable climate action from government.