NOW IS THE TIME! Blog #8
Mobilizing the Local Command Structure and Resources
to combat the Climate Crisis Long Emergency in
Peterborough, Ontario Canada.
Advanced Release March 3, 2022

“If we call the Climate Crisis an Emergency, we need to act like it’s an Emergency…. winning slowly is the same as losing.” Greta Thunberg Post COP 26 Glasgow

A. IPCC Global Command Structure:

The IPCC Global Command Structure to reign in the Climate Crisis has failed! Global GHG emissions continue to rise. Pledges for net zero GHG emissions by 2050 from major polluters including Russia, China and India have been pushed to 2060 and 2070!

B. Wars for energy, water and food fuel rising GHG emissions!

The Climate Crisis induced wars for Energy and Water to produce food and sustain our complex lifestyles have been apparent for more than the past decade.
The outcome of COP 26 leaves a Russia no longer constrained by the Climate Crisis and ready to put its enormous resource of oil and natural gas into play for political gain. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is just the beginning!
Further, Iran is reportedly less than a year away from becoming a nuclear power. It is sitting on a huge oil reserve constrained by the Western Alliance of nations. The Russia, China and Iran Energy Axis of competition with the Western Alliance including Saudi Arabia oil presents a fast moving complexity in the IPCC efforts to meet Global GHG emission reduction targets by mid century.
Within the Russia, China and Iran Axis… Russia and Iran have the oil and natural gas, China has the economic might, high tech expertise and thirst for oil. This China-led Axis can only be constrained by pursuing policies around Trade for grains and energy and the Climate Crisis that do not unite these three foes against the West …with failure leading to WWIII as the most plausible outcome. This constitutes an extremely difficult political balancing act for the Western Alliance, that has only a marginal chance of bending the rising GHG emissions curve downward by mid century.
This 21st Century global thirst for more energy not less including oil is playing out in real time. It should be a stark reminder of the need for communities everywhere on earth to move away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible and to fund and implement programs that use a lot less energy of all types, and that build local security and resilience in life essentials, leading with food and energy.

C. The New Reality for Canada:

“A temperature rise of 2.5 – 2.7 C is near certain by mid century if we do not take much more aggressive action globally.” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Post COP 26 Glasgow.
The Suzuki Foundation reports that most of Canada has passed 2.0 C temperature rise and the Canadian Arctic is already past 3.0 C. And, GHG emissions keep on rising!
Alarm bells should be going off with citizens across Canada. We have been warned but remain ill prepared for the disruptive future that lies ahead. We have experienced Climate Crisis induced catastrophic floods, forest fires, and the highest temperatures on record leading to crop failures, and the devastation of entire towns by fire in both Alberta and British Columbia.

And yet our focus has been hijacked by a small group of Canadians who think our freedoms have been assaulted by draconian measures of our leaders trying to work us through the Corona-19 Pandemic.
Meanwhile GHG emissions keep on rising and we are missing in action on the Climate Crisis.
Once again, at the 2022 Beijing pandemic-driven, oil-consuming Olympics we proved to have the best female hockey players in the world and the best male long distance speed skaters, but our backyard rinks back home where it all began are melting. Canada we have a problem!

D. Mobilizing the Local Command Structure and Resources to
Build Community Resilience in the face of the Climate Crisis Long Emergency
in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada:

*Global Climate Crisis: The IPCC provides the command structure. The resources to solve the crisis were to come from the rich nations of the world to help poorer nations; and each nation was asked to pledge to achieve a net zero emissions target by 2050. Both critical resource issues have failed to materialize and the UN Secretary General as above warns of the danger ahead at a temperature rise of
2.5 to 2.7 C by mid century …a temperature range that much of Canada has already exceeded!

*Peterborough Climate Emergency Activist Group (PCEAG) Three groups including the Council of Canadians, the Peterborough Alliance for Climate Action and Transition Town Peterborough Inc. got together, building on my book NOW IS THE TIME! The PCEAG has made a three part proposal to the local City and County Councils and First Nations in the October 2021 to February 2022 time frame to set up the Command Structure and provide the Resources for the Peterborough Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) to become the most resilient Community in Canada by 2030.

* Building Community Resilience to 2030 Proposal :
Part 1 Vision and Fund Proposal : October 2021
Purpose: “In recognition of the IPCC Code Red for Humanity, this proposal makes the case to aggressively continue to reduce fossil fuel GHG emissions, while focusing more broadly on the security of life essentials that build community resilience while reducing GHG emissions.”

Part 2 Background and Model for Action: January 2022
Purpose: “The purpose of this proposal is to build on Part 1 making the case for a Community Resilience Model supporting the Vision of becoming the most resilient community in Canada by 2030. It also supports the need for a Community Resilience Operating Fund (CROF) to help engage citizens
working proactively with their municipal representatives to realize the community vision.”

Part 3 Peterborough Economic Localization Infrastructure Corporation : February 2022
Purpose: “The purpose of this Part 3 proposal is to put forward the Command Structure to mobilize the money to support the overall Operating Plan as presented in Part 1 and Part 2 for the Peterborough CMA Community to realize the Vision to become the most resilient community in Canada by 2030.
The Command Structure is given the working title of Peterborough Economic Localization Infrastructure Corporation (PELIC) owned jointly by the City and County and equitably with respect to the Peterborough CMA Community it would serve.”

Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3 are available in full on my web site in Proposals at :-
www.fredirwinauthor.com

“We must go into emergency mode against the Climate Crisis”
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Feb 2022

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