Greenpeace back on Parliament Hill with climate change message

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As world leaders meet at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen, Greenpeace was again on Parliament Hill today with a message for Prime Minister Harper.

Carrying a massive 60 feet banner that read "Harper's failure, our future" and "Climate leaders needed," over 40 volunteers marched from Major's Hill Park in Ottawa to Parliament Hill this morning.

"Greenpeace is here today to let the Harper government know that failure to be a climate leader in Copenhagen will have severe and lasting impacts in Canada, especially in our forests," said Melissa Filion, acting Quebec director and forest campaigner for Greenpeace. "We don't want a future filled with the kind of climate chaos that our Prime Minister seems to be perfectly happy with."  

Turning up the Heat

The link between climate change and an increase in the frequency and severity of forest fires is of particular concern to Canadians, and is well documented in the 2008 Greenpeace report "Turning Up the Heat: Global Warming and the Degradation of Canada's Boreal Forest."  

As temperatures rise, forest fires in Canada's Boreal are becoming more longer, more frequent, and more severe. This is leading to the release of more greenhouse gases, driving a vicious circle.

Harper's Failure, Our Future

In advance of this morning's event, Greenpeace volunteers launched a grassroots ad campaign in Ottawa highlighting the Harper government's responsibility to future generations. Posters could be found across the city on bus shelters, street lamps and even tree trunks.

Kevin Donaghy, a volunteer, took part in the poster campaign as well as today's event.

"I'm here today because I won't stand idly by as Canada increasingly becomes a global climate villain," said Donaghy. "My generation will suffer the consequences of climate inaction in Copenhagen, and therefore as a citizen of the world, I feel it is my duty to stand up and demand action from the Harper government on climate change."