The United Nations annual climate negotiations are now underway in Cancun and here in Vancouver there are a number of events related to climate change taking place. Here are a couple that the Wilderness Committee will be taking part in.

First there is Vancouver's first ever People's Assembly for Climate Justice on Tuesday December 7, starting at 7 pm at SFU Harbour Centre (515 W. Hastings).

In April the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia brought together social movements from all over the world to forge a powerful new movement for Climate Justice.

While heads of state will meet in Cancun November 29 to December 10 for talks about the climate crisis, people worldwide will take action against climate crimes, like building new freeways and to stand in support of the “People’s Agreement” created in Cochabamba. It's time for the people to lead and to make the leaders follow!

This event is organized by Metro Vancouver and Area Council of Canadians chapters, the Canada-Bolivia Solidarity Committee and GatewaySucks.org, together with many friends and allies. Join with us to build a people’s movement for Climate Justice.

Then, on Friday December 10, we are taking part in a student and youth conference on the Tar Sands at Windermere High School, 3155 East 27th Ave, called C3: Enter The Athabasca Tar Sands.

The goal of this conference is to bring together the youth of Vancouver to educate on the Tar Sands and inspire action on environmental and social issues. I will be speaking along with James Hoggan, Andrew Nikiforuk and Andrea Macdonald.

Everyone's welcome, but please keep in mind that the target audience is high school students - please visit the C3 website for more information. Please note you must register before December 3rd for this event.

Hope to see you in December!

Ben West | Healthy Communities Campaigner
Wilderness Committee

P.S. Check out this video from a forum on tankers in Burrard Inlet I took part in recently, 'Oil and Water: A Public Information Forum on Oil Transportation', which was hosted by Burnaby-Douglas MP Bill Siksay.