DearEarth

From Catherine McKenna

Dear Friends,

Throughout my time as a Minister, I have made countless pinkie promises to children across our nation, vowing to continue the fight for a climate-safe future for them and generations to come. These promises are not mere words; they are my commitment to ensuring a healthy and sustainable planet for all.

Photo: © Adam Scotti

There are good reasons for hope on this journey. We have the solutions to reduce emissions, and ensure cleaner air, good jobs, greater equity, and a sustainable future.

Wind and solar energy are the cheapest and fastest-growing electricity sources worldwide. Clean energy investments have nearly doubled in the last decade. The end of the fossil fuel age is inevitable, but we must scale these solutions quickly and justly.  

However, we don't have any time to waste: Here in Canada, we have faced record-breaking forest fires. These fires are devastating people's lives and our communities, displacing habitats, and damaging our precious ecosystems, all the whole making it increasingly difficult for Canadians to breathe.

As we look forward, despite the progress, we must continue to work tirelessly to halve global emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050. We all need to be advocating and pushing for more ambitious climate action from our politicians at all levels. Activate the power of local movements and lobby your local politicians to push for change from the bottom up.

We can do this. We have set ambitious goals, and now we must persist in our efforts to push towards a climate-safe future for everyone.

Together, let us honor those pinkie promises and commit to building a cleaner, more sustainable and more just future for all.

Sincerely,

Catherine McKenna,

Former Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change, 
Chair of UN Secretary General’s Expert Group on Net Zero,  
Founder of Women Leading on Climate,
Founder and CEO of Climate and Nature Solutions