'Action is inevitable': Activists rally for stronger climate response

Thousands of people attended a climate rally in Vancouver on Friday to demand an urgent government response to climate change.

Vancouver Climate Strike organizers planned a march that began outside Vancouver City Hall and ended at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Protestors and event speakers such as Severn Cullis-Suzuki, the executive director of the David Suzuki Foundation, pointed to this summer’s devastating wildfire season in Canada.

“No one can deny climate change is here, it’s happening,” Cullis-Suzuki said. “We’re being affected and the cost is so huge. I think action is inevitable, it’s just a matter of when.”

'I WAS LOOKING FOR HOPE'

Many who took part in the rally told CTV News that being part of the movement helped to alleviate their climate anxieties.

“I was looking for hope and looking to feel not alone,” said Tesicca Truong. “We’re taking over the streets. It’s such a metaphor, so it's a really powerful experience being here.”

In a media release issued Friday, Vancouver Climate Strike activists called on the federal government to implement a "strong, fair emissions cap with no further delays" as MPs return to parliament on Monday, and ahead of the United Nations General Assembly and Climate Ambition Summit.

"The emissions policy was first promised by the Liberals more than two years ago, and the cap has been delayed again and again amid intense industry lobbying," organizers said.

Both Truong and Cullis-Suzuki said they want to see a transition away from fossil fuels to green, renewable energy.

Environment Minister George Heyman said the province is working on it.

“The government has a plan to reduce our emissions, as well as to work globally with other nations to cut down the sources of emissions and transition to all the opportunities that renewable energy and a cleaner economy brings all of us,” Heyman said.

The climate rally was part of the Global Fight to End Fossil Fuels and Fridays for the Future movement, which will see thousands of climate activists protest worldwide this weekend.