SASKATOON – It was a monumental Earth Day as world leaders from over 175 countries converged Friday to sign a landmark climate agreement.
READ MORE: Trudeau signs Paris climate treaty at UN, says ‘Canada’s efforts will not cease’
In Saskatoon, students at St. Edward School fanned out in all directions to do a little spring cleaning.
“A younger age is great to get started because then you can force those habits in – turning off the lights is a simple one,” Miles Cole, a student at St. Edward, said.
“Ride your bike to school, take the city bus instead of getting a ride from mom.”
“That’s why I think education is key and especially starting at a young age is great,” Cole said.
The event kicks off a month-long clean-up of Saskatoon to help make the city a better place to live, work and play.
Last year, close to 29,000 volunteers cleaned up the river valley, city parks and neighbourhoods by picking up debris along the way.
Meanwhile in New York, world leaders rolled up their sleeves as well, signing the Paris climate agreement to mark the 46th anniversary of Earth Day.
“Climate change will make more difficult every other challenge we face,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
The goal of the international treaty is to limit global warming to below two degrees Celsius, but the Saskatchewan Environmental Society (SES) isn’t so sure this can be achieved.
“If all the countries that were in Paris did exactly what they said they would do in Paris, the average temperature on the globe would go up about three degrees,” SES board member Bob Halliday said.
“So the announced actions are insufficient to meet that current target.”
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Detailed strategies on how countries will achieve the goal are also lacking, yet board members of the SES say we need to start somewhere, specially in Saskatchewan.
“The data shows that Saskatchewan’s greenhouse gas emissions have risen to a new high, for the first time exceeding 75-million tonnes released into the atmosphere in a single 12-month period,” SES board member Sarina Gersher said.
It is now calling on the province’s two largest cities, Saskatoon and Regina to lead the way by becoming carbon neutral cities by 2050.
To get there, the SES is suggesting the two centres make LED lighting a standard in every neighbourhood, ban vehicles from idling with the exception of emergency vehicles and require new homes be built to an Energy Star rating.
“I think what we need to do as a city is get out in front of this because it’s going to happen and the sooner we get on with it the better it will be for everybody.”
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