One Month to Major International Climate Mobilisation

On September 8, people around the world will take part in hundreds of actions under the banner of Rise for Climate, and in the U.S. Rise for Climate Jobs, and Justice, highlighting the need for real climate leadership in the face of intensifying climate impacts. People will showcase community-led solutions to the climate crisis and demand elected officials and decision-makers walk the talk on climate action ahead of the California-based Global Climate Action Summit happening September 12. Tens of thousands will take to the streets in San Francisco in the largest-ever West Coast climate march, while hundreds of actions will target states facing pivotal mid-term elections in November to demand that fossil fuels stay in the ground.

As wildfires devastate California, communities in the Bay Area are holding a press conference today in San Francisco one month ahead of the California Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice Mobilization on September 8th. The Aug. 8th press conference features organizers of the Rise march and community leaders facing impacts from climate change and fossil fuel extraction. A street mural capturing themes of the mobilization will be drawn in real-time during the press conference by artists using charcoal and other materials from areas impacted by California wildfires. On September 8, organizers are planning to create the largest-ever street mural.

WHEN: TODAY, August 8th, 2018 at 11:00amPT / 2pmET.

WHO: More than 140 organizations have endorsed the Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice march. Speakers will include: Miya Yoshitani, Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN); Rudy Gonzalez, Acting Executive Director of the San Francisco Labor Council; Rev. Ambrose Carroll from The Church by the Side of the Road; Alondra Aragon, a youth member of PODER; Desirae Harp with Indian People Organizing for Change and Raquel Guevara-Bolanos with North Bay Organizing Project, both of whom are survivors of the northern California wildfires.

WHERE: Harry Bridges Plaza, across the street from the Ferry Building, San Francisco. Livestream will be available here.

Across the U.S., communities are urging city and state officials to take bold and meaninful action on climate. Highlights across the U.S. include:

• In California, groups are urging Governor Jerry Brown and those attending his summit to commit to phasing out fossil fuel extraction and begin a just transition to 100% renewable energy that centers racial and economic justice.
• On September 6 in New York City, people will gather in Battery Park with magnificent art calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to fulfill his promises to move the State off fossil fuels through a just transition to 100% renewable energy, and nearly a dozen distributed actions across New York State are planned for September 8.
• In Miami, Florida thousands will rally at a high profile concert to call attention to the impacts of hurricanes and sea level rise on the city's communities.
• In Portland, Oregon a coalition fighting Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in Jordan Cove will lift up frontline communities most impacted by fossil fuel extraction.
• In New Orleans, Louisana advocates will focus their action on stopping the Bayou Bridge pipeline.
• In Tacoma, Washington communities will use arts and storytelling to show the intersections between those impacted by an LNG facility and those detained at the neighboring ICE detention facility.

Globally, communities most impacted by the fossil fuel industry and climate change will be participating: Pacific Island nations will petition their local institutions to commit to 100% renewable energy; affected communities in Thailand will be marching outside the UN climate change conference in Bangkok to ensure negotiators hear the message of the people joining Rise for Climate around the world; there will be climate summits for local leaders to accelerate the just transition to fair and equitable energy systems for all across Africa; in Latin America groups will rise up to challenge dangerous fossil fuel extraction methods like fracking; and in Europe communities, including areas already experiencing climate impacts, will challenge their local municipalities to ditch dangerous fossil fuels and accelerate a just and swift transition to 100% renewable energy.

There is no time to lose. So far in 2018 we have witnessed a range of severe impacts related to climate change including: extreme heat waves across North Africa, Europe and Japan where a national emergency was declared; devastating wildfires in Greece that cost 85 lives, as well as in Sweden and the USA; and massive Antarctic ice-melt that contributes to global sea level rise threatening our coastal cities and the very existence of many island nations.

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Website: riseforclimate.org

For highlights of planned actions see here

For more information on the artistic components of the mobilisation see here