Fire and Ice Event Offers Perspectives and Solutions on Climate and Energy Issues

One Sky – Canadian Institute of Sustainable Living will host a climate change speaking presentation at the Old Church on Thursday, June 15th at 7:00 p.m. The event, “Fire and Ice,” features four local experts on global climate change and solutions including senior ecologist Dr. Jim Pojar, One Sky Executive Director Mike Simpson, Energy consultant Greg Brown, and Dawn Hanson, a Community Capacity Facilitator.

The event takes its name from One Sky’s current work in regions of Nigeria that are heavily impacted by the oil and gas industry and from its upcoming expedition in the Canadian Arctic.

“There are fires in Nigeria and they’re melting the poles,” explains One Sky Executive Director Michael Simpson, referring to unnecessary industrial gas flaring in the Niger delta and rapidly melting arctic sea ice. “We need to solve the problem of climate change in a very short period of time. The best thing to do is find strategies that are easy and cheap.”

This summer Simpson will undertake a 650 km kayak trip along the inlets and waterways of Baffin Island from Igloolik to Pond Inlet to draw attention to the interconnectedness of environmental issues and the importance of scaling up individual actions to help influence international policy.

Senior ecologist Dr. Jim Pojar brings a strong conservation message based on the findings of his research and peer-reviewed report “A New Climate for Conservation” released earlier this year.

“Climate change is forcing us to re-evaluate the way we protect nature,” says Dr. Pojar. “A minimum conservation target of 50 per cent is what's necessary to give our plants and animals a fighting chance to adapt.”

Greg Brown, who earlier this month travelled to the Gulf of Mexico with a delegation of BC Coastal First Nations, has returned with a cautionary tale from his firsthand experience of the BP oil spill that has now spread throughout the wetlands of coastal Louisiana.

The event is by donation. All proceeds support One Sky’s project supporting transformative leadership for sustainable development in Nigeria.

For more information:  Emily McGiffin or (250) 877-6030