The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) is asking members of Academic Staff unions and associations across Canada to sign a petition calling on all university presidents and the member organization Universities Canada to sign the United Nations Global Climate Letter.
In addition to declaring a climate emergency, signatories to the UN letter commit to three goals:
- Mobilize more resources for action-oriented climate change research and skills creation.
- Commit to going carbon neutral by 2030 or 2050 at the very latest.
- Increase the delivery of environmental and sustainability education across curriculum, campus, and community outreach programmes.
MUNFA’s Working Group on Decarbonization strongly backs this appeal, which also has the full support of the MUNFA Executive Committee. We believe that doing so reflects the mission of the public university to contribute to the common good. Recognizing the urgent need to address climate breakdown, the working group is committed to working for decarbonization by the earlier date.
The petition is an initiative of Climate Action at the University of Alberta (CAUA) coalition. Individuals can also add their name to the petition at the link above. As the petition is to be released in early October, the deadline for signatures is September 30th.
MUN committed to its own climate crisis pledge in September of 2019 thanks to the work of the MUN Climate Action Coalition (MUN CAC), of which MUNFA is a member.
Interested members of the university community are encouraged to add their name to the UN petition at the link above and to get involved with MUN CAC.
MUNFA members who wish to join the MUNFA Decarbonization Working Group are encouraged to contact Travis Perry – Membership and Administrative Coordinator at 864-4090 or membership.munfa@mun.ca
