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As Canada’s climate activists gear up to take a “leap” in 2016 to kickstart a journey toward clean energy, groups across the country and around the world are set to mark International Leap Day on Monday with a series of rallies, forums, film screenings, and more in support of the Leap Manifesto for climate action.
The Leap Manifesto, a 15-point call for a shift away from corporate greed and dirty energy to a sustainable future of energy democracy, has the support of over 33,000 signatories and close to 200 organizational endorsements including major environmental, social justice, labor, and Indigenous groups that have helped propel the initiative.
The manifesto, spearheaded by activist and author Naomi Klein and her husband filmmaker Avi Lewis, was first released last fall, but is set to be relaunched on International Leap Day.
Did you know that #LeapYear starts on #LeapDay February 29th? See more at https://t.co/yroMQhjUmC pic.twitter.com/Xu0CC33FHu
— Changes Everything (@thischanges) February 24, 2016
“We call on all those seeking political office to seize this opportunity and embrace the urgent need for transformation,” reads the Leap Manifesto. “This is our sacred duty to those this country harmed in the past, to those suffering needlessly in the present, and to all who have a right to a bright and safe future.”
The manifesto calls for respect for Indigenous rights as foundation to urgent action on climate change and argues that a full transition to clean energy is affordable if Canada introduces key policies based on climate justice, including an end to fossil fuel subsidies, higher corporate taxes, and a progressive carbon tax.
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The call to action urges for there to be a seachange transition to more efficient public transit and construction, green jobs, local and ecological agriculture, better public infrastructure, and an end to austerity and damaging trade deals, among other demands.
To celebrate #LeapYear people are mobilizing towards new economic &energy systems. More: https://t.co/pevk9MZKCG
— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) February 28, 2016
“One thing is clear: public scarcity in times of unprecedented private wealth is a manufactured crisis, designed to extinguish our dreams before they have a chance to be born,” reads the manifesto.
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Among International Leap Day’s high-profile events include a rally to support the Canadian Union of Postal Workers on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to announce a new campaign to transform Canada’s postal officers into a “postal bank” and drivers of a new green economy. Naomi Klein and other leaders will attend the campaign launch.
Other events will take place in cities across Canada and the United States, as well as internationally. This week, events are also planned in Copenhagen, London, Oslo, Budapest, and other cities, with more international film screenings and forums planned in other continents in the coming months.
On Feb 29, posties are taking the Leap. Are you? https://t.co/TivgUB9P3a via @cupw #leapmanifesto #leapday #leapyear pic.twitter.com/5cMFOlArlt
— rabble.ca (@rabbleca) February 24, 2016
“Climate scientists have told us that this is the decade to take decisive action to prevent catastrophic global warming,” reads the Leap Manifesto. “That means small steps will no longer get us where we need to go.”
“So we need to leap,” it adds.
Other upcoming events for the Leap Manifesto include global action for breaking free of fossil fuels planned for May 2016, hailed as a “wave of global resistance to keep coal, oil, and gas in the ground.”
Although the Leap Manifesto was developed and launched with a focus on Canada, the campaign invites activists and community organizers to sign up to host a Leap event in any country and city around the globe.
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