HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 5279COUNCH, RESOLUTION NO. 5279
A RE SOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE YOUTHLEDCLIMATE
STRIKE EUGENE, OREGON ON SEPTEMRER 20 BEGINNING A
WEEK OF CLIMATE AWARENESS ACTIONS THROUGH
SEPTEMRER27, 2019, DECLARING A CLIMATE EMERGENCY, AND
CALLING FOR FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUGENE
OREGON CLIMATE RECOVERY ORDINANCE (CRO) AND OTHER
IMMEDIATE MEASURES TO RESTORE A SAFE CLIMATE.
PASSED: 7:0
REJECTED:
OPPOSED:
ABSENT: Yeh
CONSIDERED: October 14, 2019
w
RESOLUTION NO. 5279
A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE YOUTH -LED CLIMATE STRIKE
EUGENE, OREGON ON SEPTEMBER 20 BEGINNING A WEEK OF
CLIMATE AWARENESS ACTIONS THROUGH SEPTEMBER 27, 2019,
DECLARING A CLIMATE EMERGENCY, AND CALLING FOR FULL
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUGENE OREGON CLIMATE
RECOVERY ORDINANCE (CRO) AND OTHER IMMEDIATE
MEASURES TO RESTORE A SAFE CLIMATE.
The City Council of the City of Eugene finds that:
A. On April 22, 2016, world leaders from 174 countries and the European Union
recognized the threat of climate change and the urgent need to combat it by signing the Paris
Agreement, agreeing to keep global warming well below 2'C above pre -industrial levels and to
pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5'C.
B. On October 8, 2018, the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change
released a special report which projected that limiting warming to the 1.5'C target this century will
require an unprecedented transformation of every sector of the global economy over the next 12
years.
C. World Wildlife Fund's 2018 Living Planet report finds that there has been a 60%
decline in global wildlife populations between 1970 and 2014.
D. According to the Intergovernmental Science -Policy Platform on Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Services, human activity has already severely altered 40% of the marine environment,
50% of inland waterways, and 75% of the planet's land, and it is projected that half -to -one million
species are threatened with extinction.
E. The United States of America has disproportionately contributed to the climate
emergency and has repeatedly obstructed global efforts to transition toward a green economy, and
thus bears an extraordinary responsibility to rapidly address these existential threats.
F. Prompt transition to sustainable economic practice is critical for providing ahealthy
biosphere and watersheds, and for sustaining ecosystems for human populations as well as for
Earth's other complexly interrelated species.
G. Marginalized populations in Eugene, Oregon and worldwide, including people of
color, immigrants, indigenous communities, low-income individuals, people with disabilities, and
the unhoused are disproportionately affected by climate change, and will continue to bear an excess
burden.
H. Addressing climate change fairly requires transitioning from fossil fuels to clean,
renewable energy that is ecologically sustainable and equitable for all people.
Resolution -- Page 1 of 2
I. People around the world have a fundamental right to clean, healthy and adequate
air, water, and land.
J. The economy must shift from dirty energy to energy democracy .that benefits
people, the environment, and a clean, renewable energy economy.
K. Building a society resilient to current, expected, and potential effects of climate
change will protect health, lives, ecosystems, and economies, and such resilience efforts will have
the greatest positive impact if the most dramatic potential consequences of climate change are
taken into account.
L. Eugene, Oregon, by enacting a Climate Recovery Ordinance into city policy, can
hereby support this local youth -led climate emergency mobilization.
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EUGENE, a
Municipal Corporation of the State of Oregon, as follows:
Section 1. The Eugene City Council declares its support for the youth -led emergency
climate strike September 20 through September 27, 2019.
Section 2. The Eugene City Council applauds citizens, especially the youth, in their
continuing efforts to take actionable steps to address the climate change emergency.
Section 3. This Resolution is effective immediately upon its passage by the City
Council.
The foregoing Resolution adopted the 14'h day of October, 2019.
City Recorder
Resolution -- Page 2 of 2