The Climate Justice Coalition of Western New York seeks to work with others in the community to build a climate justice movement. Our goal is to immediately move from dirty fossil fuel energy systems to renewables in order to ameliorate the negative impacts of global climate change. And we seek to do this in a way that democratizes energy production and its benefits.
We are working to connect with people in a way that listens to their concerns about their future and the future of their children on this planet so that climate justice becomes personal to individual lives and communities. We are choosing to build a healthy community striving for justice and concern for all forms of life knowing that we are all one.
Photos from the People’s Climate March in Washington, DC, April 29, 2017
Thanks to YOU, WNY Rose Up to send a strong message to the Paris Climate talks. Now we look forward to working with you in the months ahead on the hard work of turning our leaders’ words into the real and urgent action needed on climate change.
“The Rise Up for Climate Justice Campaign is over, the U.N. Climate Paris Talks are over. But the work is just beginning. Join us as we initiate next st
eps in our local and regional communities to cut greenhouse gas emissions, to increase ‘carbon negative’ actions, and to ensure that this energy transformation is embedded in a just transition and promotes energy democracy.” See Lynda Schneekloth’s complete summary of all we accomplished here.
WHAT I CAN DO ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE
We have been working to define our mission and goals as we transform our Rise Up for Climate Justice Campaign into The Climate Justice Coalition of Western NY for continued action toward a fair, sustainable and climate safe Western New York.
Our WNY contingent has returned from the UN Climate Talks in Paris and successful delivery of our scroll of WNY Climate Justice Pledge signers. We thank the UB students for representing us and for their exciting report! The work now ahead of us is to regroup, plan, and move our highly successful campaign forward for climate justice. Let’s work together here in WNY for a sustainable future. Stay tuned!!
In the words of Bill McKibben, “We need to build the movement even bigger in the coming years, so that the Paris agreement turns into a floor and not a ceiling for action.”
WNY Climate Justice Pledge Makes It to Paris!!
“This is how we will win,” said Sierra Club Executive Director, Mike 
Brune, as he accepted a scroll of over 2,000 names of Western New Yorkers, businesses, labor unions, and influential political leaders in Buffalo and beyond who signed the Climate Justice Pledge.
Left to right: UB law students Bridget Steele, Leah Bernhardi, Christina Kennedy, Collin Doane, Alyssa Erazo, and Sandy Chelnov, WNY Rise Up for Climate Justice, with Michael Brune, Executive Director, Sierra Club in center holding the WNY Climate Justice Pledge scroll signed by thousands of western New York individuals and organizations.
Twenty minutes after receiving the scroll from the representatives of Buffalo, Brune was set to meet with John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State to convey to the US Delegation the hopes of the American people, including Western New Yorkers.
Mike Brune was very optimistic about coming to a solution that would be legally binding.
Kerry called for a Climate Agreement with a ‘Legally Binding Transparency System. He moved to unblock climate talks, double US climate finance contributions to developing countries by 2020, and urged other countries to reach a final agreement by Friday. He cited moral reasons as some of the most compelling to cut down on carbon emissions but also that investors want to know that climate change technology will be worth the investment and the only way to ensure that is to have a legally binding transparency system.
This article and photos are from the SUNY Buffalo Climate Law & Policy Blog which can be linked to here. Thank you to SUNY Buffalo students and Professor Owley.
THE GATHERING:
An amazing evening of coming together with hope and voices raised on the EVE of the UN CLIMATE TALKS. THANK YOU TO ALL for your presence and contribution.
We gathered together on the eve of the UN Climate Talks in Paris to reinforce each other in our climate justice work, to acknowledge with our minds and hearts our concerns about the impacts of climate change on all of us; to act by sending our powerful, collective voices to Paris.
WHO ARE WE: The Climate Justice Coalition comprises diverse groups of Western New Yorkers including people of different faiths, students, people of color, teachers, indigenous people, labor unions, community activists, environmentalists, artists, performers and local politicians. The campaign is open to all people. Funded in part by grants and donations from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, Communication Workers of America, WNYEA, Peace Education Fund, Sierra Club Niagara Group.
Organization Pledge Signers: 
See the impressive and list of Unions, Elected Leaders, Religious, Environmental, Social Justice and Peace Groups who have signed the WNY Climate Justice Pledge by clicking HERE.
We Rallied in Buffalo’s Niagara Square on September 24th 2015, to call on the President and leaders of all nations
TO SIGN AND ENFORCE A UNIVERSAL, LEGALLY BINDING AGREMENT
to combat climate change and support a just energy transition.
More on the Rally….
Video Credit: David Kowalski
Photo Album of Rally with video clips (Thank you to David Kowalski for this). To open the Photo Album, Click on the image below:
Go HERE to read a wonderful summary of the rally and campaign – “Pope Francis inspires Local Citizens to Act on Climate” by David Kowalski.
The Sierra Club Niagara Group and the Interfaith Climate Justice Community have agreed to run a four month campaign leading up to the UN Paris Climate Talks at the end of 2015. Partners in this effort include Western New York Environmental Alliance, PUSH Buffalo and Partnership for the Public Good.
Western New York Climate Justice Pledge
We, the Citizens of Western New York, call on the President of the United States to lead the world to a universal, legally binding agreement to cut greenhouse gases at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) and to use the power of his office to mobilize public support for climate justice.
We call on local elected and civic leaders to take climate action through a just transition and to take action on behalf of the Earth and future generations.
Read complete text of Pledge here
As people of the earth and citizens of the United States,
We demand CLIMATE JUSTICE
We had the honor of Just Buffalo Young Writers kicking off our rally with their voices and 
poems calling for CLIMATE JUSTICE. A huge thank you to Just Buffalo and Hannah, Sol and Jace for their amazing poems and performance! Check out the text of their poems and a link to their Just Buffalo page below.
JBWC Young Writers Call for Climate Justice
Sierra Club Niagara Group 
