SaskOutdoors Climate Change Education Position Statement
SaskOutdoors has a mission to "connect people of Saskatchewan to the outdoors and inspire a sense of curiosity and play within our natural environment by passionately delivering programs and services that promote awareness of outdoor recreation and environmental stewardship". With this mission in mind, SaskOutdoors is inspired by the voices and actions of youth involved in the climate strike movement. We hear youth demand for action to address climate change, and we express our solidarity. We believe that a significant way the people of Saskatchewan can work towards addressing climate change is through thorough, fact-based climate change education.
Climate change mitigation requires everyone to act in unprecedented ways to protect biodiversity, ecosystems, and the wonder of Saskatchewan’s outdoor spaces. SaskOutdoors supports climate change education which will reaffirm an ethic of care and stewardship towards the natural environment.
Additionally, we seek to address the symptoms of climate anxiety we see in our learners and program participants who live in a world altered by human-caused emissions They are alarmed and many of them are scared. Therefore, we acknowledge that appropriate climate change education must take into account not only the science but the affective-emotional feelings that are involved in the loss of the places that people love and recreate in.
Today, we cannot facilitate outdoor and environmental education without addressing how the environment in our backyards, parks, and other natural spaces is changing due to climate change. We support all our members and the people of Saskatchewan who wish to connect with the beauty and wonder of nature. Thus, SaskOutdoors continues to advocate for the necessary climate education required to care for the outdoors.
1 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated in 2018 that if we do not limit human-caused greenhouse gas emissions immediately, to keep our global average temperature increases to under a 1.5 degree celsius increase from pre-industrial levels, then we are at risk of devastating consequences such as losing up to 50% of all known species, increases in wildfires and droughts, loss of land along coastlines and riparian zones, more deaths due to heat related illnesses, and more. It is much easier for species and people to adapt to climate change if we keep warming to below 1.5 degrees. We are already at a 1 degree increase from pre-industrial levels. 2 The Canadian Ministry of Environment and Climate Change's report titled Canada's Changing Climate, identified that climate warming in Canada is approximately double that of global warming. Additionally, Saskatchewan has the highest greenhouse gas emissions GHGe per capita in Canada as stated by the Government of Canada, provincial energy profile. We recognise the shortcomings of reporting GHGe per capita on a global scale, but see its value for recognizing local mitigation efforts. Download as PDF
1 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated in 2018 that if we do not limit human-caused greenhouse gas emissions immediately, to keep our global average temperature increases to under a 1.5 degree celsius increase from pre-industrial levels, then we are at risk of devastating consequences such as losing up to 50% of all known species, increases in wildfires and droughts, loss of land along coastlines and riparian zones, more deaths due to heat related illnesses, and more. It is much easier for species and people to adapt to climate change if we keep warming to below 1.5 degrees. We are already at a 1 degree increase from pre-industrial levels. 2 The Canadian Ministry of Environment and Climate Change's report titled Canada's Changing Climate, identified that climate warming in Canada is approximately double that of global warming. Additionally, Saskatchewan has the highest greenhouse gas emissions GHGe per capita in Canada as stated by the Government of Canada, provincial energy profile. We recognise the shortcomings of reporting GHGe per capita on a global scale, but see its value for recognizing local mitigation efforts. Download as PDF