The City of St. John’s may soon be declaring a climate emergency.

At last night’s city council meeting councillors Ian Froude and Maggie Burton brought forward a petition—featuring over 800 signatures of St. John’s residents—from the Coalition for a Green New Deal and the Social Justice Cooperative, demanding action on climate issues.

After the petition was tabled, Froude announced that at a future council meeting he would be tabling a motion to declare a climate emergency in St. John’s.

Froude says effecting sustainable change has been one of his goals all along.

He says building a sustainable future to combat climate change is one of the reasons he ran for city council. That, combined with the calls to action from thousands in the community, is what made him want to put the motion forward.

Message for All Levels of Government

Travis Inkpen and Rachel Jekanowski are two of the people behind the petition.

Inkpen says the petition came about during recent mass climate protests around the world. The two wanted to capitalize off the momentum of the strikes.

Jekanowski says they want the message heard at all levels of government, but says there is a lot that can be done at a municipal level—such as better funding for public transit and bike systems to help get more cars off the road.