Canadian environmental not-for-profit Parvati.org celebrates a fruitful participation in the Climate Reality Leadership Training, #CRinIowa, which took place recently in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Darcy Belanger, parvati.org’s Director of Strategic Initiatives, is now a Climate Reality Leader. Belanger travelled to Cedar Rapids on behalf of Parvati.org to participate in the leadership training, which is one of the initiatives of former US Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. The Cedar Rapids training, attended by delegates from all over the world, was one of only four taking place in 2015; the other three are Miami, New Delhi, and Toronto. It included presentations from Mr. Gore himself and other environmental leaders as well as panel discussion on the topics of agriculture and renewable energy.
“Mr. Gore has a tremendous ability to clearly communicate the urgent risks of climate change, while inspiring a vision for a future in which humanity is able to avoid a global climatic catastrophe through responsible environmental policy, profitable innovations in industry and business, and adoption of the green technologies available to us now,” says Belanger. “The Climate Reality Leadership Training, led by Mr. Gore, empowers attendees with resources and networking opportunities to facilitate positive, sustainable change as stewards of the environment and the planet.”
The Climate Reality Leadership Corps training in Cedar Rapids provided Parvati.org with an opportunity to show its support for the Climate Reality Project, to network with other climate and environmental advocates, and to study effective practices related to communication, education, and activism. As part of the training, Parvati.org is committing to ten “Acts of Leadership” on climate change through the coming year.
Parvati.org cheers Iowa’s leadership in getting over a quarter of its energy from wind. As speakers reiterated during the Climate Reality training, we simply cannot afford to burn more oil. This is nowhere more true than of oil reserves in the remote Arctic. Attempting to extract oil there is not a safe or sane option.
Parvati.org was founded by the Canadian musician and activist Parvati when she learned of proposed seismic testing for oil reserves in the Arctic Ocean off Clyde River, Nunavut. “It is a violation of the natural laws that govern us all that marine mammals and other wildlife face the possibility of permanent physical damage, even death, as a result of this industrial activity,” says Parvati. “If we as a society feel the need to harm nature and the animals to access oil, it is a sign that it is time to seek alternate energy sources to fuel our economy.”
Parvati.org, with its headquarters in Toronto, looks forward to the next Climate Reality Leadership training, which is to take place in Toronto July 9-10. “I encourage everyone who cares about the planet to consider this training opportunity to become an ambassador for the earth and help to give greater voice to the ecological emergency facing us at this time,” says Parvati. “The goals of the Climate Reality Project are in complete alignment with those of parvati.org.”
by Parvati Magazine staff