That the City Council go on record congratulating Green Cambridge for a successful Climate Congress

City of Cambridge R-4 ORIGINAL ORDER IN CITY COUNCIL November 21, 2016 COUNCILLOR DEVEREUX MAYOR SIMMONS WHEREAS: On Saturday, October 1, 2016, Green Cambridge held the opening session of the 2016 Climate Congress at Cambridge City Hall with presentations from experts on the immediate and anticipated impacts of climate change and how individuals can respond; and WHEREAS: The Climate Congress met weekly for six focused discussions on diversity, to talk about how people from different backgrounds, in different circumstances, and with different beliefs can respond to climate change in their own lives; and WHEREAS: The focused discussions centered on ages and generations, countries of origins, faiths, personal resources, political views, and activism, and brought together a diverse group of 97 delegates from across Cambridge to make recommendations for how all residents can respond to climate change; and WHEREAS: On Saturday, November 12, 2016, delegates met at Cambridge City Hall to adopt a final statement on climate citizenship, which reads: “We can act now to protect ourselves, future generations, and life on earth from the conditions of a changing climate. We believe it is our responsibility to act now to adapt our way of living, conserve natural resources and systems, and restore the natural cycles on which life on earth depends. We do this as free citizens of a universal community of mutual responsibility, committed to caring for one another. We pledge to act on and communicate this commitment and to engage members of our communities in Cambridge and beyond. Our response is a necessary part of the national and global response, freely offered with a commitment to justice for all in a common struggle”; and WHEREAS: The Climate Congress provided the delegates and the broader community a chance to consider strategies on how to be effective and progressive climate citizens, understanding that all people come to the issue with a different background but have the power to make a difference in their own lives—a tradition of diversity and service in keeping with Cambridge’s values; now therefore be it RESOLVED: That the City Council go on record congratulating Green Cambridge for a successful Climate Congress; and be it further RESOLVED: That the City Clerk be and hereby is requested to forward a suitably engrossed copy of this resolution to Green Cambridge on behalf of the entire City Council.