As the Town of Chapel Hill is set to consider declaring a climate emergency on Wednesday, a youth-led movement recently held a demonstration to advocate for better addressing climate change.

Members of the Sunrise Movement Chapel Hill-Carrboro gathered at the Chapel Hill town hall building on Monday to advocate for the local government to pass a resolution declaring a climate and ecological emergency threatening the world. The resolution, which is being considered with a revision to the town’s Climate Action and Response Plan, would further recognize “a global climate emergency” as temperatures continue to rise year-over-year.

The local hub of the Sunrise Movement, which is a national organization working to urge for policies and job creation that would combat climate change, worked with the town government to draft this resolution. Members of the group held signs on Monday calling for a livable future and for the town to directly address global warming as an emergency.

“Chapel Hill has a responsibility to confront the climate emergency head on and take swift and comprehensive action to mitigate the crisis we are facing,” Owen Ryerson, a member of Sunrise Chapel Hill-Carrboro, said in a release. “Our generation, the young people who will have to live with the consequences of the choices made today, are declaring a climate emergency. Will the Town of Chapel Hill join us by declaring an emergency and working to create equitable solutions to the challenges we face?”

In addition to the proposed resolution declaring an emergency, it stipulates the Town of Chapel Hill will pledge to support legislation initiating a national mobilization “to halt, reverse and address” the causes of global warming. The town government would then encourage other North Carolina local governments, as well as the state and federal government, to also declare climate emergencies.

Wednesday’s Chapel Hill Town Council meeting is set to begin at 7 p.m. Council members will also consider agenda items like an interlocal agreement for the Greene Tract and opening public hearings on projects like redevelopment at the University Place mall and on Dobbins Drive.

Photo via the Sunrise Movement Chapel Hill-Carrboro.

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