24 NOVEMBER 2015

Fredericton - David Coon, MLA for Fredericton South and Leader of the Green Party of New Brunswick, will join Premier Brian Gallant as part of the Canadian delegation in Paris for COP21, the UN Climate Change Conference. Governments will seek an agreement on how to keep the global temperature from exceeding 2 degrees C.

“This conference is a critical opportunity for Premier Gallant to learn first-hand about how other governments are seizing onto the green energy transition to build strong vibrant economies that are creating jobs every day,” said Coon. “We can begin that transition now, if we build on initiatives already underway in New Brunswick in green building construction, smart grid development, bioenergy production, and clean tech development.”

Coon has over 25 years of experience with climate change policy and advocacy. He was part of New Brunswick’s delegation to the Premiers’ summit on Climate Change in Quebec last April. He is a past-chair of the Canadian Climate Action Network, contributed to New Brunswick’s 2006-2012 Climate Action Strategy and published Canada’s first climate change primer in 1992. He participated in Canada’s first climate action plan in 1994 and contributed to the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers 2001 climate action plan. In 2002, Coon was awarded the silver medallion by the Canadian Environmental Achievement Awards for his work to promote climate action. He attended the international Climate Summit, COP11 in Montreal, hosted by Canada in 2005 and chaired by Stéphane Dion.

“I look forward to working collaboratively with our Premier in the coming days. He has the opportunity to play a leadership role in Canada by making New Brunswick the poster child for the coming energy transition.”