It’s Getting Hot In Here

“Climate justice affirms the need for solutions that address women´s rights.”

– Bali Principles of Climate Justice

Tomorrow is International Women’s Day, which means that it is the perfect opportunity for Three Course Discourse. This is where we get together with others and share a three course meal served with a themed discussion. Tomorrow’s theme: women!

So why have I decided to talk about women´s rights and International Women´s Day on a climate change blog? To answer this, I am going to reference Sharmeen Khan´s article, The Whiteness of Green. She talks about how the environmental movement is dominated mainly by white people of privilege and how they can alienate those who have additional struggles such as racial oppression. Khan clearly explains that if environmentalists do not develop an anti-oppressive lens when looking at the environment, their movement will be battling with other movements also fighting for justice.

“Environmentalists need to be taken to task for a vision that lacks a coherent analysis or practice of anti-oppression, because as long as environmentalists are . . . not in a place where social justice can be assumed . . . those of us dedicated to social justice and anti-racism will struggle against environmentalists to make our concerns heard.” Continue reading ‘You Are Invited To Three Course Discourse—To Discuss Why We Cannot Divide The Womyn’s Movement and The Climate Movement’

Protestors call on top tar sands financier to protect Indigenous rights and climate

TORONTO—More than 150 people gathered outside the RBC Annual General Shareholder Meeting today to protest the bank’s leading role in funding the contentious Alberta tar sands. People concerned with the impact of tar sands projects on First Nations, water quality and the climate came from every corner of Canada to ensure that the bank heard the message: ‘stop bankrolling the tar sands.’

Outside the shareholder meeting school children, bank customers of every age, First Nations community representatives and leading environmental groups rallied with brightly colored signs and chants. Inside the shareholder meeting, Chief Al Lameman of Beaver Lake First Nation of Alberta,Vice Chief Terry Teegee of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council of BC, and Hereditary Chief Warner Naziel of the Wet’suwe’ten First Nation of BC addressed RBC CEO Goron Nixon directly about the way tar sands extraction projects have jeopardized their health and their rights.  Continue reading ‘Over 150 People Call On RBC to End Tar Sands Financing at Annual General Shareholder’s Meeting’

Sometimes I get so upset about the tar sands, I just need to pick up the phone and tell someone about it.

In the lead-up to Copenhagen, I was calling the Canadian Prime Minister and other members of parliament. I wanted them to know that they need to make responsible decisions in Copenhagen to ensure that Canada would do its part in addressing the climate crisis, and to do this they would need to shut down our dirtiest industry.

Now, in the lead up to a rally against the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and their financing of the tar sands—I am calling RBC employees.  I want them to know that they need to act responsibly and stop financing the tar sands. Royal Bank of Canada is the top financier of tar sands projects which are making up 95% of Canada’s increase in emissions, violating over 24 aboriginal treaties, causing rates of diseases and cancers to skyrocket in nearby communities, using up local freshwater resources, and destroying the environment.

Do you think all RBC employees know that? I doubt it.

Continue reading ‘Did YOU Know Your Employer Was Financing Fossil Fuels?’

We just began our seventh hour here in the Bella Centre, sitting-in until world leaders achieve a fair, ambituous, and binding treaty. The past few hours have been incredibly positive as party members, NGO members, and UN observers have come by to meet us and ensure our wellbeing by offering us food, water, and blankets. Members of party delegations have walked by giving us a thumbs up, and several climate A-listers have walked by to shake our hands and congratulate us on our bravery.

We have been approached by media from all over the world…let us take you all through the discussions we have been having over the past few hours:

How long are you planning on being here?

Until we reach a fair, ambitious, and legally-binding treaty. The security has said that if we plan on staying, then they will see us in the morning. Hopefully, we will not have to wait too much longer.

Do you think that it can happen?

It can and it must happen. Heads of state and heads of government are going to be coming together to discuss climate change, so this is the space to achieve the fair, ambituous, and legally-binding treaty we are asking for. There are many countries that are very capable of reducing their emissions and they need to, and they can. They just need to get here and show the political will to reduce emissions, to safeguard people’s lives and livelihoods, and to show that the UN can come to an agreement.

Continue reading ‘Live Blog: Seventh Hour Of Peaceful Sit-In At The UN Conference Centre’

The first week of negotiations in Copenhagen ended with a second tar sands focussed action. Indigenous and non-indigenous people from Canada and the US come together to remind everyone that the tar sands is not just a Canadian issue—it affects everyone and there is no room for the tar sands in a just climate deal.

Photo Credit: Ben Powless

The group proceeded peacefully through the COP15 conference centre holding up placards that said “We don’t want your dirty oil” and “But we are blocking progress just for you.” The placards set up a dialogue between the Canadian and US government leaders, showing that both governments are blocking progress together. This procession was an unprecedented action of solidarity between Indigenous peoples, Canadian youth, and US youth condemning the tar sands together.

Three women led the procession through the conference centre: Eriel Deranger, a Dene woman from Fort Chipewyan; Kandi Mossett, a Mandas, Kidatsa and Arikara woman from a community in North Dakota where they are constructing a tar sands oil refinery; and Kimia Ghomeshi, a climate justice organizer in Canada. All three delivered powerful speeches before they proceeded through the halls silently. Continue reading ‘Tar Sands An Important Issue? Two Tar Sands Actions In First Week Of COP’

Canada’s former image of being an amiable and lovable nation is being tarred at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15), where Canadian negotiaters are constantly blocking progress towards an international climate deal. At the UNFCC today, Canadian youth converged in the plenary hall, holding a banner saying: Stop Tarring Our Image.  The Canadian Youth Delegation held the banner and held up copies of a report entitled Stop Tarnishing the Canadian Maple Leaf released today by Equiterre, Environmental Defence, Forest Ethics and Climate Action Network. The report and the banner were fuelled by the frustration with the Canadian government’s position on climate change and their preference to protect Canadian Tar Sands over people’s lives and the environment.

Canadian Youth Delegates hold up a report released by Climate Action Network. Photo credit: Yvonne Su

“Canada once had an international reputation as a clean, green country with progressive environmental policies. But when it comes to the positions and actions of the Government of Canada  on global warming  nothing could be further from the truth,” states the report. “The tar sands are the single largest contributor to growth in Canada’s emissions, and are preventing us from meeting our Kyoto commitments or making any meaningful progress on the climate front,” said Danial T’seleie, a member of the Canadian Youth Delegations from the K’asho Got’ine Dene First Nation located in the Northwest Territories. “Canada’s failing record on the climate and human rights, is not only hurting First Nations,  Metis, and Inuit, it is also damaging our reputation internationally.”

Canada has received a Fossil Of the Day award every day in Copenhagen–an award given to the countries which are blocking negotiations most. This is unacceptable and as a G8 country, we know we have the resources to stop our dependence on fossil fuels. As youth, we know that a better future is possible and we will not accept fossil fuels to be part of that future.

Continue reading ‘Stop Tarring Our Image, Our Future, Our Climate, and Our Communities’

This post was co-written with Tria Donaldson of the Canadian Youth Delegation to the UNFCCC in Copenhagen.

Today is the first day of the UN Climate Change Negotiations, and the Canadian Delegation starts it with the typical flair. No surprises coming from Canada, just the same ol’ COP-blocking. In today’s briefing meeting with the Canadian Delegation, the lead Canadian negotiator, Michael Martin, had some interesting things to say. After Martin said that Canada will not change its emission reduction targets of 20% below 2006 levels by 2020 (unacceptable), he said  “Fundamentally, we believe that what Canada is proposing to do is ambitious.”

I wonder what definition of ambitious he is familiar with?

Let’s recap what Canada is proposing:
- a 3 per cent reductions target below 1990 levels (Canada orginally committed to 6% below 1990 levels, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is asking for 25-40% reductions)
- No action plan to achieve this 3 per cent reduction
- We are one of the only countries opposing a 1990 base line level, and instead are insisting that we use a 2006 baseline – a year with huge economic activity and higher emissions than 1990
- Even developing countries have more ambitious targets than us (India: 20-25 per cent, Indonesia 26 per cent, Brazil 28 per cent)
-The US has climate legislation in the house, targets much more ambitious then ours, and invests 14 times more in renewable energy development
Does that sound ambituous to you?

Canadian Youth Delegate, Thea Whitman, with Canadian lead negotiater, Michael Martin.

If ambituous means expanding the Tar Sands as fast as possible–then Yes, that is “ambituos.”

If ambitious means pointing the finger at countries like China and India, who have not historically contributed to the planet’s greenhouse atmosphere to the same extent as industrialized countries like Canada–then Yes! That is ambituous.

Continue reading ‘Canada Is “Ambitious” Like Peanut Brittle Is Soft On The Teeth’

The third sit-in at a Conservative MP’s constituency office took place today in Jim Flaherty’s Whitby, Ontario office. These sit-ins are organized by groups of concerned people for climate justice, and will not end until the Conservative government takes strong action on climate change, commits to bold emission reduction targets, and ensures the safety and survival of those hardest hit by the climate crisis. These sit-ins are a wake-up call to the Conservative government of Canada: The Canadian Government must commit to climate justice now!

Seven stage sit-in in Finance Minister Flaherty's office in Whitby, Ontario (Photo credit: Ben Iseman)

“Flaherty, as the Minister of Finance, knows where the money is going. He needs to make sure that he is financing climate justice, not dirty and destructive industries like the tar sands. The Alberta oil industry is literally tarring Canada’s name, preventing the country from reaching any international climate deal, and affecting the health and livelihoods of nearby communities,” says Kimia Ghomeshi who was outside supporting the sit-in.

Continue reading ‘People For Climate Justice Stages Peaceful Sit-in In Finance Minister’s Office’

There are just over three weeks to Copenhagen and the term “boy-scout” has come up several times. “We’re always the Boy Scout in the room,” said Sandra Pupatello, Minister of Economic Development and Trade. Days earlier, Jim Prentice “wants the world to know he’ll be no Boy Scout when crucial climate-change talks convene in Copenhagen a month from now.”

Who ever thought of Canada as a boy scout? Boy scouts cooperate, right? Boy scouts respect others, right? Boy scouts do not go to international negotiations to repeatedly stand in the way of international cooperation only to receive a colossal fossil award…right?

If the Canadian government was a boy scout, a number of events in the past months would have unfolded a little differently: Continue reading ‘Sorry Canada, You Ain’t No Boy Scout’

Rainforest Action Network Toronto activists took part in a nation-wide campaign against Royal Bank of Canada and set up a coffee shop in front of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) at Yonge and Bloor in Toronto to protest the bank’s involvement in the tar sands. Activists served coffee and tea, providing a visual protest against the water contamination produced by the Alberta Oil Industry.

The tar sands are the top polluter of water resources in Canada. The industry has diverted water from rivers and streams, and contaminated lakes which once provided fish, a staple food for local people. RAN Toronto activists were joined by other anti-tar sands activists, as well as anti-Olympic activists. Continue reading ‘Serving Fresh Cups of Reality to Tar Sands Financiers’