Young Friends of the Earth Europe supports the demnds of the Canadian Youth Delegation to the Canadian Government, on the opening day of the 2015 UN climate talks in Lima, Peru.
To the Government of Canada:
We are the Canadian Youth Delegation, supported by more than sixty environmental non-profits, labour groups, and youth organizations. We are youth from across Canada who are attending the upcoming UN international climate change negotiations (COP 20) in Lima, Peru. As we prepare for our participation at the negotiations, we realize how important it is for us to introduce ourselves and tell you that we refuse to tolerate the inaction of the Canadian Government when it comes to climate change. We intend to hold you accountable for the decisions you make at COP 20.
We have grown up in a world threatened by the impacts of a changing climate. For our entire lives, world leaders have been aware of the irreversible damage that humans are inflicting on our planet, but have done almost nothing to reverse it. You, the Government of Canada, have made it clear that you are more interested in the profit and power you gain from a fossil fuel based economy than you are in ensuring a sustainable and livable planet for generations to come. Since assuming power you have:
- withdrawn from the Kyoto Protocol in 2012 and continually blocked progress at international climate negotiations;
- refused to put meaningful effort into supporting climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts;
- lowered and reneged on emissions reductions commitments and zealously lobbied other governments to do the same;
- pushed back relentlessly on the Climate Change Accountability Act (Bill C-311) and silenced the young people who protested its failure in October 2009 by dragging them from the House of Commons, where you laughed at them for demanding collective and ambitious climate action and policy;
- championed an omnibus bill in 2012 that stripped federal environmental protections and muzzled climate scientists;
- systematically audited and threatened organizations that aim to shed light on the disgraceful actions of the government;
- and denied the treaty rights of Indigenous peoples in this country.
We, the Canadian Youth Delegation, stand alongside the millions of young people worldwide who refuse to inherit a planet in crisis. We stand beside Indigenous peoples, front-line communities, people of colour and low income populations who are living the frightening realities and injustices of climate change, and who will continue to be disproportionately impacted in the absence of sufficient action.
From coast to coast to coast First Nations, Inuit, and Métis, industry workers, new immigrants, parents, farmers, fishers, unions, students and many more are demanding climate justice. Yet the Government of Canada continues to lead us down a highway of unfettered expansion of the tar sands, paired with unwieldy trade agreements, and a complete lack of respect for Indigenous land and treaty rights. We reject the notion that the environment and the economy are mutually exclusive or pitted against each other. There is no price tag on forests, rivers, wetlands, air, culture, communities, or our lives and livelihoods. We know that it is not for lack of technological advancement, public opinion, or financial resources that we have not stopped climate change in its tracks; the culprit is lack of political will. Along with action on climate change, we demand that the Government of Canada honour the treaties and land rights of Indigenous people in this country.
You have the opportunity to be a leader in creating a just transition to a clean energy future, but you consistently fail to rise to the challenge. By now, any excuses for delay have long expired, yet we anticipate with heavy hearts that you will continue to stall negotiations at COP 20 and promote carbon-intensive projects at home. If this is the case, we will continue to challenge the ongoing development of the single most destructive development anywhere on Earth, and we will not give up until you acknowledge and take urgent and ambitious action to demonstrate that our future is more important to you than the money in your pockets, the oil on your hands, or the power you hold. To us, our future is everything, and we will do all that we can to protect it. Let it echo through the halls and boardrooms of every legislating body and corporate headquarters in this country: we deserve better.
Sincerely,
The Canadian Youth Delegation to COP 20
350.org
Bringing Youth Towards Equality (BYTE)
Canadian Federation of Students
Canadian Labour Congress
Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice
Canadian Youth Climate Coalition
ClimateFast
Climate Justice Saskatoon
Committee for Future Generations
Conservation Council of New Brunswick
Council of Canadians
Dalhousie Student Union Office of Sustainability
Divest Dalhousie
Divest McGill
Divest Mount Allison
Divest UVic
Divest York
Douglas Channel Watch
Ecology Action Centre
Ecology North
Ecology Ottawa
Environmental Studies Student Association, University of Saskatchewan
Fossil Fuel Divestment at Grenfell
Fossil Free Guelph
Fossil Free Kwantlen
Fossil Free Lakehead
Fossil Free McMaster
Fossil Free uOttawa
Friends of the Earth Canada
Geography, Planning and Environmental Graduate Students of Concordia University
Greenpeace Canada
Inter-Church Uranium Committee Educational Co-operative
Keepers of the Athabasca
Leadnow.ca
Living Oceans Society
Mother Earth Action Co-operative Ltd.
Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association
Pro Information Pro Environmental United People (PIPE UP) Network
Polaris Institute
Public Interest Alberta
Queen’s Backing Action on Climate Change
rabble.ca
RPIC (Renewable Power – the Intelligent Choice)
Saskatoon Peoples’ Climate March
Saskatchewan Citizens’ Hearings on Climate Change Organizing Committee
Saskatchewan Eco-Network
Sierra Club BC
Sierra Club Canada Foundation
Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group
Starfish Canada
Stop Energy East Halifax
Sustainable SFU
Sustainable Trent
Student’s Society of McGill University
Toronto350.org
Transition Initiative Kenora
UBCC350
UofT350.org
UR Sustainability
Vegans and Vegetarians of Alberta
West Coast Environmental Law Association
Wilderness Committee
International
Aotearoa New Zealand Human Rights Lawyers Association
Australian Youth Climate Coalition
Generation Zero
New Zealand Youth Delegation
P3 Foundation
SustainUS: U.S. Youth for Sustainable Development
Young Friends of the Earth Europe