On2Ottawa activist Eric Schiller arrested at climate justice action on Portage Bridge

Ottawa activist Eric Schiller is taking action to stop climate change.

The Ottawa Citizen reports: “Gatineau police have confirmed the arrest of four On2Ottawa climate activists who were blocking the Portage Bridge Thursday [August 31] morning. The on2ottawa group climate activists have staged a number of traffic related protest calling for increased government action on climate issues.”

Listen: Eric speaks about the need for action in this video clip on Instagram.

The scientific consensus is that we must limit the global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The average global temperature in 2022 was already about 1.15°C above the 1850-1900 average.

This past May, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported: “There is a 66% likelihood that the annual average near-surface global temperature between 2023 and 2027 will be more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for at least one year.”

Eric is also encouraging people to attend the Fridays for Future organized Global Climate Strike protest on Friday September 15 starting at 1 pm on Parliament Hill.

In its global call-out for this upcoming action, Fridays for Future has highlighted the “criminalization of those who fight to defend nature.”

They have also previously demanded: “Stop the violence and criminalization against indigenous peoples, small farmers, small fisherfolk, and other environmental and land defenders. Support the work they do. Respect and listen to our defenders.”

Global Witness has explained: “Since the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015, at least 1,213 defenders have been killed. Most of these attacks are related to land conflicts involving climate-damaging industries – from logging to large-scale agribusinesses to mining. Nearly all these attacks are taking place in the Global South, and yet it is companies in the Global North who are ultimately driving or benefiting from this violence.”

Photo: Eric at another bridge occupation in Ottawa.

Peace Brigades International physically accompanies environmental defenders in Colombia, Honduras, Mexico and Guatemala who are at risk of criminalization, judicialization, threats, harassment and death as a result of their activism against the various forms of extractivism that worsen the climate crisis.

We see the connection between their activism in the Global South and Eric’s action with On2Ottawa earlier this week as well as his long history of support for civil rights and anti-militarism movements.

Photo: Eric at a Quaker vigil at the Human Rights monument in Ottawa at the time of the UN COP27 climate summit in Egypt, November 12, 2022.

Photo: Eric at the Climate Emergency Camp in Ottawa, January 5, 2020.

Photo: Eric and Nick Alpin at the memorial service for Peace Brigades International founder Murray Thomson, October 23, 2019.

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