Can a COP help stop the C-IRG?

Today, Thursday November 30, the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) 28 climate summit began in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Numerous organizations, including Peace Brigades International, are calling for language in the summit’s declaration (that will be issued sometime around December 12) to reflect the situation faced by frontline land and environmental defenders.

At least 1,390 land and environmental defenders have been killed since the COP21 climate summit in Paris in December 2015. Many more have been subjected to harassment and criminalization.

This violence is perpetrated by state actors (including the police and military) and non-state actors (including private security and paramilitary groups).

In Canada, we have seen militarized raids, harassment and criminalization by the controversial RCMP Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG).

On Thursday December 7 at 12 pm ET, PBI-Canada will be hosting a 1-hour webinar that will ask: What needs to be done to stop this violence? Why haven’t previous COP summits recognized the situation of defenders? Can actions be taken at COP28 to create a space for change at COP30 in Brazil?

Our speakers will be:

-Wet’suwet’en land defender Eve Saint who was arrested by the C-IRG in February 2020 while defending her territory against TC Energy building the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline without free, prior and informed consent.

-Colombian environmental defender Yuli Velasquez who has experienced three armed attacks against her since January 20, 2021, related to her defence of the San Silvestre wetlands near Barrancabermeja that are threatened by an oil refinery, agribusiness and garbage dumps.

–Javier Garate who is the US Policy Advisor on Land and Environmental Defenders for Global Witness. His organization has played a crucial role in documenting the harassment and killing of land and environmental defenders.

–Emily Lowan who is a Montreal-based climate justice movement activist on Turtle Island and the Fossil Fuel Supply Campaigns Lead at Climate Action Network Canada. She is in Dubai for the UN COP28 climate summit.

To register for this webinar, please click here.