While global leaders gather at COP15, or the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, in Montreal to create a new 10-year plan to reverse the accelerating loss of life on Earth, Sierra Club and our partners are joining mobilization efforts on the ground in Montreal to call attention to the threat Enbridge’s fossil fuel pipelines pose to biodiversity, climate, and human health.
This international conference is being held in Montreal, Canada on the St Lawrence Seaway, a key component of the Great Lakes Network. The Great Lakes hold 84% of North America's surface freshwater, provide drinking water for millions of people, and support billion-dollar economies. These essential bodies are at immense risk from pipelines, oil spills, and climate change. A Line 5 spill will result in catastrophic consequences, polluting drinking water and disrupting countless ecosystems.
The conference started on December 7 and will conclude on December 19. Dozens from the Great Lakes States are traveling to Montreal for events this weekend.
On Saturday, December 10, activists will lead a “Shut Down Line 5” section in the Grande marche pour le vivant or March for Biodiversity and Human rights, hosted by 67+ organizations. The March will demonstrate international support for protecting biodiversity, respecting Indigenous peoples, and fighting for human rights. Check out amazing photos from the March here.
On Sunday, December 11, water protectors from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ontario, and Quebec will gather. “Fighting Canadian Fossil Fuel Infrastructures in the US and Canada” is a free educational event that will feature Indigenous organizers, experts, and activists from the US and Canada. Teach-In Speakers include:
- Taysha Martineau and Giiwedan Howard from Stop Line 3 (by zoom)
- Tessine Murji from Sierra Club Chicago
- Vanessa Gray from Indigenous Climate Action
- Carley Dove-McFalls from Lachez les grandes eaux
- Michelle Woodhouse from Environmental Defence Canada
- Lily Cason from Divest McGill
- Greg Mikkelson from the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy
- Alain Mignault from Collectif scientifique sur les enjeux énergétiques au Québec
- Jacob Pirro from Collectif Antigone
The following weekend, a panel of scientists and leaders will lead a panel discussion in front of conference attendees. The panel will discuss the importance of protecting the Great Lakes from the threat of climate change and Line 5. The presentation will also be live-streamed on Sierra Club Wisconsin’s Facebook page.
The panel will include:
- Tessine Murji - Emcee - Sierra Club
- Aurora Conley - Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa
- Carley Dove-McFalls, Environmental Defence Canada
- Beth Wallace- National Wildlife Federation
- Don Waller- ecologist
- Michelle Woodhouse, Environmental Defence Canada
- Leadership from the Anishinabek Nation of Ontario
Attendance by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canadian Ministers Steven Guilbeault (Environmental Minister), Mélanie Joly (Foreign Minister), Marc Miller (Minister for Crown-Indigenous Relations), and US attendees Monica Medina has been requested.