CYDaily from COP22 -- Report from day 11
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- Published on Tuesday, 22 November 2016 22:00
- Written by editor
McKenna Meeting
In the wake of the CYD’s powerful action from Wednesday evening at the Canadians at COP reception, and amongst pressure from CAN-RAC, Minister McKenna finally agreed to meet with us. In the early hours of Thursday morning, with a strict 15 minute deadline, our mission was simple: tell a narrative of resistance and compassion by amplifying the voices of Indigenous and marginalized voices on our team. Christa, Brendan and Maya each addressed the minister for roughly five minutes while she sat and listened. Too often are we forced to hear the disingenuous and time-consuming rhetoric of politicians, so we were keen that McKenna listen instead of respond. Our intent was to express that Canadian youth are bearing witness to injustice. Our intent was to showcase our knowledge and understanding of the intersectional linkages that make up a justice-based approach to climate action. Our intent was to tell the minister, in no uncertain terms, that we know the approval of pipelines will have direct human impacts in the Global South. We know that First Nations communities are already dying due to proximity to toxicity (environmental racism), and that we understand that the decisions the Trudeau government makes are directly responsible for this.
Our speakers wove personal narrative of international
diaspora, indigenous knowledges, and personal understandings of
activism into policy and political frameworks. Brendan particularly
expressed a feeling of lack of belief and confidence in a system that
has failed his people since the first promises it made. These
sentiments were echoed by both Christa and Maya. How are we to trust a
system of governance that flourishes on the systemic oppression of
Indigenous and racialized peoples? How are we to trust a government
that promises to be a leader on climate change and yet moves forward
with oil pipelines and fossil fuel infrastructure? How are we to trust
a cabinet that tokenizes Indigenous peoples and boasts to the world of
good relations while at the same time excluding and ignoring nations
who now must physically put themselves in front of bulldozers to
defend their lands? The answer to McKenna was strong: we can’t, we
don’t, and we will not trust you. 
To Minister Catherine McKenna, we say this: our education and lived experiences afford us an understanding of the systems of power and privilege in which you are complicit. Our camaraderie gives us strength and love for each other. Our compassion gives us hope for the future. We see your inaction and focus on corporate interests. We understand our liberation is tied to one another, racialized and white settlers to Indigenous sovereignty. We see you, and we raise you the resistance.
We Stand with Standing Rock
On Thursday afternoon, under that beautifully beating Moroccan sun, Indigenous peoples from around the world gathered together in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The message being sent to world leaders, and those back
home, was strong: water is sacred. Climate change has thrown lives
into chaos, especially Indigenous peoples who are at the frontlines
and feeling the full effects. The militarized response to Indigenous
land defenders against the Dakota Access Pipeline has already proved
to be incredibly violent. If global leaders truly understand the need
to transition away from fossil fuels, there are neither political,
economic, or ecological reasons for them to consider new fossil fuel
infrastructures. If global leaders believe in the rights of indigenous
peoples, this is even more important.
For months now, there have been thousands of people at Standing Rock in North Dakota to blockade progress of the destructive pipeline. Resistance has been fierce and formidable, but support is needed –not only in the words we speak but in the actions we take.
Please consider donating to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to help with the costs of hosting allies on their land, coordinating efforts to fight the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the land defenders putting their bodies on the line for our water and climate.
"Protect the water, not corporate greed. Protect the water not corporate greed...."
Just after witnessing the stories of violence and urgency coming from indigenous leaders and land defenders in the Blue Zone at COP, we headed to the civil society zone to meet up with our colleagues and allies from the US delegationg called SustainUS. Together, we leveraged our privilege as members of the international community to amplify the struggles of Moroccan and Indigenous folks who are not able to access spaces like COP, let alone protest without having police brutality directed at them.
The parallels between Standing Rock and Imider are clear and the urgency to act here is just as critical as on Turtle Island. We stood in solidarity with about twenty international activists and staged a die-in at the Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP) pavilion. We protested the company’s environmental injustices in Morocco, its economic and health impacts, and violation of workers’ rights at OCP’s phosphates plant in Safi (a town on the coast of Morocco). We denounced the company’s sponsorship of COP22 and marched to occupy the booth of COP22’s sponsor Managem. They are a Moroccan mining company that has disrupted the subsistence livelihood of Indigenous Amazigh people of Imider (a community 300km south of Marrakesh).
Occupying this space, stomping and chanting “protect
the water, not corporate greed”, felt like a way to honour and stand
in solidarity with the peoples’ whose land we are visiting, and who
are in the frontlines sacrificing their lives system that values money
over lives.
Calling out on the greenwashing and corporatization of spaces like COP 22 highlights the irony of building an environmental movement that undermines the lives and sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples. These are not the values of the CYD and not the values of so many youth delegates at COP. If only global leaders would pay attention...
McKenna celebrates climate action… with Big Oil!
Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, struggled to find 15 minutes to meet with the Canadian Youth Delegation this morning -- but had no problem spending an hour moderating a panel of oil sands executives.
Minister McKenna began the event at the International
Emissions Trading Pavilion by saying, “more traditional fossil fuels
–unless you can clean them up– don’t make sense in a world that is
decarbonizing.” She then invited representatives from Enbridge and
Suncor onto the panel celebrating their climate leadership.
For all their fancy talk and rhetoric, our federal government is still uncomfortably cozy with the Vice President of Government Relations for a company determined to expand tar sands production.
--
McKenna célèbre l'action sur le climat ... avec l’industrie fossile!
La ministre de l'Environnement et de changement climatique, Catherine McKenna, a eu du mal à mettre à part 15 minutes pour rencontrer la Délégation jeunesse canadienne ce matin, mais n'a eu aucun problème à modérer un groupe de corporations de sables bitumineux.
La ministre McKenna a commencé l'événement que «les
carburants fossiles- à moins que vous puissiez les nettoyer - ne font
plus de sens dans un monde qui décarbonise». Cela a été suivi par une
invitation au représentatives de Enbridge et de Suncor pour célébrer
leur leadership en matière de climat.
La conclusion: le gouvernement fédéral est toujours beaucoup trop proche aux entreprises déterminée à développer la production de sables bitumineux.
Debout avec Standing Rock
Jeudi après-midi, sous le merveilleux soleil marocain,
des peuples indigènes du monde se sont rassemblés en solidarité avec
le Standing Rock Sioux contre le pipeline Dakota Access.
Le message envoyé aux dirigeants du monde était clair: l'eau est sacrée, et la vie et la culture de peuples autochtones sont en danger. Si les dirigeants mondiaux comprennent vraiment la nécessité de s'éloigner des combustibles fossiles, il n'y a aucune raison politique, économique ou écologique pour qu'ils construisent de nouvelles infrastructures de combustibles fossiles. Si les dirigeants mondiaux croient aux droits des peuples autochtones, cela est encore plus important.
Si vous avez les moyens, s’il vous plaît penser à faire un don à la tribu de Standing Rock Sioux.
"Protéger l'eau, non pas les entreprises
Juste après avoir ecouter aux histoires de violence et
d'urgence de leaders de défenseurs des terres autochtones dans la zone
bleue à la CdP, nous nous sommes rendus à la zone de la société civile
pour rencontrer nos collègues et alliés de la délégation américaine
SustainUS. Ensemble, nous avons profité de notre privilège en tant que
membres de la communauté internationale pour amplifier les voix
marocains et autochtones qui ne peuvent pas accéder les espaces comme
la CdP sans être ciblée par la brutalité policière.
Les parallèles entre Standing Rock et Imider sont clairs, et l'urgence d'agir est tout aussi critique. Aujourd’hui nous avons protesté contre les injustices environnementales au Maroc, ses impacts économiques et sanitaires et la violation des droits des travailleurs à l'usine de phosphates d'OCP à Safi (ville sur la côte du Maroc). Le greenwashing de la CdP 22 ce representent pas les valeurs de la DJC en tant que jeunes délégués à la CdP 22. Si seulement les dirigeants du monde y faisaient attention …
Réunion avec McKenna
À la suite de la puissante action du DJC mercredi soir
lors de la réception Canadienne de la CdP, et avec le soutien de
CAN-Rac, la ministre McKenna a finalement accepté de nous donner une
reunion de 15 minutes. Notre mission était simple: raconter les
histoires de résistance et de compassion, en amplifiant les voix des
autochtones et marginalisées de notre équipe. Christa, Brendan et Maya
se sont adressées à la ministre pendant environ cinq minutes. Trop
souvent nous sommes forcés d'entendre la rhétorique fastidieuse de
politiciens, alors nous avons voulu que McKenna écoute plutôt que de
répondre. Notre intention était d'exprimer que les jeunes Canadiens
témoignent l'injustice, de présenter nos connaissances et notre
compréhension des liens intersectoriels qui constituent une approche
de l'action climatique axée sur la justice.
Nos délégués ont
tissé ensemble un récit personnel de la diaspora internationale, de
savoirs autochtones et des compréhensions personnelles de l'activisme
dans les cadres politiques. À la ministre Catherine McKenna, nous
disons ceci: notre éducation et nos expériences nous permettent de
comprendre les systèmes de pouvoir et de privilège dont vous êtes
complice. Notre camaraderie nous donne force les uns pour les autres.
Notre compassion nous donne espoir pour l'avenir. Nous voyons votre
inaction et votre interets dans les entreprises. Nous comprenons que
notre libération est liée les uns aux autres. Nous vous voyons, et
nous vous élevons en réponse notre résistance.
Canadian Youth Delegation
www.ourclimate.ca
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t: @CYD_DJC | #COP22CAN
The Canadian Youth Climate Coalition · Halifax, NS
B3K 2B6, Canada
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