A campaign against the holding of COP15 has been organized for several months. Demonstrations to block COP15 are being organized by the Anti-Capitalist and Environmentalist Coalition Against COP15.
Tio'tia:ke (Montreal) - November 14, 2022 - The 15th Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) will be held in Tio'tia:ke (Montreal) from December 7 to 19. In response to the announcement of this summit, the Anti-Capitalist and Environmentalist Coalition Against COP15 is calling for a blockade of the event. Several demonstrations are being organized, including those organized by the coalition on December 7 and 9 and the one organized by the COP15 Collective, which will be held on December 10. At the time of writing, more than 6500 students have given themselves a strike mandate from December 7 to 9. Several other general strike assemblies are being organized in various colleges and universities across the province.
From an environmentalist perspective detailed in the coalition's journal, available at fucklacop15.org, the coalition argues that COPs, whether on biodiversity or climate, must cease to be seen as solutions to the ecological crises we are currently experiencing. In addition to being insufficient, the plans adopted by the members of the Convention on Biological Diversity from 2000 to 2010 and from 2010 to 2020 are not being implemented. None of the objectives of these plans have been achieved. The masks must come off: the COPs aim to make us believe that our elected officials have their hands on the wheel, while they are not making any effort. Like the dinosaurs, we are on our way to extinction. However, our meteors do not come from the sky: they are capitalism, extractivism and colonialism. We cannot hope to move beyond this crisis without formally rejecting the systems responsible for it.
The coalition denounces the active involvement of the private sector in the formulation of international agreements on biodiversity, notably through the "Responsible Business Engagement Program". In addition, the coalition opposes the plan to transform 30% of the Earth's surface into protected areas proposed in the framework of the COPs on biodiversity. Establishing such protected areas is part of a colonial perspective where indigenous peoples who have inhabited the territory for thousands of years are forcibly evicted. This type of measure also obscures the ecologically dysfunctional systems that exist outside the protected areas. Recognizing the authority of indigenous communities over their territories, where 80% of the world's biodiversity is found, is the best method to protect biodiversity.
Sarah Masse, an activist of the Anti-Capitalist and Ecologist Coalition against COP15, agrees: "Since we have been organizing, several groups have contacted us to find solutions. For me, the first step is probably to stop. Stop brutalizing the natives who defend their territory and listen to what these communities have to teach us. Stop the billions of dollars of funding for extractivist projects that destroy biodiversity, or for logging projects that push certain species such as the woodland caribou to extinction. Stop the economic system that allows the bourgeoisie to buy new helicopters every year on our backs.
The Anti-Capitalist and Environmentalist Coalition Against COP15 is a coalition of many people from trade unions, students and community groups who are united in an anti-capitalist, anti-colonial and anti-imperialist mobilization to block COP15. The ideological positions and executive decisions taken by the coalition are adopted democratically at public general meetings. The coalition has no spokesperson or leader and encourages all collective and individual initiatives that are in line with the coalition's objectives.
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The Anti-Capitalist and Environmentalist Coalition Against COP15
Contact: fucklacop15@riseup.net