Canadians denounce the oil presence at COP27
Group of Canadians protesting in front of the Canadian pavilion at COP27 on November 15.
A group of Canadians protested today at the Canadian Pavilion at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh after a panel moderated by Alberta Environment Minister Sonya Savage alongside Rhona DelFrari , representative of the oil company Cenovus Energy. The group protested against the presence of Alberta, the main greenhouse gas emitting province in Canada, and the influence of oil lobbies at the climate conference.
“What Canada is doing in its pavilion is embarrassing,” said Claire Warmels, youth delegate of the World Alliance of YMCAs and responsible for the Montreal Climate Generation project, live from Egypt. We are at the COP to make a transition from fossil fuels, and all of Canada’s actions so far are insufficient. »
The presence of Alberta oil companies is for the activist an obvious conflict of interest that should not occur. For her, it is necessary to avoid that the fossil industry has a power in the negotiations if their proposals are not radical with the aim of reducing their emissions.
I have the observer badge and I cannot discuss with the different actors here at the COP. Yet oil companies can meet with government delegates and other groups and influence the whole process. This is a major conflict of interest, and the purpose of our collective action was to show this conflict since the oil companies do not want to reduce their emissions; they want to expand it. Canada needs to get serious and the COP needs to stop being a festival for big polluters.
Claire Warmels, activist present in Sharm el-Sheikh to protest oil influence at COP27
The influence of oil’ Alberta
The group of Canadians who mobilized in front of the Canadian pavilion particularly criticized the important presence of Alberta at the climate conference, while the province is the main emitter of greenhouse gases.
< p>Alberta Environment Minister Sonya Savage has publicly stated that her mission at the UN climate conference is to ensure that Canada does not “promise to phase out or reduce oil and gas production by making promises it cannot keep. »
For Claire Warmels, it is not normal that Alberta is over-represented at COP27 when it produces 38% of Canada’s total emissions. “There must be a framework of accountability towards the people present during these meetings. Their presence is a betrayal of Canadian youth and future generations and must be held accountable. »
