Above Ground
280 Albert Street, Suite 100 K1P 5G8 Ottawa, ON, Canada

Above Ground joins the Center for International Environmental Law and the Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment in filing a request to the TSX-V to investigate potential inconsistencies and misrepresentations in the disclosures and public communications of ReconAfrica, a Canadian oil and gas company operating in the Okavango.

Canada's five biggest banks RBC, BMO, TD, CIBC and Scotiabank are among the biggest 25 #fossilfuel financiers in the world, according to new research commissioned by Greenpeace Canada: https://www.nationalobserver.com//paris-was-signed-our-ban RBC leads the pack, having sunk $164 billion into fossil fuel companies since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2016. You can sign Stand.earth's petition to RBC demanding that it stop funding fossils here: https://act.stand.earth/page/27742/petition/1 #ClimateEmergency #StopFundingFossils

Canada's export bank recently unveiled its new climate targets. Its plan for #fossilfuels? Decrease support for oil and gas drilling from $22.4 billion to $13.5 billion a year. With no commitment to reduce support for fossil-fuel development across the board, EDC could actually ramp up its investments in oil and gas by financing new pipelines and refineries, for instance and still meet its target. For more, see Above Ground, Environmental Defence Canada and Oil Change ...International's response: https://aboveground.ngo/civil-society-reacts-to-export-dev/ #cdnpoli #ClimateEmergency #StopFundingFossils

U.S. authorities are now warning companies that cutting business ties to forced labour in #Xinjiang likely means exiting the region entirely. The European Commission has also urged firms to stop sourcing from high-risk regions where workplace audits can't reliably detect instances of #forcedlabour. Uyghur and human rights advocates are applauding the U.S. and EU moves: https://enduyghurforcedlabour.org//coalition-statement-on/. ... Meanwhile in Canada, Ottawa has advised firms with ties to Xinjiang to "closely examine their supply chains," but makes no mention of the imperative to exit the region if they uncover heightened risks: https://international.gc.ca//2021-01-12-xinjiang-advisory-. #cdnpoli

Just released: our report reveals a high risk of #forcedlabour in Canadian supply chains, and finds Canada’s import ban on slave-made goods will fail to stem the flow unless Ottawa strengthens its enforcement policies. We're calling on Ottawa to at least match the level of ambition shown by the U.S. in enforcing its ban. It should detain goods most likely produced by forced labour, and release them only if companies can prove they weren't. We also urge Canada to follow Fran...ce's example by enacting a due diligence law that would require companies to take action to avoid facilitating human rights abuses of any kind. Over 100 organizations and lawmakers from all parties have called for such a law in Canada. Read our report in full here: https://aboveground.ngo//Above-Ground-forced-labour-report #bizhumanrights #modernslavery #mHRDD

100+ organisations demandent au gouvernment du Canada de mettre fin à tout financement des combustibles fossiles de la part d'Exportation et développement Canada. Lisez notre déclaration ici: http://fossilfreeEDC.ca

100+ organizations are calling on the Canadian government to end the BILLIONS in support that Export Development Canada provides oil & gas companies each year. Read our statement: http://fossilfreeEDC.ca #FossilFreeEDC

100+ organisations demandent au gouvernment du Canada de mettre fin à tout financement des combustibles fossiles de la part d'Exportation et développement Canada. Lisez notre déclaration ici: http://fossilfreeEDC.ca

It's time to end Canadian corporate impunity for #humanrights abuse and environmental destruction overseas. Today alongside our partners in the Open for justice- Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability, we unveiled a blueprint for a corporate due diligence law in Canada, which would bring Canada in line with leading jurisdictions such as France and the European Union that are acting to stop corporate abuse. Read the model bill and watch the press conference at https://...aboveground.ngo/human-rights-advocates-legal-exper/ #cdnpoli #CAN4mHREDD #bizhumanrights #HREDD

100+ organizations are calling on the Canadian government to end the BILLIONS in support that Export Development Canada provides oil & gas companies each year. Read our statement: http://fossilfreeEDC.ca #FossilFreeEDC

On Monday, May 31st, the CNCA will release model legislation that provides lawmakers with a blueprint for a new international corporate accountability law in Canada. Join civil society, union leaders and global partners at 10:30 am EST for a press conference here on Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/cnca.rcrce/videos/939461393289596 #cdnpoli #CAN4mHREDD #humanrights #bizhumanrights #HREDD

Important legal opinion released today! More reasons why Canada must end the billions of dollars in support that Crown corporation Export Development Canada provides the oil and gas sector each year. Read the opinion here https://priceofoil.org/2021/05/04/eca-legal-opinion/

On Monday, May 31st, the CNCA will release model legislation that provides lawmakers with a blueprint for a new international corporate accountability law in Canada. Join civil society, union leaders and global partners at 10:30 am EST for a press conference here on Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/cnca.rcrce/videos/939461393289596 #cdnpoli #CAN4mHREDD #humanrights #bizhumanrights #HREDD

Ottawa must do more to protect the victims of modern slavery, in #Xinjiang and beyond. #cdnpoli #bizhumanrights #UyghurGenocide

Important legal opinion released today! More reasons why Canada must end the billions of dollars in support that Crown corporation Export Development Canada provides the oil and gas sector each year. Read the opinion here https://priceofoil.org/2021/05/04/eca-legal-opinion/

On paper, Canada has prohibited the import of goods made by forced workers. Yet according to an investigation by CBC Marketplace, "millions of disposable gloves manufactured by Malaysian companies in conditions that experts say have the hallmarks of forced labour have come into our ports." Workers across the industry, mostly migrants, say they're stuck in appalling living and working conditions, unable to leave due to deceptive recruiting practices, debt bondage, and retention of their passports. Canada has yet to enforce the new forced labour prohibition by blocking the import of any products - including those from the world’s largest glove manufacturer, Top Glove, whose goods are banned from sale in the U.S. due to indications of forced labour.

Depuis trop longtemps, des sociétés canadiennes sont associées à de graves violations de droits humains et de dégâts environnementaux à l'étranger. SIGNEZ et PARTAGEZ cette pétition avant le 1e SEPT pour exiger qu'Ottawa agisse pour mettre fin aux abus! https://petitions.noscommunes.ca/fr/Petition/Details Amnistie Internationale Canada Francophone Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale (AQOCI) AQOCI Oxfam-Québec Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine Projet Accompagnement Québec-Guatemala (PAQG) CISO - Centre international de solidarité ouvrière Équiterre SLAM-Solidarité Laurentides Amérique centrale Open for justice- Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability

Parliament's prorogued, but petitions to its members aren't. Please sign and share this petition demanding that Canadian multinationals be held to account for human rights abuse abroad: https://bit.ly/2SO0j36. With just one week left before the petition closes, your support is crucial to help send a clear message to Ottawa that Canadians want action on corporate abuse. The petition urges the government to empower the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise with t...he investigative powers it needs to find out if a company is involved in wrongdoing; and enact a law that compels businesses to respect human rights across their global operations and supply chains -- and makes them liable for associated harms if they do not. Thousands of Canadian have already signed. Can you help us reach 6,000 signatures or more before September 1st? Please SHARE this post and SIGN the petition here: https://bit.ly/2SO0j36. #power2investigate #StopCorporateAbuse Open for justice- Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability Amnesty International Canada Canadian Council for International Co-operation - CCIC Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR) Development and Peace - Caritas Canada Friends of the Earth Canada MiningWatch Canada MISN: Mining Injustice Solidarity Network KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives Nobel Women's Initiative Inter Pares Social Justice Connection / Connexion justice sociale The United Church of Canada Canadian Labour Congress - Congrès du travail du Canada United Steelworkers - Syndicat des Métallos JUST Change - Canadian Jesuits International

Three indigenous people were recently killed in a clash with police at a Canadian oil company's camp in the Peruvian Amazon. The police were called in at the company's request, according to PetroTal, to protect its operations from "civil unrest." About 70 indigenous people reportedly gathered at the camp seeking to halt PetroTal's operations, complaining of pollution and demanding more medical aid for the region, which has been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Whil...e observers in Peru have called for an impartial investigation into the incident, Canadian civil society continues to push for measures to hold companies like PetroTal to account here in Canada if their operations contribute to violent conflicts abroad. A small step in that direction would be giving the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise investigative powers, so we'd finally have a watchdog capable of determining if a Canadian firm is engaged in wrongdoing abroad. Add your voice to the petition calling for Ottawa to act now: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details Open for justice- Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability Amnesty International Canada Development and Peace - Caritas Canada Canadian Council for International Co-operation - CCIC Heather McPherson MP

Canada's "historic reputation for environmental leadership" is at risk, a former UN human rights chief has warned, pointing to the billions of dollars Ottawa continues to funnel into #fossilfuels despite the global #ClimateEmergency. Unrestrained global warming will bring "immense suffering, with vulnerable communities across the world bearing the brunt of increased water scarcity, plunges in crop yields and life-threatening heat waves," writes Mary Robinson, chair of The E...lders. Yet despite years of pledging to cut emissions, Canada now "commits more public financing to support fossil fuels than any Group of 20 country other than China," with Ottawa providing "an average US$10.6-billion in support every year to oil and gas firms" through its export bank. The Canadian state also props up fossil fuel companies through its public pension fund, the Canada Pension Plan, which has billions invested in fossil industries including coal. Canada's public export bank and pension fund are among the largest such institutions in the world. The time has come to pull their vast financial resources out of the polluting industries of yesterday and put them to work supporting a green recovery. Shift: Action for Pension Wealth & Planet Health Leadnow.ca Climate Action Network Canada International Institute for Sustainable Development Oil Change International Friends of the Earth Canada Environmental Defence Canada

Above Ground, Environmental Defence Canada and Oil Change International have submitted a joint brief to the Senate and House of Commons finance committees that are studying Ottawa’s COVID-19 economic response package. Canada’s oil and gas sector could receive billions of dollars in aid through this package, with Export Development Canada - EDC playing a central role. The UN has warned of catastrophic consequences if the world, and particularly G20 countries, do not dramatica...lly upscale their decarbonization efforts to achieve a 55% cut in global emissions within the decade. With Canada on track to widely miss its inadequate 2030 emissions target, it is more urgent than ever for Ottawa to impose robust climate conditions on all forms of federal aid. This aid must serve to accelerate, rather than delay, the transition to a low-carbon economy. See more

Last November, Above Ground and Amnesty International Canada accompanied Isabel Zuleta, a prominent spokesperson for communities devastated by the Hidroituango dam, as she met with Canadian government officials to denounce Canada’s financing of the project. Ms. Zuleta challenged the officials to explain what they were doing to address the project’s many harms, including the grave security threats to leaders who have spoken out against the project. At least six members of the... Movimiento Ríos Vivos coalition Ms. Zuleta represents have been murdered in recent years. Now, in the wake of news that the Colombian government will downgrade the protection measures afforded to Ms. Zuleta, Above Ground, Amnesty International Canada and other Canadian organizations are calling on Colombian authorities to reverse course and ensure the safety of Ms. Zuleta and all members of Movimiento Ríos Vivos.

Last month an expert warned that a Canadian firm's plan to build a gold mine in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon poses "unacceptable risk" of a tailings dam rupture. Now another expert report points to additional dangers posed by the project to the Xingu River and nearby communities. The technical study commissioned by the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA) finds that Belo Sun's inadequate plan to manage pollutants in its processing activities could ...result in surface and groundwater contamination. It notes, for instance, that the firm plans to use large quantities of cyanide even though "less polluting and dangerous alternatives exist," and to forego installing liners to prevent leaching under certain structures. Like the tailings dam study, the latest study also finds "inconsistencies in the information the company has published in the environmental licensing process" for the mine. Both studies have been submitted to government authorities in Brazil, along with an earlier assessment outlining Belo Sun's failure to fully assess impacts on aquatic species, including species that local communities rely on to feed themselves. Together, the three studies demonstrate the unacceptable level of risk posed by Belo Sun's project in a fragile ecosystem already reeling from the impacts of the massive Belo Monte hydroelectric complex. The project should be rejected without delay. Instituto Socioambiental - ISA Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre International Rivers Amazon Watch MiningWatch Canada

Industry representatives have used the "a few bad apples" narrative to downplay reports of Canadian firms bringing environmental harm to locales across the globe, often triggering protest and violent repression. Academics have just published a study in a peer-reviewed journal that should put to rest any notion that such scenarios are rare. Canadian companies were over-represented in the 2,743 environmental conflicts examined in the study. Among the types of projects most o...ften sparking these conflicts were mines, fossil fuel projects, tree plantations and hydro-electric dams. The local activists in these cases, who usually protested company operations using nonviolent means, became victims of violence in 18 per cent of the cases and murder in 13 per cent. "Assassination, violence and criminalization of activists become even more endemic when Indigenous Peoples are involved, the study found." Canada needs an effective watchdog to investigate such cases when Canadian companies are involved. It also needs enforceable legal provisions requiring that they respect human rights throughout their global operations and supply chains. Sign the petition to Parliament calling for both these reforms here: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details Heather McPherson MP Open for justice- Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability Amnesty International Canada Business and Human Rights - Amnesty International Canada MiningWatch Canada MISN: Mining Injustice Solidarity Network Inter Pares Canadians for Political Accountability, Social Justice, a Green Future

Today with Amnesty International Canada, we urged Canada's trade minister to ensure that its export bank makes reparations to communities devastated by the Hidroituango dam, which it helped finance. We further urge Ottawa to reform Export Development Canada - EDC’s governing legislation so that it can no longer support such damaging projects.

Canadian firm Belo Sun is vying to build Brazil's largest gold mine in the Amazon forest. The dam designed to hold back its toxic waste is likely to fail, warns a hydrogeology expert, which would devastate indigenous and other communities downstream. See this press release from Rede Xingu+ and Movimento Xingu Vivo para Sempre. Instituto Socioambiental - ISA Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA) Amazon Watch MiningWatch Canada MISN: Mining Injustice Solidarity Network Observatório da Mineração International Rivers

New research commissioned by Above Ground and Oil Change International lays out policy and legal reforms needed to shift Canada’s export bank to a supportive role in the transition to a low-carbon economy. Based on international best practices, the expert analysis from Horizon Advisors proposes 17 reforms to bring Export Development Canada’s financing decisions in line with Canada’s climate commitments. Step one, as this National Obsever coverage of the report highlights: l...egally bar the agency from supporting fossil fuel projects, such as the controversial Coastal GasLink pipeline. Horizon Advisors' report is available at www.horizonadvisors.org/edc-climate-risks

A new report endorsed by Above Ground names Canada as the second-largest financier of #fossilfuels in the #G20, behind China. http://priceofoil.org/2020/05/27/g20-still-digging/