In an ecologically fragile region of southern Africa, Calgary-based company Reconnaissance Africa Energy is exploring for oil. The project has sparked alarm around the globe, as environmental groups and community leaders warn of possible threats to critical food and water supplies, local livelihoods and endangered wildlife.
Above Ground joins nearly 250 civil society groups from around the world in calling on governments to immediately end all public finance for fossil fuels, including that provided by export credit agencies like Export Development Canada.
In this letter to The Hill Times, Above Ground's director Karen Hamilton argues that Canadian lawmakers should build on global best practice in supply chain legislation and adopt a mandatory human rights due diligence law—and not ineffective reporting legislation such as the proposed Modern Slavery Act.
Close to 25 million women, men and children are trapped in forced labour around the globe, working under abusive conditions in the factories, fields, and other sites where much of the world’s — and Canada’s — goods are produced.
With Export Development Canada set to announce its new climate targets any day, Above Ground and over one hundred civil society organizations are calling on Ottawa to follow the example set by the United Kingdom and immediately order EDC to align its business with Canada’s climate obligations.
Canada's human rights performance is up for review by the UN Human Rights Committee. The committee should ask Canada to explain how it squares its duty to protect the right to life with its policies favouring expanded fossil fuel production in a world wracked by climate change, we argue in a submission with the Center for International Environmental Law.
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