Montreal: a huge challenge calls for major action
As hosts, it is our collective responsibility to make this COP15 a historic moment by adopting a new global framework to stop nature’s decline and live in harmony with nature.
COP15 Montreal presents an occasion to make protecting nature part of our collective DNA.
We can all be proud not only of our heritage (Quebec is home to 3% of the planet’s fresh water, while Canada contains 9% of the world’s forests), but also of our ability to mobilize as a society, as demonstrated by the last major climate march in 2019, with more than 500,000 people taking to the streets.
Protecting life means protecting our natural heritage as well as our health. In order to get there, we need to mobilize on an unprecedented scale to lead the way towards action and concrete gains.
Montreal, let’s make history together!
International
- The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that each citizen should have access to nature within 300 metres of where they live. Reconnecting with nature is therefore important for our health.
- Since the 1990s, Costa Rica has been working to reverse the deforestation process by enshrining the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment in its constitution. In 1980, forests accounted for less than 25% of its land; today, 55% of its land is covered in trees.
Quebec and Canada
The greater Montreal area is home to many emblematic, sensitive species in need of protection, including:
- The copper redhorse, whose critical habitat is in the area planned for the Port of Montreal’s expansion project. This species is endemic to Quebec, which means that it is not found anywhere else in the world.
- The boreal chorus frog, which is being threatened by real estate development in La Prairie
- Dekay’s brownsnake is being threatened by construction, particularly on the Turcot Interchange
- The chimney swift, which nests in chimneys
- The black maple, a victim of urban sprawl
Solutions
In Montreal, Quebec and Canada, we are privileged to have the means to achieve our targets and access to solutions for protecting biodiversity.
Leaders at every level in Montreal, Quebec and Canada are duty-bound to face the challenges raised at this COP15 with decisive action!
Our demands
- Adopt an act on government responsibility for nature protection
- Fund implementation of the global framework here and internationally
- Create new urban parks and fast-track protection of green and blue belts near major urban centres to promote access to waterways