Trade rules must not prevent action on climate change

  • Trade Justice Network
  • 26 Sep 2017
  •   Comments Off on Trade rules must not prevent action on climate change

The Trade Justice Network joined over 30 labour, environmental, social justice and faith-based organizations in signing an open letter on NAFTA, the environment and climate change.

The open letter calls upon the Canadian government to address environmental concerns in NAFTA and to ensure that the new North American trade deal currently being negotiated does not undermine efforts to address climate change. This includes eliminating NAFTA’s investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism (Chapter 11) and the energy chapter. Trade rules must also ensure Canada’s compliance with international agreements like the Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

We need a fundamental shift in how we approach trade – one that protects the primacy of human and environmental rights.

The open statement has been signed by the following organizations:

  • 350.org
  • Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE)
  • Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA)
  • Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)
  • Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice (CUSJ)
  • Climate Action Network (CAN)
  • Climate Change in Focus
  • Common Frontiers
  • Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN)
  • Council of Canadians
  • Ecology Action Centre
  • Ecology Ottawa
  • For Our Grandchildren
  • Friends of the Earth Canada
  • Glasswaters Foundation
  • Grand Riverkeeper Labrador, Inc.
  • Greenpeace Canada
  • KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
  • LeadNow
  • Mining Watch
  • Montréal pour tous
  • National Farmers Union (NFU)
  • National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE)
  • Ontario Rivers Alliance
  • People’s Climate Movement (Canada)
  • Regroupement vigilance hydrocarbures Québec (RVHQ)
  • Sierra Club BC
  • Sierra Club
  • Trade Justice Network (TJN)
  • Transition Initiative Kenora (TIK)
  • The Leap
  • Unifor
  • Watershed Environmental Educational Society (WSES)