We, mothers, grandmothers and allies, are stepping up to the front at COP15 on biodiversity, because the future of our children will be negotiated there.
The UN Convention of the Parties on Biological Diversity will bring together world leaders in Montreal to adopt new international goals for the protection and restoration of nature. This is an opportunity to demand concrete action to deal with the unprecedented decline in biodiversity in Quebec, Canada and around the world.
Biodiversity is the air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil that feeds us. It is the clothes we wear, the walls that shelter us, and the plants that heal us. It’s the living, it’s us and it’s everything that surrounds us. By destroying it, we jeopardize the foundations of our well-being, our health and our safety as well as those of our children and future generations.
Acting for biodiversity also means acting for the climate. The collapse of biodiversity and climate change are two crises that are amplifying each other. Their causes and solutions are common, and the simplest are in nature. Oceans, wetlands and forests capture carbon better than any human invention.
The Chair of Generations
Because integrating the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity into our decision-making processes is the only responsible approach, Mothers at the Front is bringing the Chair of Generations to COP15. Made by children and placed around tables where decisions are made, a Chair of Generations symbolizes the voice of children. She reminds leaders that their future is shaped by the choices made today.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MOTHERS AT THE FRONT
Made by children and placed around tables where decisions are made, a Chair of Generations represents and carries the voice of children. She reminds leaders that their future is shaped by the decisions made today. It also allows the children who make it to express their creative potential and influence the decisions and actions of adults in favor of a sustainable future.
First established by Bruno Marchand, Mayor of Quebec City, the Chair of Generations embodies the key demand of the organization Mothers at the Front with respect to the various levels of government. We ask that all decisions be screened for their impact on the environment in order to protect the future of our children. During COP15, Mothers at the Front will hold creative workshops where, guided by Canadian artist Angela Marsh, children will transform salvaged chairs using recycled materials and natural earth pigment paints. Adorned with silhouettes of endangered and vulnerable animals, the chairs will carry messages from children to leaders.
Demand commitments
COP15 held in Montreal represents a unique opportunity for the governments of Quebec and Canada to demonstrate exemplary leadership, by strengthening legislation and implementing effective strategies for the protection of threatened or vulnerable species, including woodland caribou.
It is also imperative to create protected areas in southern Quebec, where biodiversity is the richest, and to stop the destruction of urban woods and wetlands. These vibrant ecosystems provide countless ecological services and protect us against inevitable climatic hazards such as heat waves, droughts and floods.
It is time to move away from a technological vision of the fight against climate change and to recognize that this imperative passes through the protection of living organisms. It is counterproductive to destroy natural environments, in the name of decarbonization, energy transition or a so-called green economy.
On December 10, the COP15 Collective, representing nearly a hundred organizations including Mères au front, organizes a great march for the living. Let’s be many and many. Together, let’s make COP15 a historic moment by demonstrating that we refuse to let life on Earth deteriorate, for our children and in solidarity with the populations who are exacerbated by the effects of the decline of life.
As Christmas approaches, let’s set aside a system fueled by overconsumption and overexploitation of resources. Let’s make nature a fundamental value of our society.
Let’s give our children and grandchildren a world filled with wild caribou, buzzing bees and singing birds. Let’s give them hope, let’s act.