Image
Image Caption
More than 20 Indigenous and environmental organizations joined to deliver an open letter to 28 major banks, calling on them to back away from funding the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.
The 28 banks are 14 that underwrote the Kinder Morgan Canada initial public offering and 14 that participated in current and past Kinder Morgan revolving credit facilities.
“We call on your institutions to avoid financing Indigenous rights abuses and climate change through Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project,” says the letter, dated June 6.
The letter goes on to read, “The Treaty Alliance Against Tar Sands Expansion, comprised of more than 120 First Nations and Tribes, stands in committed opposition to this and all tar sands pipelines crossing their traditional lands and waters, and has called for an international campaign to divest from any financial institution that funds them.”
“Tar sands development, and all of its associated infrastructure, are a by-product of an antiquated economic system that propagates and supports climate chaos while devaluing and dehumanizing Indigenous rights and culture. We must not let money, and the banks that control our money, dictate our futures any longer. It's time to demand real change and action on climate today," said Eriel Deranger, director with Indigenous Climate Action and spokesperson for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, in a statement.
The letter notes that the First Nation, whose traditional lands the pipeline will cross, “have been at the forefront of challenging existing and proposed tar sands projects in Alberta.”
The letter closes by stating, “We call on you to adopt, as part of your project and general corporate financing policies, a requirement to obtain and document the free, prior and informed consent of impacted communities, especially Indigenous communities. These are crucial steps to align your institutions with a stable climate and respect for Indigenous rights.”