MONTREAL, December 15, 2022 — Protestors from Avaaz, together with Jurassic
Park actor James Cromwell have demanded action to “Stop The Human Asteroid”
and end the extinction crisis.
Gathered next to a giant dinosaur in central Montreal, Avaaz activists held other
banners in the shape of asteroids, which included the faces of various world leaders
such as Presidents Alberto Fernandez of Argentina, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil,
Emmanuel Macron of France, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European
Commission and those of the Prime Ministers of Canada, Justin Trueau; China, Xi
Jinping; Germany, Olaf Sholz; UK, Rishi Sunak and from Japan, Fumio Kishida.
Five days before the conclusion of the COP 15 on biodiversity, European countries
and other developed countries that are pressing in the negotiations to dilute the
language that refers to indigenous territories in goal 3 of the Post 2020 Global
Biodiversity Framework, and are refusing to adequately finance the protection of
biodiversity.
This combined position represents a "human asteroid" that threatens to destroy all
ambition in the text of the Framework, the ambition to recover at least half of the
world's biodiversity by the rest of the decade, and with it the chance of avoiding
mass extinction.
"Indigenous peoples have survived genocide and centuries of colonial assault on
their lives and their lands” said award-winning actor and activist James Cromwell.
“Today they protect 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity, without which life on
Earth would collapse. Yet their former European colonizers still refuse to fully
recognize their rights and leadership at crucial negotiations for a deal to stop mass
extinction."
“Humanity keeps tearing apart the very fabric of life on Earth, but after years of
negotiations, governments have turned last-ditch efforts to stop mass extinction into
a stand-off”, said Oscar Soria, a campaign director at Avaaz. “Now the same former
colonial powers responsible for wiping out Indigenous peoples across all continents
are shamelessly killing any recognition of their rights in a deal meant to protect our
planet’s remaining biodiversity.”
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Montreal, QC, Canada 15 December 2022
1. Establishing shot of Montreal Science Centre.
2. Soundbite (English) James Cromwell, Actor and Activist
“Oligarchs. What happens to dinosaurs.”
3. Shots of James Cromwell with protesters
4. Soundbite (English) James Cromwell, Actor and Activist:
“At issue is the survival of sentient life on this planet. The people who have been here the longest and who know how this works, how to take care of the planet, how to take care of Mother Earth. How to respect her. How to listen to her. The Aboriginal people, the Indigenous people, I should say, and we are here to support them. They should be the leaders. They should be included in the conversation more than included with the people in power who have done nothing but obfuscate and deny them a participation in this effort. We need to listen to them, sit down with them, hear what they have to say to support them. We support them. That's why we're here.
5. Shots of protesters with large banner and signs.
6. Shot of James Cromwell talking to media.
7. Shots of protesters with large banner and signs.
8. Soundbite (English) James Cromwell, Actor and Activist:
“I'm here to be of service. It draws attention and that’s good.”
9. Soundbite (English) Bert Wander, AVAAZ Acting CEO:
“So as the talks move to their endgame here, what we're seeing is developed countries playing the role of a human asteroid. The positions they're taking threatened to cause a devastating impact on the negotiations and by extension, on life on earth. And really, that's happening in two ways. They're not putting the money on the table that we need to see to protect biodiversity globally. The second way they're doing it is undermining the rights and not protecting the rights of indigenous people, local communities who are best placed to protect life on earth. 80% of our remaining biodiversity is conserved and looked after by indigenous communities, and that's why we want to see their rights really in the deal fundamentally protected and the money on the table to pay for it. And unless we see that, really what we're seeing is a human asteroid plowing towards the talks and plowing towards the planet.”
10. Shot of security at protest
15 December 2022
