Friends of the Earth Europe, in partnership with Friends of the Earth France and Friends of the Earth Netherlands, have helped speakers from communities affected by tar sands to tour Europe and bring their voices and messages to key decision-makers here.
By continuing to raise awareness of tar sands, and providing concrete testimonies of how tar sands have disrupted indigenous peoples’ everyday lives, cultures, identities, health and environment, they are bringing a human element to the debate.
The tour is part of Friends of the Earth Europe’s campaign to keep tar sands out of Europe.
The speakers from Canada are Lionel Lepine, a member of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, and Heather Milton-Lightening representing the Indigenous Environmental Network. The Madagascan speaker is Holly Rakotondralambo representing the Voarisoa Observatorie.
During May, the three visited Strasbourg, Paris, Amsterdam, The Hague and Brussels, meeting with MEPs, decision-makers from the European Commission, national ministries, tar sands investors, representatives of banks or oil companies, international organisations and major national and European media.
These speakers described the reality of living in tar sands extraction zones and underlined the risk of letting tar sands spread around the globe.
