Cape Freels could hold around five times the maximum capacity of oil as the Bay du Nord project approved by Canada's federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change in 2022. The area that BP plans to drill is covered by a regional impact assessment Sierra Club Canada, WWF-Canada, and Ecology Action Centre are challenging in court with representation from EcoJustice. Sierra Club Canada and other groups are also appealing the decision to approve the Bay du Nord project. Canada approved Bay du Nord despite the fact that Equinor's own data (the company proposing the Bay du Nord project in partnership with BP) shows that there is 16% chance of serious spill occurring. If a major blowout like the one that happened in the Gulf of Mexico (for which BP was responsible) were to happen here, Canada is not prepared from an environmental protection and regulation standpoint.

"The new agreement does not go far enough to halt unjust loss of nature, but it recognizes the Rights of Mother Earth as one of the ‘value systems’ that can be part of successful implementation," according to Ole Hendrickson, President of Sierra Club Canada Foundation.

The projection highlighted how Equinor’s offshore oil projects threaten whales in Norway, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. As part of COP15, a conference on the impacts of offshore drilling on biodiversity will also be held on December 13 at 7:00 p.m. at the Sherbrooke Pavilion of UQAM. Three speakers from international NGOs will discuss the risks that Equinor's projects pose to marine ecosystems and the means to counter them. Last month, an international campaign launched, targeting Equinor to stop its expansion of oil and gas. 

The projection in downtown Montreal will highlight the whales around the world at risk from Equinor’s offshore oil drilling projects including in Canada, Argentina, Norway, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. As governments gather at COP15 to discuss actions to protect biodiversity, the projection asks — what will the world do to stop corporations who threaten biodiversity? 

The federal government claims to want to protect biodiversity, while on the other hand the same government approved the oil company Equinor to proceed with an offshore drilling project, Bay du Nord, knowing that it presents a 16% risk of an extremely large spill that could damage marine habitat.

Equinor ASA announced today that they are postponing an investment decision on the Wisting oil field in Norway and reconsidering the project until 2026. Wisting could have become the largest single Norwegian oil asset approved by the government this decade by size of reserves.

Equinor has faced intense scrutiny from the Norwegian Environmental Authorities due to lacking environmental impact statements.

The Norwegian government now sets climate expectations for Equinor. We cannot tolerate that the same company is planning to open a new operation, Bay du Nord, which would by definition breach global climate targets. Equinor has to stop Bay du Nord.

“Why, after issuing Kameron Coal 152 warnings for safety violations and 119 noncompliance orders at the Donkin mine, is the NS Department of Labour saying we can now trust the company with worker safety and to protect the environment?” asks Gretchen Fitzgerald, the National Programs Director for Sierra Club Canada. “The mine self-reports its greenhouse gas  emissions and is exempt from paying for its carbon pollution, so we have no way of knowing, much less limiting, its impact on climate targets. This mine should never have been allowed to re-open given these serious issues.”

Two busloads of concerned citizens from the Great Lakes region and others from as far as Toronto and Minnesota packed a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers meeting today. All made the trip to deliver strong messages asking the Army Corps to reject Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 oil tunnel.

Ahead of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Canada to discuss a potential  LNG deal, environmental organizations representing millions of Canadians are launching an initiative called StoptheGas to call on the federal government to reject proposals for new East Coast gas export facilities due to climate impacts and economic risks.