Celebrities are getting behind the effort to stop the Coastal GasLink pipeline.
This week, Leonardo DiCaprio, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, and many other stars signed their names to an open letter calling on Royal Bank of Canada to withdraw financing for the pipeline.
READ MORE: Jane Fonda Voices Support For Those Protesting Pipeline Replacement In Minnesota
Organized by Indigenous Climate Action, the petition is part of an ongoing effort to put a stop to the pipeline, which is planned to cut through Wet’suwet’en territory in northwestern British Columbia, but hasn’t received the consent of local hereditary chiefs.
Mark Ruffalo, Taika Waititi, Jane Fonda, and Robert Downey Jr., Ava DuVernay, Josh Gad, Mariska Hargitay, Rooney Mara, Julianne Moore, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Schumer, Ben Stiller, Marisa Tomei have also signed the petition.
Protests against the pipeline in Canada have included rallies in Canadian cities, as well as rail blockades around the country.
READ MORE: David Suzuki Apologizes For ‘Poorly Chosen’ Words About Pipelines Being ‘Blown Up’
Read the full text of the letter, originally published by The Hollywood Reporter:
We, the undersigned, demand that City National Bank’s parent company, Royal Bank of Canada:
Withdraw support from the Coastal GasLink pipeline, effective immediately.
Uphold, affirm and respect the rights of Indigenous peoples. It is critical that CNB and RBC not only “respect” the rights of Indigenous Peoples, but adhere to policies and practices that ensure the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of Indigenous peoples as defined in the United Nations Declaration of The Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) under Article 32.
Stop funding fossil fuel expansion. CNB and RBC must end the funding of extreme fossil fuel expansion projects, specifically fracking and tar sands. The Alberta tar sands are exacerbating the climate crisis and why Canada is unable to meet its international climate commitments as agreed to at COP 26.
City National Bank’s parent company Royal Bank of Canada is bankrolling the climate crisis and violating the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Though RBC claims to be a leader in climate-conscious banking, since acquiring CNB in 2015 RBC has spent more $160 billion to become one of the world’s largest and most aggressive financiers of tar sands, fossil fuel extraction, and transport. RBC is now the fifth largest funder of fossil fuels in the world. BankingOnClimateChaos.org.
Though publicly claiming to “respect the inherent right of Indigenous peoples to self-determination”, RBC is heavily invested in the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline now bulldozing through the pristine territory and waters of the Wet’suwet’en Peoples, without the consent of the Hereditary Chiefs.
The time to defund Coastal GasLink is now. RBC must withdraw from the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline now and stop financing fossil fuels.