Police in Montreal are bracing for their biggest operation in two decades, as thousands of visitors – including frustrated demonstrators – begin to arrive for the Cop15 global biodiversity summit.
Officials are expecting more than 10,000 people, including scientists and senior bureaucrats, to attend Cop15 in the Canadian city.
“It’s an immense event that requires immense planning,” the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) corporal Tasha Adams told reporters last month.
The RCMP, tasked with providing security for foreign dignitaries and senior officials, said the operation in Montreal would be the biggest in 20 years. Despite typically requiring more than a year to plan for events of a similar size, the RCMP was only given a few months.
The UN biodiversity conference, which aims to negotiate a new set of global goals to protect nature over the next decade, was meant to take place in October 2020 in Kunming, China, but after a series of delays it was announced in June that it would take place in Montreal in December. The event, which lasts for nearly two weeks, will require security around the clock.
Sections of downtown Montreal have been cordoned off, including around the Palais des congrès, where the event will be held. The bustling Place-d’Armes metro station will be closed for 20 days.
Within the Palais des congrès, the United Nations will oversee security. The Sûreté du Québec, the province’s police force, as well as Montreal, Longueuil, Laval, Quebec City and Gatineau police will handle crowds and expected protests.
“We find it hilarious how these people have to protect themselves with weapons and barricades to make decisions that they say are good for biodiversity. They’re spending so much money that could be invested in actual solutions,” said Édouard, a student organiser with the Anti-capitalist and ecologist coalition against Cop15.
“As with previous international summits, we know that the police can be very brutal against people voicing their discontent. So sadly we anticipate police repression. But we still think we can get our message across.”
The group, which accuses corporate interests of supplanting bold environmental action at Cop15, has large protests planned on Wednesday and Friday, and expects more than 10,000 people to march at both events. The group has called for an end to extractive industries such as oil and mining, a key driver of biodiversity loss.
“The support we’ve seen just shows us how unhappy people are with what is happening and how leaders are failing and not acting. It’s an emergency,” said Xan, another organiser with the coalition. “When you look at all the promises over the last 30 years, nothing has happened. Actually, worse than nothing. This event is just to make leaders look good. So that’s why we’re in the streets.”
The Cop15 opening ceremony will take place on Tuesday and will be attended by Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau. Negotiators are already meeting in Montreal for last-minute discussions on the draft text for the final agreement to set this decade’s biodiversity targets, called the global biodiversity framework (GBF).
