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Eight Nobel Peace Laureates sent a letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper urging him to move Canada toward a clean energy future while stopping the expansion of the tar sands.

The Laureates who signed the letter include Archbishop Desmond Tutu (South Africa), Jody Williams (USA), President Ramos Horta (Timor), Shirin Ebadi (Iran) and others. They argue that it will take strong leadership to make the choices required to cut greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change. They equate action on climate change to being a “profoundly moral decision – one that deserves to be placed alongside any other major struggle in human history”.

The letter comes two days after hundreds of Canadians assembled on Parliament Hill in Ottawa risking arrest in an act of non-violent civil disobedience to protest the rapid expansion of the tar sands and Harper’s inaction on climate change.

The Laureates told Harper that Canada is well positioned to be a leader in the fight against climate change.

Two weeks ago, the Laureates also wrote to American President Barack Obama, calling upon him to reject the permit for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would bring tar sands oil from Alberta through the United States to the Gulf of Mexico.

The Nobel Women’s Initiative is a group based on six women Nobel Laureates who have come together to use their influence to strive for peace, justice and equality, including climate justice.

  • More on Nobel Women’s Initiative on YouTube