VANCOUVER — International environmental organizations, including those with public links to entities in China have long played a prominent, and sometimes controversial, role in British Columbia’s resource and climate politics.That spotlight has now fallen on six groups that signed a joint letter in mid-April urging Prime Minister Mark Carney and BC Premier David Eby to apply rigorous oversight to Coastal Gateway Port’s proposed shipbuilding, repair and shipyard facility in Union Bay.The proposed Coastal Gateway Port project would redevelop the former Deep Water Recovery shipbreaking site in ecologically sensitive Baynes Sound — a key area for shellfish aquaculture and traditional K’ómoks First Nation harvesting. Proponents describe the facility as modern, fully enclosed and clean — designed to create skilled jobs, support Canadian Navy and Coast Guard vessels, and keep ship recycling work in Canada rather than sending it overseas. They say they welcome a thorough regulatory review and are still in the consultation phase.The letter, sent around last month, came from the Association of Denman Island Marine Stewards, B.C. Shellfish Growers Association, Concerned Citizens of Baynes Sound, West Coast Environmental Law, the David Suzuki Foundation, and Stand.earth.Stand.earth stands out for its binational reach and staff backgrounds.The group, formerly known as ForestEthics, grew out of 1990s campaigns to protect old-growth coastal rainforests and later helped broker the landmark Great Bear Rainforest agreements.Today it runs high-profile efforts on climate change, zero-emissions shipping, fossil-fuel infrastructure and forest protection, claiming more than one million supporters worldwide..Public bios on its website show Finance Director Phoebe Lam previously helped set up Greenpeace’s first office in China and has worked in Hong Kong and Canada.Senior Researcher Xixi Zhang has carried out supply-chain research and clean-transportation campaigns across Asia, including work with Greenpeace.Stand.earth additionally operates as a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated in California in 1999 and a registered society in British Columbia.Its most recent U.S. tax filing reported about $7.8 million in contributions and grants. The Canadian arm reported roughly $5.1 million in total revenue, mainly from contracts and gifts.The group has also been active in legal challenges.In 2022, together with Environmental Defence Canada, it launched a judicial review of Alberta’s public inquiry into foreign funding of alleged “anti-Alberta energy campaigns.” The Alberta Court of Appeal upheld the validity of their service in that case in April 2025.The other signatories disclose various international connections of their own..The David Suzuki Foundation and West Coast Environmental Law list support from foreign and international foundations and NGOs, including the European Climate Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Patagonia and the World Wildlife Fund.The Suzuki Foundation, for its own part, has said about 90% of its funding in recent years came from Canadian donors.The controversy unfolds at an awkward time.BC Ferries, one of the largest sea-vessel based organizations in the world, is facing widespread criticism for awarding a contract in June 2025 to a Chinese state-owned shipyard to build four new major vessels — a move that has drawn ire from Canadian shipbuilders, unions and politicians concerned about lost jobs and economic opportunities for the province.
