Southern Ocean Protection Embassy Collective

Southern Ocean Protection Embassy Collective (SOPEC) is a Gunditjmara-led organisation working to protect Gunditjmara Sea Country from offshore gas and oil exploitation. Run by Gunditjmara Elders and community leaders, SOPEC’s mission centres on defending Sea Country, protecting sacred totem species like Koontapool (the Southern Right Whale) and reviving cultural connections through advocacy and education.

Groundswell Grants

2022

10000

This grant supported the Southern Ocean Protection Embassy Collective to strengthen its campaign to protect Gunditjmara Sea Country from offshore oil and gas development. The funding helped build SOPEC’s organisational foundations and develop storytelling about Koontapool, the Southern Right Whale, and the cultural significance of Sea Country. The work also supported broader public awareness and alliance-building with coastal First Nations communities, contributing to a growing movement opposing seismic blasting and offshore fossil fuel development.

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Wherever we are in this country, we are on Country.

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants and Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters where we live, learn and work. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and to the cultures, knowledge and stories they carry. That knowledge comes from tens of thousands of years of living with, caring for and protecting Country. It is why, for us, climate action cannot be separated from Country or from First Nations leadership, and why we are committed to listening, learning and backing First Nations-led climate action.

Our commitment to climate justice

Wherever we are in this country, we are on Country.

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Traditional Custodians, and pay our respects to Elders past and present.

We honour their enduring care for Country and the First Nations leadership our climate future depends on.

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Southern Ocean Protection Embassy Collective

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