The streets of London rang to the sound of chants for "Climate Justice" on the Global Day of Action for the climate on Saturday 3rd December. Marchers had gathered at the North end of Blackfriars Bridge where they were joined by a group from Christian Ecology Link coming from a Prayer meeting at St Mary le Bowe, a group of Buddhists coming from a meditation session at the tate Modern - and a substantial contingent coming via a 'Walk of Shame' through the City from a Climate 'teach in' at the Occupy camp at St Paul's. Placards demanding 'climate Justice' and dispaying '7%' as a way of expressing the inequity of business as usal on climate change (see below) peppered the crowd as it moved slowly down embankment before turning right down Horseguards Avenue into Whitehall.
The shouts for climate justice grew louder as the marchers passed Downing Street and approached Parliament before gathering for a rally at 'Old Castle Yard' opposite Parliament. Here the crowd split into two groups in a ratio of one to seven (or 7% to 50%). Phil Thornhill, campaign coordinator, then addressed the crowd on the theme of 'climate justice' stating that we were on track for a catastrophe from which only the richest half a billion (from a population that should hit 9 billion in 2050) might survive by the end of the century. There then followed a series of brief contributions giving an overview of climate campaigning in the UK. Peter Coville talked about the campaign against the Koch brothers - the biggest funders of climate denial and bankrollers of the Tea party in the US - as well as describing the work of the environmental group at the Occupy LSX camp. Steve Pulham reported on the campaign against the super-carbon-intensive Canadian Tar Sands, including a mention of the 1200 who got arrested in the US to stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Peter Dean gave a passionate and informative speech against 'agrofuels' and John Stewart brought us up to date on the aviation campaign. Suzanne Jeffrey talked about fighting both the climate crisis and the economic crisis through a programme for a Million Climate Jobs and finally Fiona Brookes from the campaign office expounded on the goal of a Zero Carbon Britain by 2030.
Photo Credit: Adele Nistora
Throughout the crowd was engaged with chants and call and response including "amandla aweithu" ("power to the people") in solidarity with those marching at the UN talks in Durban, South Africa, "Cuadrilla, Mark Miller, toxic water spiller" against the company engaged in 'fracking' operations in Lancashire and a final shout for 'Climate Justice' before the rally broke up and demonstrators headed off for soup provided by the Brixton Tea party or gazed at a giant 8x4 metre banner - lambasting the Koch brothers and their 'dirty money' - that stewards were struggling to hold up against the wind.
At 5.00 pm Prayers for the Climate were said at evensong at St. Pauls Cathedral.
This year the floods in Pakistan have returned displacing 5 million and killing hundreds. Last year's floods were the worst in living memory with 20 million affected and 2,000 killed. Last year also saw record breaking temperatures in Russia with wildfires and crop failures while this year we have seen the latest in a series of exceptional droughts in East Africa causing famine in Somalia.
The frequency and severity of weather related disasters is on the increase and scientists tell us this is due to human-induced climate change caused overwhelmingly by the high emissions and high consuming lifestyles of richer countries like our own. Its the poorest and most vulnerable around the world - many of them in Africa where this year's climate talks are being held - who have done the least to cause the problem but who are suffering the most. And all this is set to get worse. Yet climate change and the conversion to a low carbon economy are routinely dismissed as minor concerns.
Download a Climate Justice information flyer (pdf) here.
Find out more about climate justice and the international negotiations here.
On Friday evening as the negotiators in Durban were wrestling with the text of a new treaty a dedicated bunch from the CCC - including one participant who had come all the way from Paris ! - were out in front of the US embassy hghlighting the obstructive role played by the US in the negotiations - and the role big corporate money had in this, moulding the politics of climate change in the US.
Whilst we now have some sort of agreement coming out of the Durban Talks (in itself a good thing) the fact that it is such a weak agreement embodying a terrifyingly low level of ambition from the developed countries most responsible for the climate crisis, has a great deal to do with the role played by the US in the negotiations - over the last ten years as well as at Durban, itself.
For more on why the US is most to blame see the Friends of the Earth International verdict on the Durban Climate Talks here.
Raising the banner outside the London offices of Koch International.
Monday 28th was the opening day of the Durban Climate talks. Who's really responsible for blocking progress on a workable treaty for global action on climate ? More than anyone else it's the American hard right and their big-money backers! The Koch brothers, owners of the second biggest privately owned industrial conglomerate in the US, have been identified as the biggest funders of climate disinformation in the US (overtaking ExxonMobil) and the main corporate instigators of the Tea Party movement. For more about the Koch Brothers see here.
On Monday 28th activists raised the giant "Koch Brothers: Dirty Money" banner (see above) outside St Pauls at the "Occupy" camp and gave a shout out over the pa system about the Koch Brothers and the role their 'dirty money' plays bankrolling the Tea Party and funding climate disinformation, before a posse headed out to the offices of Koch Industries International on Fenchurch street, about 20 minutes walk away. Here more demonstrators joined to raise the giant banner again (see photo above) and give out countless fliers to the passing public, whilst addressing them over the megaphone with a constant stream of information about the iniquities of the Koch Brothers.
For demonstrations against the Koch Brothers by the 'Occupy' Movement (and others ) in the US see here, here and here.
This year the UN Climate talks ("COP 17") are in Durban South Africa. The location of the talks in Africa brings into sharp focus the issue of climate justice - the fate of poorer more vulnerable countries in a destabilising climate, for which the richer countries are largely responsible. In South Africa itself there are issues around a big dirty fossil fuel industry from which the poor suffer and the rich benefit - as this country which has borne witness to stupendous struggles for social justice now mobilises around the issue of 'climate justice'. Rehad Desai is a film-maker and activist from South Africa, who will talk about theclimate justice issues there and the South African mobilisation for COP 17.
On Saturday 12th November Rehad will speak at the Campaign against Climate Change Climate Justice Conference at the Institute of Education in London. In the following week he will speak at:
Manchester - Monday 14 November, 6.30pm
Manchester University Students Union, additional speakers include Martin Empson, CaCC Trade Union group, Earl Harper, Manchester Environmental Students Society PCS Union representative & Bombardier rail worker
Sheffield - Tuesday 15 November, 6.30pm for refreshments, speakers from 7.15pm
Quaker Meeting House, 10 St. James Street, S1 2EW . Additional speakers include Suzanne Jeffrey, chair CaCC Trade Union group. Meeting organised by Sheffield Campaign Against Climate Change.
London - Wednesday 16 November, 7pm
PCS Union headquarters, 160 Falcon Road , London , SW11 2LN . Additional speakers include Chris Baugh, assistant General Secretary of PCS. Meeting sponsored by UCU, PCS, GMB @ PCS, Battersea & Wandsworth Trades Council & the Greener Jobs Alliance .
Cardiff - Thursday 17 November, 7pm
Transport House, 1, Cathedral Rd , Cardiff , CF11 9SD. Additional speakers include Phil Thornhill, CaCC national co-ordinator& Marianne Owens (PCS). Meeting sponsored by PCS Wales. CardiffCCC@hotmail.co.uk/ 07940108146
Exeter - Friday 18 November, 2pm
Exeter University , meeting organised by Exeter University and College Union (UCU)
London - Saturday 19 November
Unite the Resistance conference, 11am – 5pm, Royal Horticultural Halls & Conference Centre, Westminster , London , SW1P 2PE . http://uniteresist.org
SATURDAY 12th NOVEMBER, 12.00-5.00 pm at the INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION (near SOAS) Rehad Desai, from South Africa addresses the Climate Justice Conference about the upcoming mobilisation in Durban, for COP 17
The Climate Justice Conference proved a fascinating event for all those who attended. The range of speakers present provided all manner of interesting insights at this well attended event. And the relaxed ambience with the bar and ample space for stalls and informal networking all contributed to making it a generally much-enjoyed experience and a great success.
Everyone is now primed for the upcoming STAND UP FOR JUSTICE event midway through the Durban Climate Talks on Saturday 3rd December…
Speakers included Rehad Desai, film-maker and activist from South Africa, who will talk about climate justice issues there and the South African mobilisation for COP 17(for Rehad's speaking tour around the country the following week see here) , Murad Qureshi, GLA member, Labour, Bangadeshi Community, DrDaanish Mustafa Lecturer on Geography at Kings College, Herbert Mwalukomo formerly of Concern Universal and the Wildlife and Environment Society of Malawi, Ichin Cheng, Research Director Sustainable Innovation Lab, Polly Higgins to speak on “Ecocide”, Derek Wall, Green Party, on the indigenous and climate in Peru, Jutta Kill from FERN on carbon trading, Dr Stuart ParkinsonExec director of Scientists for Global Responsibility on the science behind escalating weather disasters, Meredith Alexander Head of Trade and Corporates from Action Aid and speakers from Biofuelwatch, Christian Aid , Platform and the CCC Trade union group.
Camp Frack was a huge success! It attracted activists from all around the country as well as local residents who were a big part of the camp's success. There was lots of media coverage. Have a look at the video reports below on Camp Frack, as well as footage from the demo.
The Saturday was spent with a host of lively workshops and also planning sessions to build the campaign. For some there was also time to take the message into Preston, unfurling our monster anti-fracking banner outside the County Council building before taking the message to shoppers in the centre (see photos clickable above). On Sunday the weather cheered up for our march out to the drilling rig (as close as we were allowed) - which was led by REAF (see below) members and was fantastic fun for all. The atmosphere was full of positivity and infectious good cheer, building a real sense of solidarity between all the different groups involved (see photos and video below)
Following Camp Frack, on Wednesday 21st September, Cuadrilla Resources held a Press Conference at the Imperial hotel, Blackpool, announcing it had discovered huge amounts of gas (200 trillion cubic feet), was planning to drill at least 400 wells in Lancashire to extract it, and promising thousands of jobs would be created as a result (there may have been strong financial reasons why Cuadrilla needed to publish good results now: see here and doubts have now been cast on their claims - see here) . This was a major media offensive from Cuadrilla but having heard the news we srambled to get there and were able to organise a small but noisy protest outside the meeting (see posed photo at start of demo below). We were able to give the other side of the argument highlighting not only the destructive environmental impacts of fracking but also the need for investment in the renewable energy industry, creating jobs in that sector rather than in another fossil fuel - which will increase the levels of carbon dioxide emissions and lead us further down the path to climate catastrophe.
Caroline Lucas and Michael Meacher have submitted an EDM calling for a moratorium on coal bed methane, shale oil and shale gas. Read it here and get your MP to sign it. Download a template letter to send to your MP here.
See about the anti-fracking banner placed 500 feet up Blackwall Tower here.
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7% of the world's population produce 50% of the world's emissions
Outside the US embassy, Grosvenor Square
This year the UN Climate talks ("COP 17") are in Durban South Africa. The location of the talks in Africa brings into sharp focus the issue of climate justice - the fate of poorer more vulnerable countries in a destabilising climate, for which the richer countries are largely responsible. In South Africa itself there are issues around a big dirty fossil fuel industry from which the poor suffer and the rich benefit - as this country which has borne witness to stupendous struggles for social justice now mobilises around the issue of 'climate justice'. 
This is the blog of the National Coordinator, Phil Thornhill.
