15 December 2009
Preparations for New Zealand’s first Climate Camp are going well with people moving onto the site yesterday. Campers spent the day setting up some of the infrastructure required for the camp including the kitchen and storage tents. As the day progressed water lines could be seen snaking across the field, solar panels popped up next to tents and by the end of the day hot food was being prepared in the kitchen. The site is perfect, large trees dot the field, a river with swimming holes runs beside the camp and there is easy vehicular access.
Climate camp officially kicks off tomorrow (Wednesday) and will be going until the 21st. The camp will be a working demonstration of sustainable living with composting toilets and electricity generated on site. It will also host workshops on dozens of subjects as well as providing space for people to organise to take action against the root causes of climate change. The 21st will see campers taking to the streets in protests which will be organised at camp. As details of these protests are organised they will be distributed widely.
Feel free to bring anything you think might be useful – tools, bikes, koha to help pay for food and tents etc. The camp is being organised and run by participants so feel free to make it your own. If you want to run a workshop or spend a few hours in the kitchen that would be great! Weather has been a mixed bag over the past day so a good tent and heaps of warm clothes in case you get wet would be a really good idea. Food will be provided throughout the camp.
So if you have any spare time over the next week be it an afternoon or the entire camp pop on down to Moonshine park in Upper Hut from today.
For more information and regular updates on how the camp is going please visit climatecamp.org.nz
For the days photos please visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45638777@N08/
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Activists disrupt presentation by head of the New Zealand Carbon Exchange.
18 December 2009
This action coincides with New Zealand’s first climate camp in Upper Hut Wellington and pecedes mondays day of direct action against false solutions planned for Wellington on monday.
Yesterday members of Carbon Progress Response (CPR) disrupted a presentation by Stuart Frazer member of the New Zealand Carbon Exchange. The protesters disrupted the meeting at three points holding banners saying “Our Climate Not Your Business”, “Food Markets Not Carbon Markets” as well as talking about why carbon trading would not result in real action being taken to prevent climate change. During the presentation Stuart Frazer talked of how we need to stabilise atmospheric CO2 levels at 450ppm and global temperatures at a 2 degrees Celsius rise. The protesters pointed out that at these levels hundreds of millions of the worlds poor will be affected by drought and famine.
The action was taken in solidarity with the 100,000 protesters in Copenhagen as well as the 300 civil society delegates which walked out of the conference.
The CPR activists involved in the disruption explained their actions in this way “Carbon trading, also known as Cap and Trade, allows wealthy, industrialized countries and companies to keep polluting at the same rates by trading carbon credits amongst themselves. This allows business to continue as usual and encourages the disadvantaged and poor to sell their livelihoods for the gain of the rich.”
After the first two groups of protesters were removed around a dozen protesters held banners outside as well as using a siren to emphasis that we are facing a climate emergency. After the presentation had finished an activist slipped back into the meeting and disrupted it for a third time.
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21 December 2009
About 150 people took to the streets early this morning in Wellington as two banners were hung overnight in prominent locations. First stop was the Stock Exchange, to disrupt business as usual and tell the profiteers of climate change that our climate is not their business. While people entered the building a samba band, radical cheerleaders and a kids block were outside all main entrances. There was also a vocal bunch from a group claiming to be counter-protesting for the right to profit from exploiting the environment. Nine people were arrested in a sit-in blockade but later released with no charge.
After 9 arrests the protest took over Lampton Quay to go and support two climbers occupying the outside of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade with a giant banner denouncing Foterra for its part in New Zealand’s high emissions from agriculture. The action was taken to draw attention to the fact that 51% of New Zealand’s climate changing emissions come from agriculture. The protesters who were initially at the stock exchange, marched down Lambton Quay to support the two activists hanging off MFAT. The two climbers came down later and were not arrested. A Reclaim the Streets style protest continued for over half and hour.
The nine from earlier are coming out of the police station now, some or all without charge…
OUR CLIMATE IS NOT YOUR BUSINESS!!