Denmark: KlimaX rocks the COP15 summit site
Activists from the copenhagen based climate activist group KlimaX climbed onto the front of the conference site Bella Centret and threw out banners. The site is symbolic in the way that its the actual site of the COP15 summit excactly one year from now.
“We need a humane solution to the climate crisis.” Says Sini Østergaard from KlimaX “We cannot stand by and watch while the rich countries buy CO2 quotas from the poor countries. We have take action now.”
The activists brought banners, music, cookies and tea while the security people and diplomats attending a conference watched the fun.
“The clock is ticking and time has run out. We have to face the consequences of our over-consumption in the west now.” says Thor from KlimaX.
The police arrived but didn’t bother anyone. The activists promises that they’ll continue their actions in the run-up to and under the climate summit. Already other actions are brewing for the imediate future.
The international mobilization for action at the climate summit:
http://climateaction09.org/
KlimaX – Copenhagen:
http://klimax2009.org
Video from a coorporate newspaper (ignore lame comercials):
http://ekstrabladet.tv/nyheder/indland/article1091836.ece
KlimaX – Copenhagen
international@klimax2009.org
http://www.climateaction09.org
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USA: Monday Dec. 1
Climate Activists Invade DC Offices of Environmental Defense, Daughter
of ED Founder Accuses Group of Pushing False Solutions to Climate Change
Off-site Media Contact: Matt Wallace, Rising Tide North America,
828-280-3462
On-site Contact: Dr. Rachel Smolker, Global Justice Ecology Project
802-735-7794
***high resolution photos available soon at:
www.risingtidenorthamerica.org***
Washington, DC-As the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change opened today in Poznan, Poland, grassroots climate activists took over the Washington DC office of Environmental Defense. The activists stated that they had targeted ED, one of the largest environmental organizations in the world, because of the organization’s key role in promoting the discredited approach of carbon trading as a solution to climate change.
Dr. Rachel Smolker of Global Justice Ecology Project and Global Forest Coalition read a statement, which said in part, “My father was one of the founders of this organization, which sadly I am now ashamed of. The Kyoto Protocol, the European Emissions Trading Scheme and virtually every other initiative for reducing emissions have adopted their market approaches. So far they have utterly failed, serving only to provide huge profits to the world’s most polluting industries. Instead of protecting the environment, ED now seems primarily concerned with protecting corporate bottom lines. I can hear my father rolling over in his grave.”
The activists rearranged furniture in the office, illustrating how marketing carbon is “like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” Others held signs reading “Keep the cap, ditch the trade” and “Carbon trading is an environmental offense.”
Leo Cerda, an indigenous activist with Rising Tide Ecuador said, “ED wants to turn the atmosphere and forests into private property, and then give it away to the most polluting industries in the form of pollution allowances that can be bought and sold. Not only is this an ineffective way to control emissions, it is also a disaster for the poor and indigenous peoples who are not party to these markets and are most impacted by climate change.”
ED has been key in establishing the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a business consortium advocating for a cap and trade system with extremely weak emissions reductions. US CAP allows polluters like Duke Energy, Shell, BP, DuPont, and Dow Chemical to claim they are green while continuing with business as usual. In recognition, activists awarded ED the “Corporate Greenwash Award,” a three foot tall green paintbrush. “We think this award is appropriate since Environmental Defense spends more time painting polluters green than actually defending the environment,” said Matt Wallace of Rising Tide North America.
Opposition to carbon trading is growing as it becomes apparent that market based schemes do little to fight climate change while helping corporations rake in profits. Earlier this year, over 50 groups came together in the US to denounce carbon trading in a Declaration Against the Use of Carbon Trading Schemes to Address Climate Change. Globally, hundreds of environmental, social justice, and indigenous groups have come together to oppose such market based initiatives as inherently unsustainable and ineffective in creating a just transition away from fossil fuels.
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Australia: Coal-fired power station blockade on the eve of international climate negotiations
November 27, 2008: This morning, four people entered the Munmorah Coal-Fired Power Station on the NSW Central Coast, attaching themselves to conveyor belts carrying coal.
Spokesperson Ann-Marie Rohlfs says “In two days, the Rudd Government will go to the United Nations climate change meeting in Poland. Instead of showing leadership, they are set to announce weak and ineffective domestic emissions reduction targets…”
“With the upcoming release of the Climate White Paper, the Rudd Government will hand tens of billions of dollars in compensation and free permits to polluting industries. Public money would be better spent investing in a green renewable future for Australia.”
Spokesperson Nicky Ison says, “This week we witnessed the closure of the BP solar plant in Homebush Bay. Australia is missing out on tens of thousands of new jobs by continuing to prop up the coal industry and preventing the transition to a renewable energy economy.”
In September, Nobel Prize Winner Al Gore said “I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants.”
We are taking him at his word.
Today’s blockade at the Munmorah Power Station is part of a huge community effort to kick Australia’s coal habit.
“We are facing a climate emergency, but our emissions are still rising. We call on the Rudd Government to ensure 2010 is the year Australia’s greenhouse emissions peak and begin to rapidly decline.
“If half of the homes in NSW had solar hot water systems, there would be no need for Munmorah Power Station. We would save 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 annually. As the oldest power station in NSW, Munmorah Power station must be the first to go in the new green economy.”
For further comment:
Holly Creenaune- 0417 682 541
Ann-Marie Rohlfs – 0406 021 920
Nicky Ison – 0423 717 567
For high resolutions photos and video footage, contact Nicky Ison on 0423 717 567