Climate Activists Tell Canada: Don’t Cop Out On COP 15!
On Monday 14th of December, campaigners from the UK Tar Sands Network and Camp for Climate Action protested outside Canada House in London and shut down Pall Mall Street in Trafalgar Square to protest against Canada’s attempts to derail the climate change negotiations in Copenhagen.
Canada is one of the biggest current stumbling blocks to an ambitious and binding climate deal – because it continues extracting oil from the most destructive project on earth, the Tar Sands. [1] This protest will take place in solidarity with similar protests in Copenhagen itself and several Canadian cities.
The Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada, are one of the world’s most polluting projects and are having a devastating effect on the lives of Indigenous communities and fuelling global climate change. Currently in Copenhagen, Canada is proposing an inadequate target for reducing greenhouse emissions by only 3% by 2020 ignoring world scientists’ recommendations to commit to over 40% reductions below 1990 levels in order to avoid dangerous runaway climate change. As a result, international criticism of Canada is mounting. Last week, a group of 11 Members of the European Parliament called on the leaders of BP, Shell, Statoil and Total companies to halt production of oil from the tar sands. [2]
“Canada has already spectacularly failed to meet its Kyoto Protocol targets and has shown no signs of changing its priorities in Copenhagen. Instead of making the necessary shift to a low carbon economy, the Canadian government continues to approve new Tar Sands leases and is refusing to co-operate with international efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change. This affects the whole world,” says Suzanne Dhaliwal of the UK Tar Sands Network, who will be at the London protest.
“The Canadian government continues to ignore its own laws, which state they must consult with Indigenous Peoples who have been trying to convey concerns about Tar Sands development. Tar Sands are killing our communities and trampling over our rights. Furthermore, the environmental destruction wreaked by the Tar Sands is directly threatening thousands of lives now and is driving our climate into chaos. The world has woken up to the fact that Canada is now Public Climate Enemy Number One. It’s time Canada did its global duty and shut down the Tar Sands,” says Clayton Thomas-Muller, an Indigenous activist with the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), who is participating in the parallel Tar Sands protest in Copenhagen.
UK campaigning against the Tar Sands, in solidarity with IEN, has focused on BP which plans to enter the Tar Sands through the massive ‘Sunrise Project’ and the Royal Bank of Scotland, now 84% state-owned, which has invested £8.3 billion in the Tar Sands since 2007 according to new research by the Rainforest Action Network.
The “Canada:Don’t Cop out on COP” action will start in Trafalgar Square, which has been occupied by the Camp for Climate Action [3] for the duration of the Copenhagen negotiations as a base for UK based solidarity actions. Campaigners will then move onto Canada House to deliver their message to the Canadian government.
[1] See the Indigenous Environmental Network’s Canadian Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign, www.ienearth.org/cits
[2] http://www.tarsandswatch.org/members-european-parliament-appeal-companies-stop-tar-sand-business
[3] The Camp for Climate Action is a growing grass-roots movement of diverse people taking action on climate change. http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/about
UK Tar Sands Network
tarsandsinfocus@googlemail.com
http://tarsandsinfocus.wordpress.com
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Climate Refugee Santas in City Airport Protest
6 December 2009
CLIMATE CAMP PRESS RELEASE:
REFUGEE SANTAS VS POLICE AT LONDON CITY AIRPORT
20 Climate activists dressed as Santa Claus were pushed out of London City Airport departures lounge today by police and security guards. Presents of cartoon books about the problems with carbon trading, carbon ration books, and toy trains were left undelivered. These were meant for the passengers on the final flight to Copenhagen before the COP15 climate talks begin.
The Santas’ photographer was arrested. The activists managed to publish a picture of the arrest on Twitter (1) along with another image of the Santas in action (2)
The activists sang Climate Change-themed Christmas carols, including “Silent Plight” and “God Rest We Merry Carbon Traders”, in the airport lobby.
A Santa Claus said: “The hypocrisy of flying to the Copenhagen talks is unbelievable. It just goes to show that for the politicians and corporate lobbyists in Copenhagen, these talks are no more than business as usual.
“If governments agree a deal based on false solutions like carbon trading, I shall have to take direct action by getting stuck in a whole lot more chimneys”
Video
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7th December: 11.30am This morning protesters from the Climate Camp have blockaded the entrance to the European Climate Exchange in Bishopsgate, London [see video].
The COP Out Camp Out at Trafalgar Square was set up on Saturday after the massive Wave climate demonstration ahead of the Cop15 climate conference which starts today in Copenhagen.
The European Climate Exchange in Bishopsgate was the target and location of the Climate Camp during the G20 protests back in April.
For updates see: http://twitter.com/climatecampldn
Video http://www.twitvid.com/19342
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Santa visits BT and exposes coal investment
November 30, 2009
This morning a team of Santa’s arrived at the BT offices in Bristol Temple Quay to expose the truth behind the companies pension scheme. BT pensions are funding coal mining in South Wales, where Merthyr Tydfil hosts one of Europe’s largest opencast coal mines. BT Pension Scheme owns a company called Hermes who own Argent, of Miller-Argent fame – the company who operate the mine. Staff pension money is secretly being spent on coal mining.
No wonder it came as a surprise when Santa came to visit…
Arriving at the BT offices at Temple Quay in Bristol this morning, Santa Claus came to say a great big festive NO to coal.
Santa and his helpers descended upon offices after finding out that BT pension schemes are paying for the massive mining operation at Ffos-y-Fran near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales – one of Europe’s largest open cast coal mines. The mystery people in red say they are raising the issue with BT workers, letting them know where their pension money is being invested.
The bemused staff seemed happy to be greeted by the singing santas as they arrived for work, but looked concerned with the news of their employers dirty investments.
A jovial woman clutching a handful of Christmas cards said “with the climate talks in Copenhagen coming up, the world’s eyes will be on politicians struggling to come to terms with the threat of climate change.
We want the employees to know that their money is being invested in coal mining in Wales, worsening the effects of climate change. It is up to them to hold BT accountable for their actions”
The Ffos-y-Fran mine is less than 40 metres from the nearest homes and residents lives are blighted with noise, dust and pollution. Merthyr Tydfil was the site of the Climate Camp in Wales earlier this year, supporting local residents who have been fighting against the mining operations.
Santa and his helpers handed out Christmas cards and sung carols to people as they arrived for work today, explaining why they have come to visit.
“Coal is the most climate wrecking way to produce energy. Really, if we want to stop the worst effects of climate change we need to stop digging it out of the ground and invest in green technologies instead”
“I’m here because I’m seriously worried about my home back in the Arctic” said Sam, one of the Santa’s. “With predicted temperature rises, we’ll become refugees and the reindeer are notoriously fussy about where they live”.
Email – info@climatecampcymru.org
Notes:
· BT are linked to coal in the following way-BT own BT Pension Scheme (BTPS) who in turn own a company called Hermes who administer the BT pension fund. Hermes bought the development group Argent (of Miller-Argent) who run the mine at Merthyr Tydfil.
· Ffos-y-Fran, located next to Merthyr Tydfil, is one of the biggest coal mines Wales has ever seen. Over the 15 year lifetime of this new opencast mine, more than 10.8 million tonnes of coal will be extracted. Burning this will release 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – at the same rate each year as the entire country of Mozambique!
· Local people have been opposing the mine for years. More than 10,000 people signed a petition opposing the mine. Despite this amazing level of opposition, the Welsh Assembly Government, encouraged by Westminster, gave the go-ahead to the mine.
· Climate Camp Cymru is Wales’ Camp for Climate Action – inspired by the Climate Camp movement taking action on climate change in the UK and worldwide. The Camp is committed to education, sustainable living and supporting direct action against the root causes of climate change.
· Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel there is – responsible for 50% of the CO2 added to the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial revolution, and 40% of CO2 emissions globally. Enough of it remains in the ground, if burned, to take us to a substantially different planet from the one we know today – and which has existed throughout all of human history.
http://www.climatecampcymru.org
Earth First! Rome press:
10 December 2009
10.12.09
8/12/2009
The Minorca Opencast Protest Group has been formed to oppose plans already submitted by UK Coal plc for an Opencast Coal Mine between Measham and Swepstone in Leicestershire, England. The application was submitted in July 2009, but has yet to be decided on by Leicestershire County Council (as at 7/12/09).