Hundreds of protesters set up 'climate camp'
Digg
del.icio.us
Facebook
Reddit
Google
Stumble Upon
Fark
Newsvine
YahooBuzz
Bebo
Twitter
Independent Minds
Hundreds of people today set up a "climate camp" in the City of London to protest against economic measures which they say will not tackle climate change.
Protesters who had gathered in small groups around the City descended on carbon trading body the European Climate Exchange on Bishopsgate, shutting off a stretch of road and pitching tents in a matter of minutes.
The climate campers are protesting against carbon trading, which they say is not an effective way to reduce greenhouse gases as it allows rich countries to carry on polluting while "offsetting" their emissions elsewhere.
They are also concerned about financial stimulus measures by the G20 nations to combat recession, because it will restore a growth economy which causes increased emissions.
On the eve of the G20 summit, environmental groups including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and WWF warned that the leaders of the world's major economies risked missing a unique opportunity to tackle the recession and climate change simultaneously.
The environmental groups are calling for leaders to avoid a return to "business as usual", with investment in green measures such as low-carbon technology to boost jobs and slash the emissions which cause climate change.
In contrast to G20 protests elsewhere in the City, today's climate camp was peaceful throughout the afternoon, with police looking on as demonstrators took part in workshops, a farmers' market stall, music, giant boardgames and even meditation.
The climate campers, who decorated the street and their tents with banners, bunting and flowers, aim to stay in the Bishopsgate site for 24 hours, with bicycle-powered cinema and a ceilidh tonight.
Protester Richard Howlett said politicians had responded to previous camps at Heathrow Airport and Kingsnorth power station in Kent by claiming carbon trading would solve the problem of increased emissions from a new runway or coal-fired plant.
"Anybody with any common sense can see that we're not going to get ourselves on the low-carbon economy we need if we're building new runways and new coal-fired power stations," he said.
"Carbon trading has been the false solution that has been thrown at us when we've held previous camps and we want to tackle that head-on today.
"The other point we want to make is that the G20 is meeting up to shore up an economic system that has been disastrous in many ways; one way it guarantees to create disaster is the fact that it's got us on course for runaway climate change."
Another member of the climate camp, Kevin Smith, said the market-based approach of carbon trading to solving climate change had proven to be "spectacularly unstable and ineffective".
"We have such a limited window of opportunity to act on climate change; it seems really foolish that we're trying to do this big experiment because it fits with the free market ideology that's been so fashionable for the last decade," he said.
"The current economic model is based on infinite growth on an infinite planet, and to anyone with common sense that does not work."
Other climate protesters staged a demonstration near to the ExCel centre in London's Docklands, where tomorrow's G20 summit is being held.
The Campaign against Climate Change chose an iceberg sculpture to highlight the melting of Arctic sea ice, and called for global warming to be a top priority for politicians.
The group's national co-ordinator Phil Thornhill said: "Some of them want to put a lot of money into the global economy.
"The way to do that is to spend on the things we need to do to fight climate change and reduce emissions.
"There's loads of things that need doing, massive infrastructure projects, new grids, renewable energy, marine wind farms, tidal power which has huge potential, all of this could be green jobs.
"This is doing two things at once, it wouldn't just be putting the money into a black hole which they are now."
View all comments that have been posted about this article.
Offensive or abusive comments will be removed and your IP logged and may be used to prevent further submission. In submitting a comment to the site, you agree to be bound by the Independent Minds Terms of Service.
- Print Article
- Email Article
-
Click here for copyright permissions
Copyright 2009 Independent News and Media Limited
Comments
Some of us are actually developing new technologies to deal with the problem, not berating others.
These protesters are merely using the global crisis as an excuse to disrupt working life and to create a semi violent rumpus in the city. It is rather pathetic that such self righteous do gooders come across to the working public as not much different than a bunch of old fashioned anarchist rioters.
Clearly the protesters have no jobs on the day of the protest, and probably do not do more than scrounge benefits. Someone should tell them that it is no longer fashionable to attempt political change with violence. Ghandi showed us that over half a century ago.
Nothing is more laughable than a bunch of self appointed global pollution protesters making the city of Londons carbon emissions spike for the day, by setting fires and forcing the police to up their petroleum consuming service to prevent criminal behaviour. The word hypocritical does not do justice to their anti social rants and tantrums.
Go get a green job and stop burning things you spoilt children. It is much harder to invent green technology than to set fires and riot.
Pathetic.
GET DOWN TO BISHOPSGATE AND HELP THEM.
i didnt see any violence at the climate camp protest. neither did i see any fires.
"Go get a green job and stop burning things you spoilt children" Yeah ok, clearly you are delusional and have no grip on this years events, let alone todays.
the RBS incident was NOT the "climate camp" protest. that protest was the jobs/economic protest. NOTHING TO DO WITH "CLIMATE CAMP".
Q: how to spot climate camp protestors?
A: its easy, the`re the ones with the tents.
Their assumption that new technology wiill fix problems created by old technology borders on blind faith.
In practice, technology -especially the industrial technology that emerged after 1700- is at the heart of the predicament we are now in.
Biofuels are a scam. Carbon trading is a scam. Carbon sequestration is a scam. Nuclear fusion is a pipe dream.
In the real world, the oil supply has peaked, with no replacement available. In the real world soil erosion and depletion, in combination with declining oil supplies and climate change, is set to cause a massive reduction in available food, leading to even greater starvation than is currently witnessed. In the real world, carbon dioxide levels have reached a critial threshold likely to lead to abrupt climate change that could render most of the planet uninhabitable. And no new technology will stop any of it happening
Firstly, let me disentangle the conflation Zen makes between the anti-capitalist protestors who have indeed practiced violence against property, which has rightfully drawn reactions from the police, and those involved in the camp.
Climate campers in my experiance, yes thats right I have actually met and spoken to some of the protesters, are dedicatedly non-violent. Moreover, the camp itself whilst being a protest is also a educational gatherin. Workshops are run on a host of environmentally relevant subjects, including innovative green technology. Those employed by targeted institutions, such as the ECX, were warmly invited to join these workshops.
I can not comment on the employment status of the protesters involved, but with 5.5% of the population officially unemployed or "scrounging benifits" as Zen put it, and the UK in the midst of recession it would not be surprising to find some are unemployed.
As for Ghandi, he is indeed the leading philosophical proponent of non-violent political protest.
However, central to that is the notion of disruption of the status quo, exactly what the climate camps protest element seek to do.
You are the archetypal Chicken Licken (who says the sky is falling in). How can you castigate those who are positive enough to invent new technology when you are so dedicated to the opposite view that there is, to paraphrase you, no hope?
You declare Biofuels are a scam. Then how is it that a massive economy such as Brazil is using it for their vehicles and that we all benefit from them not polluting with carbon use? You are wrong.
You declare Carbon Trading is a scam. It might not be the best system for reducing carbon emissions, but it has certainly raised the profile of carbon footprint to the level where the entire planet has become carbon pollution aware. Even the car manufacturers now compete to advertise their reductions in Carbon (and other CFC) emissions. You are wrong again.
You declare Carbon sequestration is a scam. Well that is preposterous. Any form of carbon capture reduces atmospheric Carbon and is a good thing. You are so wrong on this point that you sound delusional.
You declare that Nuclear Fusion is a pipe dream. You are seriously uninformed. Google Korean Nuclear Fusion and learn something. Not only is Nuclear Fusion realistic the Koreans have a working design based on plasma. The US are working on a laser based system. You are so wrong on this point that you sound silly.
There are a myriad of other social, political and technological solutions to the current problems of atmospheric pollution and its effects. It is a shame that you think that just because you have not bothered to learn about them that they do not exist.
Perhaps you should rename your moniker someofusknownothing. Stop being such a downer.
Response to stevenh3.
Well I was flattered to hear that you would dignify me with a response; such a grand opening statement made me look forward to reading some illuminating postulation. However I was sorely disappointed. It seems that you are just another person trying to patronise others.
There was no confusion for the police today. They had to deal with a double attack by violent protesters and those like the Camp, who simply wanted to stop traffic and commercial activity, which is also illegal. Do you think you are the only person who has met a hippy Steven? Perhaps if these happy campers want to contribute they should find somewhere to do it that does not disrupt the city and deflect the police from dealing with criminals elsewhere in the square mile.
You say that there is a recession on. If you knew what you were talking about you would have called it like it is: A depression. Some countries are facing annualised drops in exports of fifty per cent year on year. The commodities markets have experienced percentage drops, which are larger than those experienced in the 1929 to 1932 depression. Under the circumstances, only the mindless would seek to justify the disruption of the city of London. The city is where a majority of the countrys wealth, and consequential ability to pay benefits, derives from.
You seem to be the confused one. The Ghandi metaphor goes only as far as distinguishing violence and non violence. His was a political movement against human, imperialist domination. Protests are not going to make any effect on the number of ecologically sustainable inventions that are registered with the UK Intellectual Property Office this year. Illegal protest which attempts to close commercial activity is simply illegal, naive and stupid. It is carried out solely to make the protesters feel better about themselves.
You thought long and hard about whether to respond: Your sarcasm obviously outweighs your intellect.
Does anyone have anything useful to say?
The point of it was not to inconvience all you people who only seem to care about your commute (many a complaint letter has been printed in the london paper)- sorry, the world is dying at a faster rate than it ever was before, get on a bike or go for a walk to work in the morning, do some exercise, something the greedy mongs of this society are clearly lacking in; the point of it was was to draw attention to between the link of global economic crisis and climate change.
Thanks to those lovely benevolent bankers and the G20 CO2 has now been commodified. If you told someone 100 years ago that would happen through Carbon Trading and Climate Credits they would have laughed in your face.
How much longer until water is commodified? At a realistic level for all your poor inconvienced consumerised city dwellers? Lets face it, if the distribution of wealth in the world was any closer to being equal there would not be peoplen in the world still having to trek 10 miles for a litre of water.
When it happens here, in our childrens and grandchildrens generation, and when they are having to fight for space of land and water I dont think your commute, or the inconviences to your paltry existences will be much of a priority.
I am sick to death of hearing all the selfish selfish people moan about the PEACEFUL protests disrupting their lives. ONE street in the whole of London was taking up, what happened on that street?
Music, dancing, free food and a creative way to bring attention to this worrying problem to the masses.
You cant invent green techolodgy through your capitalistic, selfish and narrow minded values.
I in fact was a protester there. I have TWO jobs, I pay taxes, I also do voluntary work with children.
Thanks very much. If you actually went there and took part in something that is shaping society today and showing up the people behind all of this as what they are- Selfish, greedy pigs who care more about making money than they probably do about what their kids and grandkids are going to have to contend with in this world when it starts going beyond our control- YOU yourself with your very own eyes and ears would hear and see what actually happened and what caused those people to do such aggressive things.
But no I doubt you did, you were probably sat at your computer using up more electricity, with all the lights on scoffing macdonalds, washing it down with Coca-Cola. How about educating yourself so you get two sides of the story instead of lashing out at people who went there for an important reason; despite it being legal to peacefully protest, despite just walking down a street to get the peaceful camp they were kettled in and held against their will.
Erm??? What was that about the Internationally incorporated Human Rights Act (1998). Freedom of movement? Freedom of Assembly? Freedom of Speech? Freedom not to be imprisoned agaisnt your will??????
You live on this planet too, and you have every right to think and say what you want even if it is clearly narrow minded (in my opinion) but as do these protesters.
You did not see the amazing acts of kindness that went on through those days. BUT OF COURSE that wasn't published.
Protesters who are ranting about the state of the world, helping each other? protecting each other when they were sat on the floor telling the police they did not want to fight them and this was a peaceful protest only to get kicked and hit; protesters sharing their food and water with those who had none SURELY NOT. Protesters caring about each other, Crikey!!!
One man had an epileptic fit. What did the police do that saw it? Stand there.
What did the protesters do? formed a circle around him, making sure he was protected and his head was ok whilst trying to get an ambulance.
What were you doing on that day? Whilst we were PATHETICALLY trying to help the world that you are feeding off?
* It is often used as an alternative name for "carbon offsets", which allows a country to meet part of its emissions reductions target by paying for low-carbon projects elsewhere. There are several problems with carbon offsets, including "additionality" and double counting.
* Carbon trading also means trading of "permits" in rationing systems such as Personal Carbon Allowances or Kyoto2. This kind of trading is normally useful.
It is funny that you quote Ghandi as an example - it is pretty clear that at the time Ghandi and his followers were seen as 'self-righteous do gooders' with 'social rants and tantrums'. No doubt you would have been one those were termed their actions 'laughable.'