This week Climate Camp protesters will 'swoop' on London in moves against environmentally unfriendly business and policies. The activists have courted controversy recently after protesters damaged an open-cast coal mine during a Climate Camp in Scotland. Protesters will meet in an as yet unnamed location on Wednesday before setting up a Climate Camp in the capital.
Spokesperson for Climate Camp, Anna Markova, will be taking part in the protests in London this week.
1) What do you hope to achieve with Climate Camps?
Climate Camps have four basic aims: movement building, sustainable living, education, and direct action. At this time, we need to build a strong social movement of people who know the challenges of climate change, and have an understanding of the possible solutions, as well as what our governments and corporations are – and are NOT – doing about it. We are spreading the word, as well as setting an example of how people can live sustainably and, of course, challenging the biggest ‘carbon criminals’ using direct action. Those have included the Drax and Kingsnorth coal power stations, Heathrow airport, open-cast coal mines in Wales, and now, the city of London as an epicentre of an economic and political system that is driving us into climate disaster.
2) As somebody heavily involved in Climate Camps, have you seen the campaigns make a difference to companies' and governments' climate policies?
The Government and companies are certainly feeling the pressure. If you look at the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan, for instance, it devotes very few paragraphs to ‘clean coal’ (a false solution we targeted at Kingsnorth) in comparison to wind farms – but of course these are only words! London is plastered with ads for oil companies in desperate attempts to look 'green’. But we need actions, not words. That’s why we need to make this year’s camp the biggest one ever.
3) Do you feel the recent Low Carbon Transition Plan announced by the Government is enough to tackle the climate change problem?
Certainly not! If you look at the figures in it, the Government is planning on fulfilling half, if not more, of its emissions reduction target for 2020 through carbon trading. A few weeks ago the National Audit Office published a report confirming what Climate Campers highlighted in our April camp – that carbon trading, particularly the current European trading scheme, has not actually reduced any emissions so far and is unlikely to do so in the future if the current framework is to be used. Besides, there is almost no mention of flying – one of our worst carbon-emitting habits of all. We need to expose such gaps and false solutions, and call for real decreases in carbon emissions!
4) Recent Climate Camps in Scotland saw damage being done to an open-cast coal mine. The Climate Camps speak of ‘targeting’ polluters. Do you condone criminal activity to get the message across? Are you worried action such as this may turn people against your cause?
We believe that climate change is an urgent enough issue that we need to do everything we possibly can to expose the problem. Let’s be clear - if our laws reflected this urgency, then what companies like E.ON or BAA are doing would be criminal.
5) This week there will be a ‘swoop’ in London. What would be the best outcome for Climate Camp?
The swoop will see us gather in several as yet undisclosed locations around London, and head down to the camp’s location once it is announced. We have done this already in April, and taking part in making the camp literally pop out of the ground was an incredibly empowering experience. On Wednesday 26th, we’ll travel through London, picking people up along the way, and establish our camp together.
6) What do you see as the biggest climate change challenge facing the UK in future and what can be done to overcome this?
The challenge that this camp is going to highlight is that the way our political and economic life is set up at the moment is not compatible with sustainability. You cannot have infinite growth on a finite planet, and solutions based on trade only further the drastic inequalities of this world. This is especially important in the run up to the big climate conference in Copenhagen in December – if we are to be serious about climate change, we cannot let governments and corporations write false solutions into international agreements.
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