[energiadecreixent] Metamorphosis: A statement from the Camp for Climate Action (Fw: [climate09-int] )

[Fun Peace]

infos de inglaterra sobre activismo climatico...


The near-collapse of the financial system; droughts in the Amazon,  floods in 
Pakistan; a new government in the UK; a violent programme of  unprecedented 
cuts; food prices rising and real incomes eroding;  revolutions across the 
Middle East… This is all very different from 2005  when the Camp for Climate 
Action first met to spark radical action on  the greatest threat to humanity, 
climate change.
In 2011  the climate science is as strong as ever – and the need for action on  
climate change never greater – but the political landscape is radically  
different. As a movement, to be relevant, we need to move with the  times. 
Therefore the Camp for Climate Action has decided, after much  discussion and 
reflection, to change. To that effect, 


1. We will not organise a national Climate Camp in 2011.
2. We will not organise national gatherings as ‘Climate Camp’ or the Camp for 
Climate Action in 2011.
This  closure is intended to allow new tactics, organising methods and  
processes to emerge in this time of whirlwind change.  With the skills,  
networks and trust we have built we will launch new radical experiments  to 
tackle the intertwined ecological, social and economic crises we  face. To that 
effect,
3. We have created interim working groups to manage the transition.
4. There will be a major meeting in the near future. 
An explanation
In  2006, 600 people camped in the shadow of Drax power station in West  
Yorkshire, the UK’s biggest, single source of carbon dioxide, for ten  days of 
learning and sustainable living, culminating in a day of mass  action against 
the power station. Our aim was to kick-start a social  movement to tackle 
climate change. This experiment – its organisation  and the form – fitted that 
moment and proved a success. Instead of a  one-off camp we then went on to 
target planned infrastructure projects  that showed the suicidal nature of 
‘economic development’. In 2007, we  made the daring and difficult decision to 
join the campaign against the  expansion of Heathrow Airport culminating in 
2,000 people camped on the  site of a proposed third runway. In 2008, we opposed 
the building of a  new coal-fired power-station at Kinsgnorth, Kent, the first 
in the UK  for 20 years. Despite police infiltration, repression and violence, 
plus  regular media attacks, these camps, in alliance with diverse campaigns,  
won. Neither looks set to be built.
As the financial  crisis unfolded we moved to directly targeting the root cause 
of airport  expansion and coal-fired power stations: our economic system. We had 
a  hectic 2009.  When London hosted the G20 in April, the European Climate  
Exchange (home of EU carbon trading) had to close its doors after 4,000  people 
set up camp on Bishopsgate, in London’s financial centre.  Later  that year we 
organised a camp at Blackheath overlooking the City of  London, attended by over 
5,000 people. There was no mass action at the  camp – we separated it to be more 
effective – so in October 1,000 people  swooped to shut down Ratcliffe-on-Soar 
power station, in  Nottinghamshire, a major carbon emitter owned by E.ON the 
energy giant  behind the Kingsnorth plans.  In December, many travelled on 
Climate  Camp coaches to Copenhagen as part of our affiliation to the  
international direct action network Climate Justice Action, against the  skewed 
UN negotiations known as COP 15. Despite much success, weaknesses  in our 
organisational structures and processes were exposed within our  networks.
There had been a dramatic surge in  climate-related action, understanding of the 
root causes of the crisis,  and developing truly sustainable and socially just 
solutions. But many  worried that using the same tactic – mass squatted action 
camps in  antagonistic locations – would become ineffectual. Yet, these camps 
were  an inspirational experience for large numbers of people. So, again we  
camped, taking aim at RBS, the now publicly owned ‘Oil and Gas Bank’.  For the 
first time we actually squatted the land of our target – RBS  global 
headquarters near Edinburgh – a massive success. But the  decision, target and 
form of action were being hotly debated within the  movement.
As a result, we continued a process of deep  reflection and in November 2011, at 
our national gathering in  Manchester, it was decided that we needed additional 
time to think and  strategise together about the future of Climate Camp. We 
therefore held a  week-long ‘retreat’ type event at Monkton Wyld in Dorset to 
figure out  what to do. Fittingly, the Manchester gathering named the event 
‘Space  for Change’.
Over six days, about 70 people shared their  experiences and critical 
reflection. We should not pretend that these  discussions were easy. We talked 
about the limitations of an  organisational model built to plan one camp a year, 
when we now have  both the will and capacity to do much more. We debated the 
constraints  of this model, which was devised when we were much smaller in 
numbers.  We discussed how other movements and groups have responded to changing  
circumstances in the past to learn from those experiences. Here is not  the 
place to repeat the discussions: extensive minutes will follow on  our website. 
But the premise is worth repeating: how do we best harness  the energy, dynamism 
and commitment to fight the root causes of climate  change at local, national 
and international levels? How do we best grow a  climate justice social movement 
that is relevant, vibrant and  successful over the next few years? What 
organisational structures,  consistent with our desire to tackle hierarchy, will 
take us to a new  level of participation and action?
The decision not to  organise a camp, nor organise as Climate Camp or the Camp 
for Climate  Action, will be a shock to some, and may provoke a lot of 
questions. We  hope these decisions will give space and time for those questions 
to  evolve into new forms of effective and inspiring action and  organisation. 
This is no retreat from organised large-scale action on  climate change, rather 
a freeing of our energy to organise much more  effectively all year round. For 
local groups using the Climate Camp  name, these decisions are not intended to 
direct them, as they have  always been autonomous.
Internationally, it has been  amazingly inspiring to see that climate camps have 
happened from Ghana  to the US, France to Australia. Wherever people are, we 
urge them to use  the organisational tools and tactics that have been 
popularised or  developed by Climate Camp if they are useful and relevant: these 
were  never ours to own.
What next? 
To  make sure that we don’t lose what we have learnt over the years, nor  the 
capacity, relationships, networks and skills, we have created four  interim 
working groups to help us in this transition:
1. A group to maximise the usefulness of our material resources.
2. A group to address ongoing communications plus learn from and document our 
experiences over the past few years.
3. A group to investigate new organisational forms, structures and tactics for 
possible next experiments.
4. A group to organise a meeting to share ideas about these next experiments.
The  next newsletter will let everyone know how to get involved in these,  with 
all information also posted on our website. Details of the meeting  will also be 
made available shortly. Separately, the Climate Camp legal  team will continue 
ongoing legal actions against the police.
Nothing  lasts forever. Movements have to move. That doesn’t mean there won’t be  
grieving: many of us have given heart and soul to Climate Camp. But we  can’t 
demand that society changes radically, while we ourselves do not.  As everyone 
who has tried something daringly new knows, it can be scary  and there are no 
guarantees of success. But that didn’t stop us before  the first Climate Camp, 
nor did it stop the students at Millbank, nor  the people of the Middle East. 
And it shouldn’t stop us now.
Yes,  Climate Camp leaves a space. What fills that space is up to us. This is  a 
unique opportunity to work together with others to create a more  co-ordinated, 
dynamic and stronger movement against  climate change and its root causes. Now 
is a chance to team up with the  anti-cuts and anti-austerity movements and play 
a crucial role in the  revolutionary times ahead. Anything but co-ordinated 
action is doomed to  fail.
See you on the streets.
The Camp for Climate Action. Monkton Wyld, Dorset. 27 February 2011.
“When storms come, some build walls, some are thrown by the wind, others build 
windmills.” Lao Tzu


      
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