From the 7th to 18th of December 2009, the largest ‘climate summit’ ever to be held will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark. This summit has been billed as our ‘last, best hope’ to do something about climate change. But the UN talks will not solve the climate crisis. We are no closer to reducing greenhouse gas emissions than we were when negotiations began fifteen years ago: emissions continue to rise at ever faster rates, while carbon trading allows climate criminals to pollute and profit. It is time to say enough! No more business as usual, no more false solutions!
Reclaiming power from below
On the 16th of December, at the start of the high-level ‘ministerial’ phase of the two-week summit, we, the movements for global justice, will take over the conference for one day and transform it into a People’s Summit for Climate Justice. Using only the force of our bodies to achieve our goal, our Reclaim Power! march will push into the conference area and enter the building, disrupt the sessions and use the space to talk about our agenda, an agenda from below, an agenda of climate justice, of real solutions against their false ones. Our action is one of civil disobedience: we will overcome any physical barriers that stand in our way – but we will not respond with violence if the police try to escalate the situation.
Change the system, not the climate !
Our goal is not to shut down the entire summit. But this day will be ours, it will be the day we speak for ourselves and set the agenda: climate justice now! We cannot trust the market with our future, nor put our faith in unsafe, unproven and unsustainable technologies. We know that on a finite planet, it is impossible to have infinite growth – ‘green’ or otherwise. Instead of trying to fix a destructive system, we are advancing alternatives that provide real and just solutions to the climate crisis: leaving fossil fuels in the ground; reasserting peoples’ and community control over resources; relocalising food production; reducing overconsumption, particularly in the North; recognising the ecological and climate debt owed to the peoples of the South and making reparations; and respecting indigenous and forest peoples’ rights.
Global movements for climate justice
Ten years ago at the protests against the WTO in Seattle, a global movement emerged to proclaim that another world was possible. Today, this world is not just possible – it is necessary. In Copenhagen, we will come together from many different backgrounds and movements, experiences and struggles. We are indigenous peoples and farmers, workers and environmentalists, feminists and anticapitalists. Now, our diverse struggles for social and ecological justice are finding common ground in the struggle for climate justice, and in our desire to reclaim power over our own future.
Get involved – join our climate justice action !
- Join the Reclaim Power! action in Copenhagen – and spread the word! We want to generate a sense of excitement, we want our action will resonate around the world, and the way to do that is through countless individuals, groups and movements declaring their intention to take part in our actions.
- Organise events where you live. Get in touch if you want to invite someone to report on the Reclaim Power! action and the issues at the heart of our protest
Reclaim Power ! Pushing for Climate Justice is organised by Climate Justice Action. For more information, regular updates on our meetings and actions, and for news about the global struggles for climate justice, go to http://www.climate-justice-action.org/
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