UK Indymedia

Direct action cuts CO2 emissions

08-12-2008 15:26

Hot on the heels of an action which switched off 500 megawatts of generating capacity at Kingsnorth power station in Kent , all flights from Stansted airport were stopped for four hours on Monday morning. Chaos and delays at the airport continued all day due to the action which saw 57 protesters arrested and dozens of flights cancelled or diverted. The action by Plane Stupid was a response to the government approving the expansion of capacity at the airport by ten million passengers a year.

Plane Stupid claim that aviation is Britain's fastest growing source of emissions, amounting to at least 13% of the UK's climate impact. With plans for new runways across the UK, including at Heathrow and Stansted, experts from the Tyndall Centre for climate research say Labour's aviation policy alone will scupper any chance the UK has of hitting its climate targets.

The protest began at 3.15am Monday morning whilst the runway was temporarily closed for maintenance work. Reopening of the runway, scheduled for 5am, was delayed while police removed the locked on protesters, causing 52 flights to be cancelled which the groups says directly prevented the release of thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gases.

Links: Why we did it, Video, Plane Stupid Website

Previous Plain Stupid coverage: House of Commons | Downing Street glue action | Scotlish Parliament | infiltration attempt foiled | March of the penguins | An interview | travel agents | Heathrow consultation report | Manchester Airport Blockade | Heathrow Residents | Easyjet HQ | Day of Action

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The COP15 Climate Summit 2009 - Global Climate Action Comming Up ...

05-12-2008 21:12

The UN Climate Conference of Parties number 15 is set to take place in Copenhagen on the 30th of November 2009, and it will be the biggest climate summit ever to have taken place. More than 12.000 delegates business leaders, politicians, diplomats and lobbyists are going to be discussing an international treaty to replace the failed Kyoto Protocol. Set to end in 2012 this treaty was supposed to reduce anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions by 6%. However according to UN itself the global carbon emmisions have so far risen by 4% instead. There is no indication that the COP15 summit will come up with anything real to fight climate change.

However tens of thousands activists and protesters will be making their way to Copenhagen for this major event. In September 2008 people from more than 23 countries met in Copenhagen and agreed on a Call to Action, calling for people to start mobilizing and to carry out actions locally as well as coming to Copenhagen for mass actions. Planning for this event has already begun.

Another international planning meeting will take place in March 2009 where the concepts and strategy for action will be discussed. A Climate Camp will take place on the 11-19th of July. Additionally a mass action will attempt to shut down a Danish power plant in the months before the Summit takes place. The world leaders may converge upon Copenhagen but they won't leave without having heard the demands of the people who will be hurt by climate change

Mobilization website and how to get involved: Climateaction09.org
Related Indymedia sites: Copenhagen News Service | Climate Indymedia
Related story: Action at the planned COP15 conference center

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The E-On 'Face-Off' begins... Kingsnorth Shut Down

05-12-2008 19:30

An unidentified group allegedly penetrated Kingsnorth security and switched off almost 500 megawatts of generating capacity, cutting almost 2% off the nations power supply for about four hours! [1,2, 3] The incident took place on Friday 28th November during the 48 hours of action against new coal called for by the Camp for Climate Action. With the aim of sending a strong message that attempts to build any new coal fired power stations will face a barrage of direct action - both towards their daily operations and their supply chain - actions took place in Brighton, Bristol, Warwick, London, Nottingham, Norwich, Bristol, and Plymouth. E-On in particular were rattled, local and national media coverage was generated, resources for the new 'Face Off' campaign were gathered, a new website launched, and lists of possible targets compiled.

With the 48 hours over E-on no doubt thought the heat was off, however Monday morning saw their corporate headquarters in Coventry struck for the third time in as many weeks with over twenty protesters dressed in santa suits invading their officers and blockading the entrance for four hours. [photos, spoof account, report, song 1, song 2, interview, BBC TV News, BBC World At One ]

Further summaries of the actions can be found on the climate camp website and on EarthFirst! Action Reports. Don't forget the new E-on F-off website.

Previous success against E-on : protests force recruitment efforts to be dropped

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A Good Week Stopping Open-Cast Coal Mining in Derbyshire

20-11-2008 20:43

The long-running campaign against Lodge House open-cast coal mine, near Shipley in Derbyshire hit a peak the other week, with 3 independent actions in the same week.

Local action groups, dispirited after central government overruled the local planning refusal of permission, have started getting active again. This follows Earth First!'s Leave it in the Ground campaign earlier in the summer - a mass trespass followed by two noise demos outside UK Coal's Yorkshire HQ, plus the squatting of the farm house. Bodge House was finally evicted - during the Camp for Climate Action - though it took the forces of darkness 9 days.

More recently there was another Picnic in the Park trespass, a handful of EF!ers stopped work one afternoon, and locals held a demo at the entrance to the site.

Leave it in the Ground EF! campaign | Derby EF! campaign blog | Local action group | Coal Action Network

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E.ON withdraws from careers fairs due to persistent protests

12-11-2008 18:54

E.ON has withdrawn from University Careers Fairs run by AIESEC following a string of protests around the country. E.ON did not show up at Birmingham today (12th Nov). The protesters object to E.ON wanting to develop new coal fired power stations, such as at Kingsnorth - the target of this summers Climate Camp. However E.ON cannot avoid the protests by avoiding careers fairs - expect more fun during 48 hours of action against E.ON and new coal on the 28/29 November.

Students have visited careers fairs to protest about the presence of parts of the arms and fossil fuel industries. Climate chaos related companies targeted include RBS (the oil and gas bank), BP and Shell. The arms industry representatives include the Army, B.Ae, Qinetiq and Rolls Royce. Careers fairs have been targeted in Aston, Birmingham ( 2 ), Bristol, Cambridge ( 2 | 3 ), Durham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Imperial College London, Kings College London, Leeds, Liverpool, Loughborough, Manchester ( 2 | 3 ), Nottingham ( 2 | 3 ), Oxford ( 2 ), Sheffield, Southampton, Warwick and York. More reports are available from People and Planet.

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Protests continue at Shipley open cast site

03-11-2008 17:19

Protesters from Earth First! have invaded the Derbyshire site of the open cast mine twice in the last fortnight. On Monday a number of people climbed onto diggers and machinery, stopping work for over two hours. This was preceded by a highly policed picnic that took place on the site last weekend. On Saturday, local environmental group Erewash and Amber Valley Environment Network (EAVON) held a demonstration of 40 people at the site entrance.

These protests are the latest in a campaign that saw Shipley Lodge, a house on the site, squatted during the summer. The squatters used tunnels and tree houses and it took bailiffs and police an entire week to evict them, at the cost of £58,000 to Derbyshire police. The first court case arising from the eviction collapsed last Monday due to lack of evidence.

Newswire: Local residents protest at Lodge Farm open cast site | Shipley Bodge court case collapses | Protestors stop work at Shipley open-cast | Picnic in the Park - Photos Shipley Open Cast Site, Derbyshire | Picnic In The Park - The Sequel | Notts Indymedia Climate Chaos topic page

Previous Feature: Derbyshire Opencast Mine Squatters: Eviction Imminent | Coal On Hold - Derbyshire Coal Mine Site Occupied | Campaigners Trespass on Proposed Coal Mine Site

Links: Derby Earth First! | Leave it in the Ground | Lodge House blog

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Grim reapers target careers fair

24-10-2008 07:31

Students at the University of Nottingham protested "unethical career corporatism" at the university's careers fair on Monday and Tuesday. Dressed as grim reapers, students payed a visit to arms dealers BAE Systems, Rolls Royce and Qinetiq, as well as energy giants E.On and BP. Leaflets detailing the crimes of some of the companies were hounded out and the protesters even had a stall next to the Army's stall.

The protesters aimed to highlight the hypocrisy of organisers, AIESEC, who claim to embody "Peace and fulfillment of humankind's potential" whilst giving a platform to arms dealers, as well as to "oppose the general presence of mechanisms of the capitalist death machine." Their success was highlighted by the noteable absence of several targetted companies on the second day of the fair.

Newswire: Students Target Unethical Career Corporatism | Shell Shuts Up | Students Call For An End To University Involvement In The Arms Industry | Notts Indymedia Anti-militarism topic page

Previous Feature: Protests as arms dealers attend careersfair

Links: Nottingham Student Peace Movement | AIESEC UK

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Activists Disrupt Biofuels Conference

19-10-2008 10:46

Climate activists marked World Food Day by brining the European Biofuels Expo and Conference taking place at Newark Showground to a standstill. Several campaigners successfully scaled the roof of the building at the Newark Showground, dropping large banners inside the conference hall whilst others set off multiple rape alarms inside the centre in protest at what they see as the rape of the planet that Agrofuels are causing.

Their action against the Expo, dubbed by campaigners as the ‘Newark Exposé’, was staged to protest against the ‘greenwash’ that Biofuels can be sustainable and are good for the environment. John Simmons, from the roof of the Newark building, said "It is unacceptable that the Biofuels industry, which is responsible for large-scale rainforest destruction, evictions of communities, hunger and accelerated climate change hold conferences where they portray themselves as ‘green’."

Newswire: Activists Bring Biofuels Conference to Stand Still on World Food Day | World Food Day | European Biofuels Expo and Conference | Notts Indymedia Climate Chaos topic page

Previous Feature: Biofuels Conference Disrupted At Concerns Over Multi-National 'Greenwash'

Links: Biofuelwatch

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Climate Camp - Quick Links

10-08-2008 11:00

Latest news: SMS text alerts | IMC UK Climate Camp 2008 topic | up-to-date timeline

Coverage: Climate Camp Radio | VisionOnTV daily news shows | Envirospeak uploads and ongoing discussion.

Links: Camp for Climate Action website | Network for Climate Action | Days of Climate Action

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Climate Camp: Kingsnorth Power Station Breached

09-08-2008 11:43

Saturday August 9 is the Climate Camp Day of Mass Action, when "the climate camp will go beyond talk and culminate in a spectacular mass action to shut down Kingsnorth. Permanently!"

Campaigners intended to try and shut down the power station by land sea and air - with some success - with four main colour-coded "blocks." The Blue Block (or Great Rebel Raft Regatta) attempted to approach Kingsnorth power station by water along the River Medway. Not wanting to be outdone, the Silver Block had planned to approach from above. The Green Block meanwhile focused on making its way through the undergrowth, with the Orange Block completing the set with a children-friendly march to the main gates.