The Camp for Climate Action 2009 - reclaim your future!

In the summer of 2006, shortly after my return to the UK after my first big trip away, I went on a little road-trip with my friends Sam and Yerma to the South West to visit Stone Henge and the lovely town of Glastonbury. Whilst in Glastonbury I noticed a poster advertising a camp that would take place later on that summer, near to the UK's single largest point-source of CO2 emissions: Drax power station near Selby. The camp would be a space where people could get together and talk and learn about climate change, and take peaceful action to challenge it's root causes, so the poster said.

2 months later, along with 600 others, I was pitching my tent in the shadow of the beast that is Drax, in a field in Yorkshire. Throughout the week I attended a wonderfully varied collection of workshops about all aspects of climate change, from how the national energy grid works, to the effect our diet has on global emissions, to the rise of biofuels and their role in deforestation and the media's protrayal of climate change. I also got involved with some practical skill shares; so many people with an amazing variety of practical skills left me feeling a little inadequate - in my mid 20's and my highest technical achievement to date was probably wiring up a lightbulb. How would I really fare if the world as we know began to disintegrate around us?




You could learn how to build a micro turbine or an efficient 'rocket' stove from a reused vegetable oil can, how to power a sound system from a 12 volt battery, or even how to build a compost toilet!! I was blown away. I needed to gain skills!






And, if all the debates and science became a little too much, there was always the evening entertainment, where one could learn how to salsa, engage in a bit of Thai Chi, or even get involved in some speed-dating! There was live music and a cinema space, which gave the whole camp a distinctly festival-type vibe. And to keep in contact with the outside world, there was a whole 'internet' tent run by Indymedia. All of the energy used was generated from the many micro turbines and solar panels that had popped up throughout the week, and the majority of construction materials had been collected from skips and waste bound for the landfill during the months in the run up to the camp. I found it amazing. A group of normal people, without leaders or hierrachy, had built a sustainable 'village', with all the facilities needed for over 1000 people, in the space of days, even with the police's attempts to prevent them.



As climate camp is a non-hierarchical organisation, all of the desicions are made by consensus. Sometimes the daily meetings would drag on as we tried to find a solution with which everyone was happy, but in the end, this point was always reached - it really worked, and everyone was happy with the desicions. I'd never experienced anything like this before and found it a fascinating experiment in real democracy.

I met many fascinating people throughout the week, of all ages and from all walks of life, and I made some good friends. Many of them were organising themselves into small 'affinity' groups and planning non-violent direct action (NVDA) for the highly publicised 'Day of Mass Action' which was to be held on the final day of the camp, when those who fancied it could have a bash at causing mass disruption to the operation of the power plant, to send a powerful message to the government that we need a low-carbon future and the sooner we make coal-power history the the closer we get to preventing a global meltdown. People were learning how to use bike locks to attach themselves to equipment and how to form human-blockades, all under the close scrutiny of the 1000 or so police that had been drafted in from forces all around the country and positioned around the camp. This was all new to me. Although I'd become aware of activist movements over the years, and seen various videos of protests and actions, this was the first time I'd been in a position where I was surrounded by people who had decided to take the bold step, in the age old tradition of 'civil disobedience', of breaking the law in order to push for social change. And, it was the first time that I'd experienced the police's response to this type of 'unacceptable behavior'.

After careful consideration I'd decided that I was not yet ready for direct action, but there was plenty of other important stuff to be getting on with in the running of the camp. Nobody made me feel like I was 'copping out' of the action, there's no pressure to climb a fence and lock onto a conveyor belt; peaceful direct action is only one of the 4 stated aims of the camp, the others being education, movement building and demonstartion of sustainable living.


The camp left an indelible impression on me. I'd learnt so much, met so many amazing people and become inspired to learn and act more. The next camp, at Heathrow in 2007 was bigger, better and it's level of organisation even more impressive. By the next camp, which took place at Heathrow airport in 2007, I felt that I was ready for the peaceful direct action bit too, after probing deep into the history of social movements that used non-violent direct action to make the world a better place. The civil rights movements of Ghandi and Martin Luther King, the Sufferagets, the anti-road movement of the 90's (which forced a huge cut in the Conservative's road expansion plans). In all of these examples the movements were attacked and demonised by the media and government of the day and anyone else who felt threatened by people who actually have the courage and conviction to risk their liberty and break the law in order to make social change. These same people are now looked back on as heroes and heroins who took personal risks and achieved positive change.


There's no doubt that the Heathrow camp was the most exciting, inspiring, amazing thing I've ever experienced! The only thing more exciting, inspiring and amazing was the 2008 camp at Kingsnorth power station in Kent!


I can't big up the climate camp enough, and am currently feeling rather upset about not being able to make this year's camp, which will take place between Aug 27th - 2nd Sep, near London. Excitingly, there will also be Welsh and Scottish camps this year, not to mention new camps in Holland and France. Despite not being in the UK for this year's camps (though I really have been tempted to get back to the UK in time) I've been rounding up people out here and have already inspired a handfull of people to attend this year's UK, Australian and German camps!


So, the purpose of this post is really to encourage all those who read it to get involved. I challenge anyone to go to the camp(s) this summer and not returned buzzing with inspiration and energy! Last year I managed to persuade about 6 new people to go - and it changed their lives; each of them will be going again this year! Here are 5 reasons why YOU should go to your local Camp for Climate Action this year:


1/. It's the most exciting thing you'll ever experience!


2/. You can learn how to make vegan cakes, group desicions and a wind turbine, watch a film in a solar cinema and take part in a céilidh dance with 200 people all in one day!

3/. You can meet an amazing bunch of people and make new friends.

4/. It's a free camping holiday with elements of a festival and science seminar all in one. And this year's weather will make for good camping.

5/. You can become a part of a vital movement that is trying to stop the world from frying. We are the last generation who will have the chance to prevent catastrophic global climate change that will render the planet unsuitable for life as we know it. We can't wait for governments and 'other people' to sort out this problem - we must be the drive of change now! It's now or never for the future of humanity and our amazing planet - get onboard!


Here's the website: http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/

Here are some great short films from last year's camp (filmed and edited onsite during the camp at Vision on's solar powered studio)
http://www.undercurrents.org/climatecamp/index.htm

Here's some articles about previous camps that will get you in the mood:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/inside-heathrows-protest-camp-a-battle-to-save-the-world-462080.html


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/aug/21/comment.transport