Action against climate change

Alan Thornett, co-convenor of Left Unity’s environment policy commission, writes on the coming year of climate activism.

2014 is set to be the hottest year in Britain since records began. Last winter was the wettest since records began and the result was widespread flooding with severe disruption to both housing and the economic and transport infrastructure.

The coalition not only failed to provide protection against this flooding but had been cutting back on environmental resources which further increased the effects of the floods. Far from tackling climate change, they are planning the introduction of a new generation of fossil fuel energy in the form of shale gas obtained from fracking and a new generation of nuclear power stations—when disasters like that at Fukishima remain entirely unresolved.

Faced with this, campaigning activity against climate change and extreme energy extraction in Britain is stepping up – as it is worldwide – and Left Unity is committed to getting fully involved.

The People’s Climate March on September 21st attracted 40,000 people in London with protests in other parts of Britain including Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and Edinburgh. Over 400,000 demonstrated in New York and many thousands more in cities around the world.

Now further mass action is being organised in 2015, which is going to be an important year for climate change activity.

The Campaign against Climate Change has launched a Time to Act Campaign that will culminate with a demonstration on March 7th next year in London. Local organising groups are being set up for this and it is important that LU branches and members get fully involved.

The March 7th demo will lead on to the mobilisations around the UN COP21 (climate change) conference in Paris at the end of the 2015 where the issue of a a global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions will again be on the table. Failure to reach such an agreement (as is unfortunately predicted) will have catastrophic implications, setting the world on course for 4 degrees centigrade of warming.

The Paris conference follows the disastrous Copenhagen COP in 2009 which was torpedoed on the last day when the leaders of the United States, China, South Africa, Brazil and India came up with an agreement that was far worse than the one already in place.

Paris will see an international mobilisation and demonstration that hopes to exceed the 80,000 in Copenhagen. The plan is for a massive demonstration, various forms of direct action and a counter-summit to shape a political response. The message has to be that Paris does not accept failure. The world does not accept failure and that the fight continues. It will need to be made clear that the people simply cannot and will not allow an agreement that would spell climate catastrophe for humankind.

At its conference in November Left Unity adopted a comprehensive policy document on ecology and climate change along with a set of campaigning priorities designed to turn the policy into action. To this end the conference adopted the following action points:

1) To affiliate to the Campaign Against Climate Change (CACC) and its Trade Union Group.
2) Support the campaign called by the CACC around the slogan A Time To Act On Climate Change and the demonstration in London on March 7 that will be the climax of the campaign.
3) To support the call for local organising committees around the country to mobilise for the demonstration and be represented on them where we are able.
4) Support the international mobilisation and counter summit at the UN COP21 climate summit in Paris at the end of 2015.

Branches can try and find out what is happening in their areas. Support the local mobilising committee if it exists and if not explore the possibility of getting an initiative started. Start to raise the issue of the March 7th demonstration in the local trade union movement and with others campaigning on the environment.

Information on the Time To Act Campaign can be found on the CACC website.