On 28 November, negotiators from across the world gather in Durban for the international climate talks, hoping to tackle the planetary emergency. Already extreme weather events are taking away people’s lives and livelihoods in Pakistan through floods, East Africa through droughts and small Pacific islands through rising ocean acidification depleting fish stocks.
The solutions being pushed by powerful governments in the run up to Durban are not fit for purpose. Instead, they’re mirroring the response we’re hearing throughout the global economy: we have to cut public spending and turn to unaccountable private sector players to deliver – or at least where a profit can be made. Corporate lobbying ensures false solutions like carbon markets, off-setting and ‘do what you can’ emissions cuts keep the interests of the 1% happy while the rest of us face a future of catastrophic climate change.
As the potential for agreement unravels before us, people are rising up in protest around the world against an agenda that fails the 99%. Movements from across the world are marching through Durban next weekend to demand real climate justice solutions. Occupy movements across the world will be staging solidarity actions and many cities will be holding their own protests in a global day of action.
Demand Climate Justice Global Day of Action: late night vigil, Occupy London teach-out, Stand Up for Climate Justice March/Rally
In the UK, Occupy London, 6 Billion Ways and other allies will be holding a series of climate justice teach-outs on the Saturday morning around the Occupy St Paul’s site (check the Tent City University website for updates), facilitating workshops on the key climate justice issues. A placard and banner making space will also be available, in preparation for the Campaign Against Climate Change march which sets off from Blackfriars bridge at 1pm. Equipped with newly-created placards, an Occupy London/6 Billion Ways bloc will take a climate ‘tour of shame’ past some of the world’s worst climate change villains, before joining the march to Parliament for the Climate Justice Rally. Campaign Against Climate Change will also be holding a climate refugee vigil the night before, between 12 midnight and 1am on the Thames foreshore.
