The Camp for Climate Action
Aims of the Camp for Climate Action
It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the problem of climate change. It's easy to feel that we can't make a difference. The Camp for Climate Action's aim is to overcome feelings of isolation and helplessness by bringing people together to create a community of resistance. They hope the camp inspires people to take action, share ideas and, beyond the camp, make a start in their own localities and spheres of interest. The camp will...
- Be a place to explore grassroots solutions to climate change through workshops, skill-sharing, education, debate and entertainment. The camp also brings together people already campaigning on this and related issues.
- Take direct action against the root causes of climate change. Yes we need to change light bulbs and stop flying to Spain for the weekend, but we also need to act collectively. This is the only way to stop the actions of those vested interests that watch the planet burn while counting the money they make from the fire.
- Demonstrate and live the alternatives by bringing diverse groups and individuals together to live in an ecologically sustainable, cooperative way. The camp aims to be as carbon neutral as possible and all energy, except perhaps gas for cooking, comes from renewable sources.
- Be a space for celebration, for kids and families, a place to socialise with friends old and new. Western civilisation has tried to answer the eternal question of what it is to be human by surrounding itself in a cocoon of objects, an endless stream of meaningless stuff. This is a chance to show the opposite, that less can be so much more.
The Camp for Climate Action's view on the symptoms, science and
solutions to climate change
The environmental problem
Emissions of carbon dioxide, mostly from oil, gas and coal are rapidly raising the temperature and changing the weather. This is happening faster than at virtually any time in the Earth's history. Most scientists, and even governments, agree that if we keep to business-as-usual then people, society in general and the ecosystems we all rely on for food and water will not be able to adapt to such rapid changes.
The scale of the problem is mind-boggling: the new report from the United Nations Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change says that if we continue with rapidly increasing fossil-fuel use, global average temperatures may rise by 6 degrees Celsius. The last time this happened was 251 million years ago and some 99% of all living individuals died. We must rapidly and radically reduce oil, gas and coal use.
The social problem
Almost everything we do produces carbon dioxide emissions: work, travel, housing. To cut emissions, as many scientists suggest, by 90%, means serious changes need to happen. Who is going to solve climate change? The usual answer is either governments and changes in regulations, or individuals affecting companies by changing the products and services we buy. This is not going to work for one simple reason: the world is geared towards the extraction of profit, and increasing economic growth, and not lives of dignity for all. Just ask any of the 800 million people who will go hungry today. Profits come first. With this reality in mind, its easy to understand why only the rhetoric changes. And emissions keep rising.
We, so-called ordinary people, will have to solve the world's problems, largely in spite of the actions of governments and corporations. This social problem - the logic of economic growth superceding all else - is not new. The solution - that widespread grassroots social movements are key agents of change - is also not new. There is just a new urgency. We believe that climate change is effectively a referendum on what kind of world we want. A lot is going to change, whether we like it or not. So we'd better be involved in the creation of something much better than the world as it is now. To do this we must search for solutions that both reduce emissions and make our lives better.
Solutions?
Too big a problem? Too small a person? Join with others! The Camp for Climate Action is uniting people into a community taking collective action on climate change. The emphasis is to reduce emissions and have a 'better life' in many different ways. At the 2006 camp, over 600 people converged outside Drax power station for ten days of living, learning and making decisions together, all powered by renewable energy. The camp culminated in a day of mass action against Drax, which shook up the UK's biggest carbon dioxide emitter, and got the attention of the world's media.
The camp, "a blend of Glastonbury and open-air science seminar" as The Independent put it, was an incredibly inspiring event that catalysed a new wave of radical action on climate change across the UK.
In 2007 the number attending the camp (located near Heathrow airport) more than doubled.
How the Camp's organised
The camp is organised through monthly weekend-long gatherings, held in different parts of the country. There are lots of other ways to get involved and plenty of work happens between gatherings, but if you are able to come to some it is a great way to be involved in decision making, get a real feel for how the camp is organised and meet people and working groups.
We work through collective responsibility where everyone gets an equal say and use consensus decision making - if you are not used to this type of thing don't worry, it will be explained and is hopefully both inspiring and easy to get involved in.
Don't worry if you've never been to a gathering before, we have a good welcome process and there will be someone to explain how it all works and answer quetions. At each gathering there are plenty of people who haven't been before. Equally don't worry if you can only come to one gathering or cannot commit much time generally - every little bit of work and involvement is invaluable. The gatherings also have lots of great, cheap vegan food, sleeping space and socialising.
Our camp photo collection...
For more info and details about this year's Camp visit the Climate Camp website, or contact them here.
Campaigns in which we have a particular interest, or are involved with...
Disarm DSEi
FitWatch
I Count Communities
smashEDO
Stop NIRAH
The Lazy Revolution
