Time to Act on Local weather Change – it was certainly time to behave on local weather change when over 20,000 of us marched via the streets on Saturday seventh March 2015, however although nearly all of the scientists and others who had studied their stories have been satisfied the 9 years since then have been largely wasted years.
Tina-Louise Rothery from ‘Frack Free Nanashire’ and others from Lancashire sitting down on the Strand
There have been some minor adjustments each within the UK and the world over, however nothing like sufficient to reverse the rising local weather chaos – and our present authorities appears decided to remain on the right track for extinction, giving approval to new fossil gasoline schemes.
Not that the present opposition, who might effectively develop into our authorities on the subsequent basic election appear any higher. As an alternative of taking a agency line to oppose these climate-wrecking schemes and promising to reverse the selections after they come to energy they’ve mentioned they are going to enable them to proceed. They’ve promised to not approve extra, however then they’ve already deserted a lot of the guarantees that they had made earlier, together with these associated to local weather change.
In 2021 Labour introduced a £28 billion annual inexperienced spending plan creating new jobs in battery manufacturing, hydrogen energy, offshore wind, tree planting, flood defences and residential insulation within the first time period after they got here to energy. They deserted this pledge in Feb 2024, reducing by half or extra its inexperienced funding plan.
Again in 2015 the local weather march and rally demanded actual motion directly with a complete divestment from fossil fuels, an finish to fracking and damaging bio-fuel tasks and for a 100% renewable power future which might create one million new jobs. The Labour coverage would have been a watered down model of this, coming ten years at the very least too late, however now hardly coming in any respect.
The organisers of the march via London had refused to pay for any policing of the occasion, saying it was not wanted and it proceeded peacefully largely of their absence. There have been massive teams of police defending some companies, significantly the Strand McDonalds, the place some marchers stopped to protest.
A big group of the marchers, together with a block from Frack Free Lancashire led by the Nanas, then sat down on the street and halted the march for round quarter-hour earlier than getting up and persevering with.
A black block of a number of hundred behind a banner ‘TIME TO ACT ON CAPITALISM’ made loads of noise taking place Whitehall, after which rushed off down King Charles Road somewhat than proceed to the rally. I went with them for just a few yards after which determined to return and be a part of the various hundreds on the principle march which ended with a rally on Faculty Inexperienced, near the Homes of Parliament.
Right here is the checklist I gave of the audio system within the account I wrote in 2015, and there are footage of most of them on My London Diary:
Among the many audio system have been John Sauven of Greenpeace UK, Kat Hobbs from CAAT, Bert Wander of Avaaz, Pete the Temp, Fatima-Zahara Ibrahim of the Youth Local weather Coalition, Pete Deane from Biofuelwatch, Man Shrubsole from Buddies of the Earth, FBU chief Matt Wrack, Rumana Hashem an evironmental activist from Bangladesh, Inexperienced Celebration MP Caroline Lucas, Tina-Louise Rothery who spoke toegther with a Frack Free Lancashire crowd, Dennis Fernando, UAF, Chris Baugh, PCS, John McDonnell, MP, and comic Francesca Martinez. A girl from Paris (whose title I missed) invited us all to go there to protest on the local weather talks there this December, and a 12 year-old learn a superb speech she had ready.
There was then a efficiency by a big choir, Voices United, and the occasion concluded with John Stewart of HACAN who got here on stage along with some polar bears from a protest earlier within the day at Heathrow who acquired extended applause.
On the finish of the rally we have been invited to participate in two different protests persevering with the day’s theme and I went with ‘Artwork Not Oil’ continuing with their Viking longship to protest on the steps of Tate Britain in opposition to the gallery accepting sponsorship to greenwash local weather wrecker BP. Partly I selected this somewhat than the deliberate direct actions round Parliament as I assumed it will get much less press protection, nevertheless it was additionally on my solution to Vauxhall station the place I may catch a prepare house.
This entry was posted on Thursday, March seventh, 2024 at 08:36 am and is filed below My Personal Work, Political Points. You may observe any responses to this entry via the RSS 2.0 feed.
