Camp for Climate Action - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Camps for Climate Action are campaign

Political campaign

A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...

gatherings (similar to peace camp

Peace camp

Peace camps are a form of physical protest camp that is focused on anti-war activity. They are set up outside military bases by members of the peace movement who oppose either the existence of the military bases themselves, the armaments held there, or the politics of those who control the bases...

s) that take place to draw attention to, and act as a base for direct action

Direct action

Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...

against, major carbon emitters, as well as to develop ways to create a zero-carbon society. Camps are run on broadly anarchist principles - free to attend, supported by donations and with input from everyone in the community for the day-to-day operation of the camp. Initiated in the UK, camps have taken place in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

at Drax power station, Heathrow Airport, Kingsnorth power station

Kingsnorth power station

Kingsnorth is a dual-fired coal and oil power station on the Hoo Peninsula at Medway in Kent, South East England. The four-unit station is owned and operated by energy firm E.ON UK, and has a generating capacity of 1,940 megawatts. It is capable of operating on either coal or oil though in practice...

in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

and in the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

. During 2009 camps have also taken place in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

/Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

General

Camps are organised through the preceding year with a series of monthly meetings, previously held in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, Nottingham

Nottingham

Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

, Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, and Talamnh (near Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

). Anyone is welcome to attend a planning meeting and to join one of the working groups. There were no 'leaders' and meetings used consensus decision making. Camps are run entirely by volunteers and are funded by private donations.

Much of the material used to created structures for the camp is reclaimed waste from building sites which would otherwise have been sent to a landfill

Landfill

A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...

. Compost toilets, comprehensive recycling

Recycling

Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...

, grey water systems and a pedal-powered laundries. The site of the camp is divided into loosely bounded 'neighbourhoods', most corresponding to geographic region (one exception being the queer neighbourhood of the 2006 camp). Daily consensus-based meetings are held in each neighbourhood, with spokes-people sent to a central meeting. It is considered to be in the nature of the camp that organisational structures are loose and reflexive, so as to be open to change if they are not seen to be effective or efficient.

During the camp there's a lot of training on practical skills (including consensus decision-making) to be able to run such camps, different aspects of taking direct action, as well as a large number of workshops on themes of sustainability

Sustainability

Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...

and climate-related issues.

Power for lighting, radios, mobile phones, sound equipment and laptop computers was supplied by solar panels

Solar power

Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...

and a wind turbine

Wind power

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....

. Biodiesel

Biodiesel

Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....

from recycled cooking oil was available for vehicles. Cooking used conventional propane

Propane

Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula , normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as a fuel for engines, oxy-gas torches, barbecues, portable stoves, and residential central...

cylinders. In 2007 a satellite up-link was installed, together with a media tent with ten laptop computers, this was also used to send media to the press as well as Indymedia UK.

In 2008, a new sound system made its first appearance at the Camp for Climate Action. All of the system was made from recycled materials, except its battery. During the stop searches the battery was dropped and damaged yet the sound system still worked throughout the camp. This sound system mainly played reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

/lovers rock

Lovers rock

Lovers rock is a style of reggae music noted for its romantic sound and content. While love songs had been an important part of reggae since the late 1960s, the style was given a greater focus and a name in London in the mid 1970s.-History:...

and dubstep

Dubstep

Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....

at Gate 5 throughout the night and during the raids. The sound system was powered by a 12-volt leisure battery, charged using solar power. A car amp was used to power the speakers the system was mono and the amp was bridged. The sound system was built by Onedread and Dec. 'Son of pedals' sound system was another sound system at the Camp for Climate Action Video.

There is a strong emphasis on the use of bicycle

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

s and public transport

Public transport

Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...

, including a Bicycology

Bicycology

Bicycology is a UK-based collective that was formed after the 2005 London to Scotland G8 Bike Ride . It is a non-hierarchical non-profit organisation which aims to promote cycling as part of a wider focus on social and environmental sustainability...

tour from London via Lancaster

Lancaster, Lancashire

Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...

.

As the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

has reported that "livestock is a major threat to environment" all food is vegan, mostly organic

Organic food

Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...

and locally sourced to minimise food miles

Food miles

Food miles is a term which refers to the distance food is transported from the time of its production until it reaches the consumer. Food miles are one factor used when assessing the environmental impact of food, including the impact on global warming....

, provided by communal neighbourhood kitchens, many associated with the Social Centres Network

UK Social Centre Network

The UK Social Centre Network is a grass roots initiative to establish a network between self identified radical independent social and community centres in the United Kingdom. There is no single policy statement but clearly a general desire to improve communication and co-operation between the...

List of Camps for Climate Action

Climate camps started in the UK but have now taken place in a number of countries

Action	Location	Date
Drax power station	North Yorkshire, England	August 2006
Heathrow Airport	London, England	August 2007
Kooragang Island Kooragang Island Kooragang Island is located in the Hunter River of New South Wales, Australia and is the site of a deep water port for the export of coal. In 2007, 84.8 million metric tons of coal were exported from the port, making it one of the busiest in the world...	Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, New South Wales The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas... , Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	July 2008
Kingsnorth Power station	near London, England	August 2008
Climate camp in the city	London, England	April 2009
Coal Caravan	Northern England	May 2009
Mainshill wood	Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...	August 2009
Ffos-y-Fran mine	Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...	August 2009
Antwerp Bulk Terminal (ABT) coal terminal	Antwerp, Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...	August 2009
Nantes Airport	Nantes Nantes Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants.... , France	August 2009
West Offaly Power station	Shannonbridge Shannonbridge Shannonbridge is a village located on the River Shannon, at the junction of the R444 and R357 regional roads in County Offaly, Ireland. It lies within the townland of Raghra , at the borders of counties Offaly, Galway and Roscommon, with the majority of the population living east of the bridge in... , Ireland Ireland Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...	August 2009
Blackheath London 2009	Blackheath, London Blackheath, London Blackheath is a district of South London, England. It is named from the large open public grassland which separates it from Greenwich to the north and Lewisham to the west... , England	August 2009
One of six 'climate action camps' across Canada	Edmonton Edmonton Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census... , Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...	August 2009
Climate Camp Aotearoa (New Zealand)	Wellington Wellington Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range... , Aotearoa (New Zealand)	December 2009

A camp happened in October 2009 at Helensburgh

Helensburgh

Helensburgh is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde and the eastern shore of the entrance to the Gareloch....

near Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, which is the site of Australia

Australia

's oldest coal mine.

Drax 2006

The camp was on a squatted

Squatting

Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....

site in Megawatt Valley, situated close to several large power station

Power station

A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....

s including Drax, a coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

-fired power station which is the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...

in the UK.

Over one hundred and sixty workshops ran throughout the camp, sharing practical skills on living sustainably, on subjects such as the science of climate change, environmental justice

Environmental justice

Environmental justice is "the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies." In the words of Bunyan Bryant,...

and the effects of climate change on people in the global South, corporate 'climate criminals', direct action

Direct action

, children's workshops, and many more.

Music was turned off after 11pm - 'Power Down' - to allow campaigners (with or without families) to sleep. But on the last Monday of the camp music was allowed much later.

Day of action

On 31 August 2006, up to 600 people attended a protest called Reclaim Power converging on Drax and attempting to shut it down. There was a 'kids march' to Drax Power Station, with a giant ostrich puppet, made by The Mischief Makers

The Mischief Makers

The Mischief Makers are a group of activists and artists based in Nottingham who formed early 2005 as a creative response to the G8 Summit, held at Gleneagles Hotel, Scotland in July that year. The collective uses creativity to support community, environmental and social justice campaign and...

. Two protesters climbed a lighting pylon at the edge of the Drax site and four others broke through the fence. At least 3,000 police officers, from 12 forces from as far afield as Hampshire and London, were reported to have been drafted in for the duration of the protest. Thirty-eight protesters were arrested. The police reported that work at the power plant was not disrupted, though eye witnesses reported having locked-on to various machinery inside the power station, thus stopping work. No coal went into Drax that day, with the railway line in being blocked off.

Other protests arising from the camp included a protest against a nuclear power station in Hartlepool

Hartlepool

Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...

, Teesside

Teesside

Teesside is the name given to the conurbation in the north east of England made up of the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar, Billingham and surrounding settlements near the River Tees. It was also the name of a local government district between 1968 and 1974—the County Borough of...

Media response

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

reported that the Camp marked a turning point in grass-roots campaigning against the causes of climate change. The network forged at the Camp continues to work on campaigns to highlight and tackle the causes of climate change, participating in actions drawing attention to (for example) road building and the climate effects of cheap air travel. Days of climate action on different themes have been called by this Network for Climate Action.

Heathrow 2007

The 2007 camp (51°29′20"N 0°26′43"W) ran from 14 to 21 August 2007 near London Heathrow Airport

London Heathrow Airport

London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...

next to the village of Sipson

Sipson

Sipson is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, in west London, England. It is situated west of Charing Cross and near the northern perimeter of London Heathrow Airport.-Toponymy:...

on a disused sports ground owned by Imperial College London

Imperial College London

Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...

. Sipson would disappear from the map if the third runway at Heathrow was built. It was preceded by 'Our Place' arts weekend, a community arts project run by activists for local residents on 11 & 12 August at St Mary's Church Hall in Harmondsworth

Harmondsworth

Harmondsworth is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, close to London Heathrow Airport. The village is situated south of West Drayton.The nearest places are: Hayes, Harlington, Heathrow Airport, Longford, London, Sipson, West Drayton and Yiewsley....

, another village which would be severely affected by the building of a third runway.

During the camp there were also protests by Plane Stupid

Plane Stupid

Plane Stupid is a UK-focused group of environmental protesters who state their aim as wanting to see an end to airport expansion for what it sees as "unnecessary and unsustainable" flights. The organisation has no formal hierarchy, leader, or media figurehead. It is a loose association of...

, who were injuncted from protesting at Heathrow. On 13 August Plane Stupid activists boarded a barge transporting an Airbus A380 wing and on the 16th August at London Biggin Hill Airport

London Biggin Hill Airport

London Biggin Hill Airport is an airport at Biggin Hill in the London Borough of Bromley, located south southeast of Central London, United Kingdom...

. 15 protesters chained themselves to its main gates and caused a "long queue of luxury cars waiting to get into the airport to build up".

On the 19th August, the final day of the camp some 1000-1400 people took part in a 'Day of Action' and 200 people blockaded British Airports Authority HQ.

As protesters left on the 20th August protests took place against two carbon offset

Carbon offset

A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for or to offset an emission made elsewhere....

companies, Climate Care

Climate Care

Climate Care is a UK-based carbon offset company founded by eco-entrepreneur Mike Mason in 1997. The idea came following a Masters in Environmental Change and Management at the Oxford University Environmental Change Institute, where he explored the potential of carbon funding for protecting...

and the Carbon Neutral Company on the 20th August when campaigners dressed as "red herrings" protested at the offices in Oxford London, five people blocked the main gate at Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

, and a group invaded the London offices of Bridgepoint Capital

Bridgepoint Capital

Bridgepoint is a UK-based private equity investor in companies valued up to €1 billion, including Pets at Home and Pret A Manger in the UK, Dorna in Spain, and Alain Afflelou in France.-History:...

, a private equity firm which is behind the expansion of Leeds-Bradford Airport, and a dozen protesters superglued their hands to entrance doors at BP's headquarters in central London. A total of 58 people were arrested.

Injunction

BAA's proposed injunction would have restricted the movements of 5 million people from 15 different organisations, including the RSPB, Greenpeace

Greenpeace

Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...

, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, the Woodland Trust

Woodland Trust

The Woodland Trust is a conservation charity in the United Kingdom concerned with the protection and sympathetic management of native woodland heritage.-History:...

, Friends of the Earth

Friends of the Earth

Friends of the Earth International is an international network of environmental organizations in 76 countries.FOEI is assisted by a small secretariat which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns...

, and the National Trust

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

, among others. As such the injunction would technically have included the Queen

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

; patron of the RSPB and CPRE, Prince Charles; in his position as President of the National Trust, and even some of BAA's own staff.
The ruling was sought under the auspices of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997

Protection from Harassment Act 1997

The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 is a piece of United Kingdom law which, among other things, criminalises and creates a right to protection from stalking and persistent bullying in the workplace.-Definition:...

, originally intended to help the victims of stalking

Stalking

Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...

, but now frequently used against protesters. In the end BAA won a very much more limited injunction and the camp went ahead amid considerable worldwide publicity. Afterward, Duncan Bonfield, BAA director of corporate affairs, and Mark Mann, BAA head of media relations, resigned without stating their reasons.

Policing

Policing for the camp was estimated to have cost £7 million by Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...

, though this included £4.3m for costs such as salaries which would have been spent anyway.
The Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...

put the costs at £70 million without explaining how it reached that figure.

In 2007 the police made preventive searches under Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994

Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994

The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced a number of changes to the existing law, most notably in the restriction and reduction of existing rights and in greater penalties for certain "anti-social" behaviours...

. The camp was heavily attended by a force of 1,800 police, who carried out searches, including some vehicles, under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2006

Terrorism Act 2006

The Terrorism Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received Royal Assent on 30 March 2006, after being introduced on 12 October 2005. The Act creates new offences related to terrorism, and amends existing ones. The Act was drafted in the aftermath of the 7 July 2005...

, and took photos of protesters entering and leaving the camp.
On Sunday August 19 there were scuffles between protesters and police officers outside the offices of BAA at Heathrow, which were being targeted in a day of direct action

Direct action

by some of the protesters.

Journalistic access

In relation to the 2007 the National Union of Journalists

National Union of Journalists

The National Union of Journalists is a trade union for journalists in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and has 38,000 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists .-Structure:...

issued a public statement expressing "deep concern" over a proposed draft policy toward media access during its 2007 event. The camp media team replied to the NUJ criticism by stating: "The policy is a compromise that attempts to provide reasonable media access whilst respecting participants' right to privacy". On 9 August 2007 the proposed policy was amended to remove any possibility of blacklisting some journalists or giving sympathetic journalists longer access.

Kingsnorth 2008

The 2008 camp (51°26′23"N 0°32′54"E) took place in Kent, near E.ON UK

E.ON UK

E.ON UK is an energy company in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of E.ON, the world's largest investor-owned power and gas company. As Powergen, it was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but since 1 July 2002 has been owned by E.ON AG of...

's Kingsnorth power station

Kingsnorth power station

, and run from 4 to 11 August to highlight E.ON's plans to build another coal-fired power station, which would be the first to be built in thirty years in the UK.

The action was also to highlight what is seen as an expansion to the fossil fuel

Fossil fuel

Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...

economy, by corporations and government, and what activists claim is a demand of the opposite through scientific consensus. Furthermore, the camp attempted to challenge the businesses which will profit from the agrofuel industry, which they see as false solutions to the problems of climate change.

The camp began with a one day event at Heathrow, the site of the previous year's camp followed by a march across London

London

to Kingsnorth power station

Kingsnorth power station

, in common with seven other camps globally that were targeting coal

Coal

.

Over 200 workshops and debates were held during the camp, including ones with George Monbiot

George Monbiot

George Joshua Richard Monbiot is an English writer, known for his environmental and political activism. He lives in Machynlleth, Wales, writes a weekly column for The Guardian, and is the author of a number of books, including Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain and Bring on the...

, Caroline Lucas

Caroline Lucas

Caroline Patricia Lucas is a British politician. Lucas is the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, and the Green Party's first and only Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...

, Arthur Scargill

Arthur Scargill

Arthur Scargill is a British politician who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers from 1982 to 2002, leading the union through the 1984–85 miners' strike, a key event in British labour and political history...

and John McDonnell

John McDonnell (politician)

John Martin McDonnell is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington since 1997; he serves as Chair of the Socialist Campaign Group, the Labour Representation Committee, and the "Public Services Not Private Profit Group"...

MP. Arthur Scargill, former General Secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers and Dave Douglass, attended the camp to represent many in the mining community who disagreed with the protesters' anti-coal position which they saw as a continuation of the state's assault against them stemming back to the UK miners' strike (1984–1985)

UK miners' strike (1984–1985)

The UK miners' strike was a major industrial action affecting the British coal industry. It was a defining moment in British industrial relations, and its defeat significantly weakened the British trades union movement...

. They addressed the campers highlighting the oppressive conditions that miners face all over the world put forth their arguments especially against nuclear power

Nuclear power

Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...

. They also expressed solidarity with the camp against police repression and urged a class perspective.

On Saturday 9 August the protesters attempted to shut down the power station. The day was organised to highlight the impact on climate change with activists marching to Kingsnorth power station. Violent scenes developed between the police and the protesters, with many non-threatening protesters being hit and knocked to the ground by police with batons.

The camp provided facilities that many of the people needed such as showers, cheap food, internet access, entertainment, a TV studio and medical services. Complaints were made about the excessive policing of the event which are now being investigated officially.

On August 11, 2008, several protesters from Oxford and Thames Valley Climate Action

Thames Valley Climate Action

-Protest actions:*On August 11, 2008, several protesters from Oxford and Thames Valley Climate Action glued their hands to the doors of BHP Billiton's headquarters in protest of the use of coal as a fuel. BHP Billiton is the world's largest coal producer...

glued their hands to the doors of BHP Billiton

BHP Billiton

BHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...

's headquarters in protest of the use of coal as a fuel. BHP Billiton is the world's largest coal producer.

Policing

1,500 officers were involved at an estimated cost of £5.9m, there were over 100 arrests and some 2000 'potentially harmful' items were confiscated At the time ministers at the time claimed that 70 officers had been injured in the course of their duties. However data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Freedom of Information Act 2000

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level...

in March 2009 showed that no injuries were sustained by the police in clashes with demonstrators and the claim was retracted by Vernon Coaker

Vernon Coaker

Vernon Rodney Coaker is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Gedling since 1997; Coaker was appointed Minister of State for Schools and Learners in June 2009, a post he held until Gordon Brown resigned as Prime Minister on 11 May 2010...

, the Home Office minister stating that "there were no recorded injuries sustained as a result of direct contact with the protesters". It was also revealed later that amongst the confiscated items were balloons, crayons, and a clown outfit, cycle helmets, plastic buckets, books, life-jackets, inflatable dinghies, paddles and foot pumps.

At the time local MP Bob Marshall-Andrews

Bob Marshall-Andrews

Robert Graham Marshall-Andrews QC is a British Labour Party politician and barrister, who was the Member of Parliament for Medway from 1997 to 2010.-Early life:...

said that some policing was "provocative and heavy-handed" and Caroline Lucas

Caroline Lucas

MEP condemned police tactics, which included riot police, pepper spray

Pepper spray

Pepper spray, also known as OC spray , OC gas, and capsicum spray, is a lachrymatory agent that is used in riot control, crowd control and personal self-defense, including defense against dogs and bears...

and routine stop and search of everyone entering and leaving the camp. In March 2009 the Independent Police Complaints Commission

Independent Police Complaints Commission

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is a non-departmental public body in England and Wales responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.-Role:...

said there was significant public concern at the policing of the camp which should be addressed. These included issues about misconduct, but also in regard to operational tactics including claims that officers used loud music at night to disrupt protesters who were trying to sleep.

Before the camp started police had found weapons hidden in nearby woods which included knives, a replica throwing star and a large chain and padlock. Assistant Chief Constable Gary Beautridge stated that while he believed the majority of the Climate Camp protesters to be peaceful, he was concerned that some had "more sinister intentions". Protesters said the find had nothing to do with the camp and the police agreed that there was no firm evidence linking the them to the camp.

In June, 2009, the Guardian released video evidence of alleged brutality by police officers at the camp against two women. They belonged to the campaign group, Fitwatch, who campaign against the use of forward intelligence team

Forward Intelligence Team

Forward Intelligence Teams are two or more police officers who are deployed by UK police forces to gather intelligence on the ground and in some circumstances, to disrupt activists and deter anti-social behaviour. They use cameras, camcorders and audio recorders to conduct overt surveillance of...

s. They spotted several officers who did not have visible epaulette

Epaulette

Epaulette is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations.Epaulettes are fastened to the shoulder by a shoulder strap or "passant", a small strap parallel to the shoulder seam, and the button near the collar, or by laces on the...

s and when they asked the officers to reveal their identities they were arrested.

Camp in the City 2009

The Camp in the City (51.5152°N 0.0825°W) took place on 1 April 2009 was one of a number of protests

2009 G-20 London summit protests

The 2009 G-20 London summit protests occurred in the days around the G-20 summit on 2 April 2009, which was the focus of protests from a number of groups over various long-standing and topical issues...

associated with the G20 London Summit

2009 G-20 London summit

The 2009 G-20 London Summit is the second meeting of the G-20 heads of state in discussion of financial markets and the world economy, which was held in London on 2 April 2009 at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre. It followed the first G-20 Leaders Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy, which...

. The aim was to draw attention to carbon trading

Carbon trading

Carbon trading may refer to:*Carbon emission trading*Personal carbon trading*Emissions trading...

, claiming that far from being a way of reducing release of climate change gasses in the atmosphere it is used as an excuse to continue doing just that. The camp took place outside the European Climate Exchange

European Climate Exchange

The European Climate Exchange manages the product development and marketing for ECX Carbon Financial Instruments , listed and admitted for trading on the ICE Futures Europe electronic platform. It is no longer a subsidiary of the Chicago Climate Exchange but rather a sister company...

in Bishopsgate

Bishopsgate

Bishopsgate is a road and ward in the northeast part of the City of London, extending north from Gracechurch Street to Norton Folgate. It is named after one of the original seven gates in London Wall...

and was distinct from the G-20 Meltdown protest that took place outside the Bank of England

Bank of England

The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...

.

Prior to the actual camp a group of participants had played a game called 'capture the flag' in the area on 27 March which was used by the protesters to familiarise themselves with the locale.

Camp for Climate Action organisers agreed to meet with police and exchange contact details shortly before the protest. The meeting was arranged by Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

MP David Howarth

David Howarth

David Ross Howarth is a British Liberal Democrat politician who was Member of Parliament for Cambridge from 2005 to 2010.- Education and academic career :...

, who was to mediate at the meeting which was to take place at the House of Commons. Scotland Yard confirmed that a meeting was to take place with Bob Broadhurst (police commander) and Ian Thomas (chief superintendent).

The camp, which was intended to last for 24 hours, started at 12:30pm when a camp was established in a section of Bishopsgate between Threadneedle Street

Threadneedle Street

Threadneedle Street is a street in the City of London, leading from a junction with Poultry, Cornhill, King William Street and Lombard Street, to Bishopsgate....

and London Wall

London Wall

London Wall was the defensive wall first built by the Romans around Londinium, their strategically important port town on the River Thames in what is now the United Kingdom, and subsequently maintained until the 18th century. It is now the name of a road in the City of London running along part of...

with tents set up and bunting

Bunting (textile)

Bunting was originally a specific type of lightweight worsted wool fabric generically known as tammy, manufactured from the turn of the 17th century, and used for making ribbons. and flags, including signal flags for the Royal Navy...

across the road reading 'Nature doesn't do bailouts'. There were solar-powered sound systems, musicians and a food stall and some 1,000-plus relaxed people.

The atmosphere was still relaxed at about 5pm when police with helmets, shields and batons began to surround areas of the camp using section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986

Public Order Act 1986

The Public Order Act 1986 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It creates a number of public order offences. They replace similar common law offences and parts of the Public Order Act 1936...

.

At about 7pm the police stopped allowing people to enter or leave the protest. The police advanced on protesters who put their hands in the air and passively resisted while chanting "This is not a riot" which is a tactic that emerged over the course of a number of Camp for Climate Action gatherings. There were scuffles with the police in which several protesters were hit and kicked by the police and one policewoman needed medical attention. Within the cordon people carried on playing music and preparing food and until the police began letting people leave at about 11:30pm and cleared the area of the last protesters at about 2am.

Jean Lambert

Jean Lambert

Jean Denise Lambert is an English politician, and Member of the European Parliament for the London Region. A member of the Green Party of England and Wales, she has been an MEP since 1999...

MEP of the London Green Party

Green Party of England and Wales

The Green Party of England and Wales is a political party in England and Wales which follows the traditions of Green politics and maintains a strong commitment to social progressivism. It is the largest Green party in the United Kingdom, containing within it various regional divisions including...

wrote an open letter to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner after the event asking for an explanation of the police tactics.

Blackheath 2009

The camp at Blackheath (51°28′17"N 0°0′14"E) was set up on 26 August on Blackheath

Blackheath, London

Blackheath is a district of South London, England. It is named from the large open public grassland which separates it from Greenwich to the north and Lewisham to the west...

Common

Common may refer to:* COMMON, the largest association of users of mid-range IBM computers* Common , a British Thoroughbred racehorse* Common , a part of certain Christian liturgy* Commoner, someone does not hold a title of peerage...

, which was the site of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt

Peasants' Revolt

The Peasants' Revolt, Wat Tyler's Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England. Tyler's Rebellion was not only the most extreme and widespread insurrection in English history but also the...

and was due to run until 2 September. The organisers kept the location of the camp secret from the police until the first day of the camp. About 1000 people arrived on the first day with the police adopting a low-key 'community policing' approach and using Twitter

Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

for the first time to communicate with protesters and senior officers held five meetings with protesters to prepare for the event. 3000 people were expected to attend the camp. Some 200 workshops were scheduled over the five days on a wide range of environmental, social and climate change issues:

Activist photography
Alternatives to money: timebanks and local currencies
Art not oil: using creativity to resist oil industry sponsorship of the arts
Butterfly & bee-making with felt
Citizen journalism
Carbon trading, Heathrow & Kingsnorth: an intro
Essential know how: stops, searches and arrests
Indigenous peoples resistance to our high carbon economy
Legal observer
Legal observer
Legal observers are individuals, usually representatives of civilian human rights agencies, who attend public demonstrations, protests and other activities where there is a potential for conflict between the public or activists and the police, security guards or other law enforcement personnel...

training
What students can do about the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
Women and the miners' strike

A number of protests at locations around London took place during the camp.

Shops and local pubs reported good business and police presence was keep very low profile and unobtrusive. The Telegraph described it as "the cheapest – and chic-est – date in the summer festival calendar". Climate Camp TV provided a view of the camp and the associated actions.

Ratcliffe-on-Soar 2009

Between 17 and 18 October 2009, protesters from Camp for Climate Action, Climate Rush

Climate Rush

Climate Rush is a UK organisation that campaigns on various environmental issues related to climate change. Their website states that, "We are a diverse group of women and men who are determined to raise awareness of the biggest threat facing humanity today - that of Climate Change". The...

and Plane Stupid

Plane Stupid

, took part in 'The Great Climate Swoop' at Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station

Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station

Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station is a coal-fired power station operated by E.ON UK at Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, England. Commissioned in 1968 by the then Central Electricity Generating Board, the station has a capacity of 2,000 MW...

. The police arrested 10 people before the protest began on suspicion of conspiracy to cause criminal damage. Some 1,000 people took part, and during the first day groups of up to several hundred people pulled down security fencing at a number of points around the plant. Fifty six arrests were made during the protest and there were a number of injuries, including one policeman who was airlifted to hospital but later discharged.

After the event Julian Baggini

Julian Baggini

Julian Baggini is the author of several books about philosophy written for a general audience. He is the author of The Pig that Wants to be Eaten and 99 other thought experiments and is co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Philosophers' Magazine...

, writing in The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

, criticised the protest arguing that climate change did not constitute a justifiable reason for civil disobedience. In response activists said that the urgency of responding to potential extreme climate change did indeed provide sufficient justification.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

General

List of Camps for Climate Action

Drax 2006

Day of action

Media response

Heathrow 2007

Injunction

Policing

Journalistic access

Kingsnorth 2008

Policing

Camp in the City 2009

Blackheath 2009

Ratcliffe-on-Soar 2009

See also

External links