Three Years towards „block everything“ in 2020 & Project “our planet, our future”
image: -> beehivecollective.org
Maniac idea paper for CJA & Ende Gelände meetings Jan+Feb 2018
This paper has been written to quickly outline the idea of three-year escalation campaign.
It would start with movement building and largely symbolic actions in the first year; some direct action, growing increasingly disobedient, in the second year and culminating in the third year when big and small actions add up to a „block everything” climax. „Everything“ meaning gas+coal infrastructure, agro-industry, airports, as well as meat factories, banks, motorcompanies, etc . . . everything that destroys our climate and threatens our future.
Some of these issues are already rather well established on the (political and protest) agenda, but some issues require some work to further highlight them and make them “actionable”.
With a common campaign frame, these issues are no longer single-issues and we wouldn’t feel that by focusing on one issue, we forget targeting the other issues. Instead, it’s all part of a huge push against the bad stuff (fossil fuels, discrimination and inequality) and for the good stuff (clean energy, social justice, a peaceful and livable future). The campaign/movement would take to form of a non-violent struggle using all tools available to those struggles. In the larger context the 3-years-campaign plan should part of a broader social justice movement that asks “how can we have a livable future on this warming planet”. This movement would address the social justice question built-into the global warming problem.
Three years and then we Block Everything
First year (2018): Setting the stage. Informing about the 3-years-campaign, mobilizing, training of activist for intervention & disobedience, building local groups & networks identifying targets, marking targets with symbolic action, delivering the message: “for Paris goals to succeed, this has to shut down tomorrow, if not… we come back to shut down”. (call it “movement building”)
Second Year (2019): Gaining momentum. Actions become more direct, more disobedient, but are mainly symbolic. Some Actions should be big (mass actions) to train our ability to mobilize huge numbers for diverse targets (not just coal 😉 ). Training of activists continues with an eye on 2020. “Our Planet, our future”-Congress outlines our vision for a livable future.
Third Year (2020): Block everything. Climate villains and places of climate destruction that have been marked by symbolic and/or direct actions during the previous two years are now facing actions designed to cause a maximum of disruption. If successful, the facilities shut down (several days?). Actions and the campaign are designed to dramatize the question: What is more important, short-term profits / economic growth or our future?
Reasoning:
As global greenhouse-gas emissions are growing instead of shrinking, time is running out on the Paris Goals. 1,5° is becoming unattainable, and it’s looking very dark for 2°. To stay within 2°, massive changes in economies & societies have to be achieved in a very short time. Indeed nothing short of a revolution is needed, as even cool-headed scientists observe. These changes effect all industries/sectors mentioned above (and others as well), so they should start making some changes immediately. We call them out and tell the them and the public: YOU have to start changing the ways you are doing things NOW. If you don’t act, we will act for you. Let’s also not forget the plan-makers on the political level: the Paris-Agreement was in 2015, so let’s ask policymakers on all levels (e.g. citys): “Where is your Plan for (our) pathway to Paris?” Or, most likely in most places: “Why don’t you have a (fucking) Plan?“. As we repeat our question, and as companies and policymakers keep failing to change, unable or unwilling to come up with real solutions, the stage is set for civilian actions of self-defense.
At the same time we develop & advertise our simple & sound solution (shut all shit down) and transformative ideas (to be decided on in said congress, but how about solidarity & redistribution of global wealth?).
Such a common campaign framework would allow each action to work in it’s local context as well as being part of a bigger narrative. Climate change and climate justice is a multifaceted topic; diverse actions on the diversity of issues within a common frame would do justice to this fact.
Our future, our Planet
So far, this 3-years outline focused on the “technical” side of the climate-disaster, that is, immediate reduction of harmful emissions. The “social” side we should address with the same rigor. Rapid climate change is becoming reality, and so is failing the 2 degree target and probably increasingly catastrophic events. As we might fail to avoid run-away climate change, let’s start addressing the question of how we can deal with the consequences in an emancipatory way. As humans interested in a livable future, we have to ask ourselves:
What can we do that climate change doesn’t automatically become climate-chaos? How do we prepare our societies for a 3° + world? How to achieve peace & justice for all instead of security for few? Let’s start actively address these questions in the next three years so that the answers don’t become automatically egoism, racism, securitization, surveillance and counter-insurgency. Let’s do our best that the answer will be: More solidarity (instead of less). In other word’s: let’s broaden (again) our implicit agenda and become (finally) a movement that is not primarily interested in what industrial projects should shut down, but under which circumstances we want to live in the future.
Let’s have a congress dedicated to these questions. Let’s call it “Our planet, our future” congress or something like that. Maybe we can retake the old “we are the children, we are the future” – discourse which is currently a hostage of conformative UN and COY speeches that are really beautiful but without consequences. Let’s take back the “our future” talk and make clear that the younger generations are no longer content to just deliver nice speeches; they want a livable future and are ready to cause disruption to the business as-usual if necessary. Let’s have a congress for the future of our plant were we hammer out the road-map to a livable planet were the people face the challenge of climate change together in solidarity (and not in a state of war).
Neither the 3 years plan nor the project for a livable planet exist yet. But if we want, all pieces are in place to make it happen. Local groups have formed in the last years, diverse actions are in planning all over Europe. A lot of know-how has been acquired in the past years. The idea of civil disobedience for the climate has become increasingly popular. A lot of people, including the author, have been inspired by the explosive growth of this movement and feel today more empowered and optimistic towards change than some years ago. Finding a common message, holding a lot of meetings, inspiring more people via well-designed actions, involving these people and training them to become organizers themselves; funding and organizing a congress, organizing mass-actions on an even greater scale… all this can be done if we want to. Organizing a transformative movement of this scale will take without doubt a lot of work, but will also be a lot of fun. To start it will take a lot of optimism, if not some degree of megalomania. I’m only proposing to do it because I deeply feel that this is what has to be done right now, and that it would be forever a pity if we hadn’t tried!
So, let’s fight for our future & (climate) justice and let’s start right now. 😉
hintergrund? siehe zb: telepolis.de/features/Zweitwaermstes-Jahr-seit-Beginn-der-Wetteraufzeichnungen
u campact.de/kohleaus/appell/teilnehmen