Tomorrow MPs return from their summer break for the first parliamentary session since the expenses scandal dragged the reputation of British politics to new depths. With the Committee on Climate Change calling for a “step change” in UK action to cut emissions, and the vital Copenhagen climate summit in less than two months, the climbers say climate change should be right at the top of the political agenda.

The activists are vowing to stay on the roof overnight so they can welcome politicians back to Westminster in the morning. They unfurling a huge banner on the roof of the Palace of Westminster’s Great Hall that says: “CHANGE THE POLITICS, SAVE THE CLIMATE.” They have also issued a manifesto listing twelve simple steps British politicians could agree to today to rapidly get the UK onto a low carbon path, and provide the help poorer countries need to develop clean energy, adapt to the impacts of climate change and protect their rainforests.

One of the activists, 28 year-old Anna Jones, said: “We’ve climbed onto the roof of the Houses of Parliament because too many of the politicians and parties who work in this building are failing us all on climate change. The clock’s ticking down to the big climate summit in Copenhagen, but politicians are still treating the most important issue of our time as a political plaything. We need a green economy that will create jobs and bring prosperity while helping us beat climate change. We need politicians to be fighting for the next generation, not just the next election.”

The forty volunteers gained access to the roof by passing modified ladders through the railings. Before breaching security they told police officers exactly who they were and made it clear that they were about to embark on a peaceful protest. Five of the volunteers – all of them experienced rope access experts – then climbed up the building’s 15m lightning conductor and are now out of reach of security guards on the roof’s apex, where they plan to stay for the next 24 hours. The other 50 protesters are on a lower roof equipped with tents and enough food and water to maintain an overnight occupation

In less than 60 days the world gathers for the key climate change conference in Copenhagen, but as things stand there is a very real risk of failure. At last week’s preliminary UN climate meeting in Bangkok, China and 130 other developing nations accused the richer countries, including the UK, of trying to sabotage the negotiations. There is widespread concern that the developed nations are not making the necessary commitments to seal the vital deal.

26 year-old Christian Hunt, another of the people on the roof, said: “We’ve heard a lot of talk from politicians, lots of speeches and soaring rhetoric and new targets, but little real action. That needs to change. As MPs return from their summer break we need to see them come together, put their differences behind them and agree to simple steps that will slash emissions here in Britain, grow new green industries and set the kind of example that could build trust and break the deadlock before the Copenhagen conference.”

The activists are asking all the party leaders, MPs and Lords to sign up to the new climate manifesto. Anna Jones said: “Our manifesto includes ruling out all emissions from new coal-fired power stations, ending airport expansion and delivering on the clean energy revolution that would see Britain harness the huge natural resources of our wind-swept island to build employment, develop new green industries and cut pollution. People say they get into politics to make a real difference. Well here’s their chance.”

Greenpeace volunteers will be fanning out across Westminster tomorrow morning, asking newly-returning politicians to sign up to the manifesto commitments which could move the UK onto a safe, low carbon path, whilst helping poorer countries to develop clean energy and protect the forests we all depend on.

None of the parties has a perfect record on climate change. The Government gave the green light to Heathrow expansion and has failed to rule out emissions from new coal plants. The Conservatives have ruled out a third runway at Heathrow, but are yet to agree to a commitment ensuring 15% of all Britain’s energy comes from renewables by 2020, while Tory local authorities consistently block wind power developments. George Osbourne did not even mention climate change in his conference speech. Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats have some far-sighted policies on a national level, but regionally and locally they have blocked wind farms, supported new road schemes and promoted regional airport expansion.

Next week sees a meeting in London of environment ministers from the Major Economies Forum, where the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters will continue to discuss approaches to the Copenhagen meeting. After the failure of developed countries at the UN meeting in Bangkok last week to make the stronger commitments needed to break the deadlock and reassure poor countries of their resolve, renewed leadership is desperately needed within the EU, which Britain could provide.

Tomorrow the Committee on Climate Change will publish their progress report on emissions reductions for the UK. They will call for a “step change” in emissions cuts and make clear that the UK is not doing enough to meet its commitments. They will also call for a strengthening of coal policy and for a cap on aviation emissions.

After 14 years of ineffectual talks, activists from social movements across the globe are taking the struggle for climate justice to the streets. Planned is a series of events ranging from a mass action to shutdown the harbour of Copenhagen to an action aimed at bringing a people’s agenda for climate justice to the elite summit space for a day. “The UN climate talks will not solve the climate crisis. We are no closer to reducing greenhouse gas emissions than we were when international negotiations began fifteen years ago: emissions are rising faster than ever, while carbon trading allows climate criminals to pollute and profit”, says Tadzio Mueller, a press spokesperson for CJA.

In response to what they perceive as a political circus playing to the interests of corporations, Stine Gry, also from CJA, argues that “we cannot trust the market with our future, nor put our faith in unsafe, unproven and unsustainable technologies. Instead of trying to paint a destructive system green, we need to take mass action for climate justice.

On the 13th of December Climate Justice Action will take direct action against the root causes of climate change by disrupting the toxic, fossil fuel-driven flows of global capitalism and overproduction for overconsumption by shutting down the harbour of Copenhagen.

On the 16th of December, CJA will put climate justice and the voices of marginalized peoples from across the North and the South at the top of the agenda. Led by activists from the Global South we will challenge the corporate and governmental elites at the UN climate talks, overcoming police barriers with civil disobedience to hold a People’s Climate Justice Summit.

Against the “false solutions” adopted by the UNFCCC, the networks call for:
- leaving fossil fuels in the ground
- reasserting peoples’ and community control over production
- relocalising food production
- massively reducing overconsumption, particularly in the North
- respecting indigenous and forest peoples’ rights
- recognising the ecological and climate debt owed to the peoples of the South and making reparations

Again Stine Gry: “Real solutions to the climate crisis are being built by women and men in both the South and the North who fight every day to defend their environment and living conditions. We need to globalise these solutions and work for a just transition towards a post-fossil fuel future.”

SOURCE:

Press conference in Copenhagen Sunday 18th October

Media team Climate Justice Action
Copenhagen, 16 October 2009

Notes to editors:
(1) Climate Justice Action is a network of a wide diversity of groups from both the global north, and the global south. Among them Terra de Direitos (Brazil) and Focus on the Global South, international Climate Camps, Rising Tide and Indian Social Action Forum. The complete list of groups can be found on the website.
Climate Justice Action will hold a Press Conference on Sunday 18th October, 12.00-13.00 at Fabrikken in Christiania (Prinsessegade, 1422, KA, Benhavn, Copenhagen)

Contact:
Danish phone: +45 41294994 (Stine Gry)
International phone: +49-176-77414303 (Tadzio Mueller)
Website: www.climate-justice-action.org
“follow @actforclimate on twitter”