GAF is a name, a banner, a call to action. It’s not an organisation or a network and has no central authority. We want GAF to act as a way of bringing people together, to take action, to spread a radical, anti-capitalist position on climate change and other environmental issues. If you agree with our manifesto, we encourage you to organise, to take action yourself, you can be part of the Front!
There is no specific model to follow, different situations call for different forms and actions, but there are a few important principles that we ask those organising as GAF to stick to:
– We don’t work with companies or the private sector
– We don’t work with the police or the state
– We are against all forms of exploitation and oppression including but not limited to those based on class, race, sex, sexuality, gender or ability, and we support trans and sex-worker inclusive feminism
– We organise in a supportive, inclusive way, free from bullying or abusive behaviour
Anyone carrying out an action under the GAF name must agree to and act in line with the following Points of Unity
1. An existential threat – Human induced climate change and environmental destruction more broadly are a threat to global ecosystems. Action must be taken now to guarantee we not only survive, but flourish in the future.
2. Capitalism is the crisis – Capitalism is part of the problem. A global economic system built on competing capitalists cannot be trusted to combat climate change when doing so threatens their profits. We must make the link between capitalism and environmental degradation explicit in our politics and critique the role of the state in facilitating this.
3. International class solidarity – We must be internationalist in our scope and ensure victories for workers in MEDCs does not mean just pushing environmental problems onto workers in LEDCs who have done the least to contribute to climate change. We must push our trade unions to adopt an environmental as well as anti-capitalist stance which argues for a just but rapid transition for workers in extractive industries. We must take a hard stance against nationalism and aim instead for global unity.
4. Building collective power – We should ensure the actions we take, and the struggles we link up for, leave us and others who take part stronger not weaker. We must avoid any so-called victory that relies on the ‘good will’ of a politician or the ‘expertise’ of an NGO. Win or lose, each action and campaign should leave us more aware of the world around us, more confident of our collective power, and more experienced in our ability to self-organise.
5. Diversity of tactics – We must develop a diversity of tactics that is not dependent on the actions of politicians or corporations developing a conscience to achieve its goals.
6. Horizontal, bottom-up structures – We cannot recreate the structures we know do not work within our own movement. Our movement must be horizontal and autonomous so that it truly represents the interests of those our current rulers treat as expendable. We must also take an intersectional approach to our solidarity and care for each other at all times.
7. We need a new system – Ultimately, while the imminent threat of climate change may limit us to putting pressure on state and capital in the short term, in the longer term we need to replace these institutions to solve the systematic problems that have created this crisis.
(German translation of Our Manifesto)
(Spanish translation of Our Manifesto / Traducción al español de nuestro manifiesto)