CLIMATE JUSTICE IS MIGRANT JUSTICE PROTEST
Tomorrow, a coalition of climate groups will be holding a socially distanced protest to raise awareness of the link between climate justice and migrant justice. The ecological crisis is already upon us and hitting the inhabitants of the Global South first and in the coming years it is only going to get worse. In anticipation of the inevitable new waves of migration from climate refugees, we are witnessing the increased militarisation of borders in the Global North as well as the rise of racist rhetoric against migrants and refugees.
GAF will be joining tomorrow’s protest, please join us too. The meeting point is the Nelson Mandela statue in Parliament Square at 10am.
YOUTH 4 CLIMATE JUSTICE COURT CASE
Six young people from Portugal are taking thirty-three European countries to the European Court of Human Rights for failing to do their part to avert climate catastrophe. Their goal is to seek a legally binding decision from the European Court of Human Rights requiring governments in Europe to take the urgent action needed to stop the climate crisis using the argument that the European Convention on Human Rights obliges European governments to fight climate change.
While in GAF we believe the state is part of the problem and no real solutions can be found working within their apparatus, we applaud the initiative as a useful precedent and a good way to raise awareness and start fruitful discussions and hopefully also actions. The young plaintiffs are being supported by the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), you can help by sharing the case on social media or donating to the funds being raised to cover the legal fees. For more information, visit youth4climatejustice.org.
INTERNATIONAL RESISTANCE TO MINING FILM FESTIVAL
In solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement, Indigenous activists and mining affected communities across the globe, London Mining Network presents the International Resistance to Mining Film Festival. The films deal with the colonial legacy of international extractivism and the lives it affects. From Bouganville to South Africa, Australia to Colombia, these true stories remind us of the human cost of mining as well as the amazing acts of resistance that it inspires.
Films will be shown at 7.30pm between 21 and 28 September 2020. For more info and to register your place, see the Eventbrite page.
SUSTAINING ALL LIFE & UNITED TO END RACISM AT CLIMATE WEEK
Sustaining All Life (SAL) and United to End Racism (UER) are international grassroots organizations working to end the climate emergency within the context of ending all divisions among people. SAL/UER is participating in Climate Week, September 21-27, a week of international climate events happening online. They will present many interactive workshops and forums that address barriers to resolving the climate emergency. Topics include Eliminating the Effects of Racism in our Climate Activism; Women, Girls and Climate Justice; Jews and Climate Justice:Building a United Front and War and Climate Change. Their six forums provide opportunities to amplify the voices of people who don’t generally get heard and include Voices of Latin America, Indigenous Voices and Youth Leading on the Climate Emergency.
ENDE GELÄNDE
This year, just like the previous years, Ende Gelaende is organising an action against coal infrastructure in Germany. They will be holding a decentralised blockade in the region of the Rhineland from the 23rd to the 28th of September. The Coal Extension Act will keep coal alive for another 18 years, using billions of Euros. Ende Gelaende are fighting to ensure that coal is phased out immediately and the door to a fundamental system change is opened. They plan on placing themselves between the coal diggers and the threatened villages to protect them. It is to be a publicly announced blockade with a wide range of opportunities to participate. To find out more check their facebook pages or their call to action.
DAVID GRAEBER
It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the death of David Graeber yesterday.
David Graeber was an American anthropologist and anarchist activist author know for such books as Debt: The First 5,000 Years, where he explores the violence that lies behind all social relations based on money, and calls for a wiping out of sovereign and consumer debts and Bullshit Jobs in which he argues that most white-collar jobs were meaningless and that technological advances had led to people working more, not less.
Graeber also had a history of involvement in political activism since the 90s including being a member of the Industrial Workers of the World and being a pivotal figure in the Occupy Wall Street Movement in 2011 as well as the Global Justice Movement. He was a professor at the London School of Economics at the time of his death.
You can find links to some of his work on Graeber’s website.