Climate Camping for the future

I've just returned from the 3rd Camp for Climate Action. This year the gathering of environmental activists was held near Kingsnorth power station in Kent - the proposed site for a new coal-fired power station which looks likely to be given the go ahead by Government idiots.

Climate Camp is built on 4 main pillars
1. High impact direct action
2. Low impact living
3. Sustainable solutions
4. Education

Each year 1000s of ordinary people concerned about climate change come together in an impromptu campsite to highlight the worst climate culprits and practice what we preach by living sustainably in a selforganised, peaceful and democratic way. The aim of the camp is to take direct action against the chosen target (in 2006 it was Drax, the UK's largest coal-power station, and last year at Heathrow Airport to oppose the building of a 3rd new runway).

This year Climate Camp 08 aimed to shut down Kingsnorth power station by any means necessary and all week people organised themselves into affinity groups - some planning to enter Kingsnorth by air (the silver group), some by land (the green group) and some by water (the blue group or 'Great Rebel Raft Regatta'). Over a 1000 people also took part in a mass action march to the gates of Kingsnorth forming a family-friendly and musical procession of protest on Saturday 9th August.

For me, it was my first experience of Climate Camp and I came away completely inspired and empowered by the people I met, the living climate solutions I experienced in the camp, and the direct action we took together on Saturday. Everything about the camp was uplifting - from the self-organised regional camping districts, to the amazing vegan food provided for every camper, to the community spirit which kept all 5 camp gates manned 24/7 and prevented any incursions by the police. On arrival down a pretty Kent country lane, we were welcomed over the make-shift stile and gate by a colourful, musical welcome party and given a tour of the site's 'barrios' and its ethos and sustainability principles.

Each barrio in the camp provides its own electricity ( from wind, solar, bicycle-power and biodiesel from recycled vegetable oil), has its own kitchens which supply 3 delicious, hot, vegan meals a day to every participant for a small donation, right through to providing innovative dry toilets which produce rich compost for the farmer who's land we are occupying. No festival portaloo can compare to the odour free, spotlessly clean and fully-toilet-paper-stocked toilets at Climate Camp - they were a miracle - and again something which each barrio or neighbourhood took responsibility for maintaining on a rota system.

All week long there were workshops on every subject under the sun, from producing your own biodiesel from vegetable oil, to how to be a legal observer on the day of action or indeed how to take non-violent direct action to shut down Kingsnorther. All meetings and workshops in the camp were expertly facilitated in an inclusive and participatory way, and every decision about the running of the camp was reached by consensus in an inspiring demonstration of what true democracy in practice looks like!

I walked around the camp with a permanent smile on my face and wished I'd been able to arrive earlier and take part in the construction and running of the camp more fully. As it was, arriving on Friday we were made to feel welcome and quickly integrated into the camps' way of life. Everywhere I turned I bumped into old friends and colleagues, from Friends of the Earth, People & Planet right through to other members of the NGO Forum I sit on with other campaigning orgs. I met members of the local groups in my regional network and students who were in the university groups I coordinated as Go Green intern for P&P. We even bumped into people who live really near us in Kings Heath and who we'll no doubt meet up with again now camp is over.

The action itself on Saturday was lots of fun - a loud musical procession with participants ranging from our friends' 8-month old baby to retired pensioners wanting to make their voices heard. There were bikes, bands, orang-utans, colourful banners and a ghost of climate future - not to mention chants galore, my favourite of which was 'Greener future is our goal, we don't need your dirty coal'. My friend D, with his crazy big hair and honking horn, did a great job of getting the whole procession chanting this and was even captured on Channel 4 news doing. The media loved the whole thing and when we got home yesterday we saw our friends with their 8-month old baby being interviewed!



My girlfriend J holding baby Nina-B (and me with my placard in the background)

The march was entirely peaceful and lots of fun. When we got to the main gates of the power station it was slightly surreal - we had a sit-in (and ate our picnic sandwiches). Whilst some people climbed the gates to affix banners reading 'No New Coal' or 'E-On, F-Off', I made my way to the front and started sticking my specially-made 'Climate Crime Scene' tape all the way across the gates - to the cheers of many of the protesters. It felt great to be right up there making my point - and being captured by the media photographers too!

 Me affixing Climate Crime Scene police tape to the front gates of Kingsnorth power plant. 

The only negative aspect of the camp for me was the massive antagonistic and intrusive police presence. I realised this weekend that Britain has become a police state and felt for the first time in my life what it was like to be the victim of political policing. Over 1500 officers were drafted in from all over the country, with dozens of trucks and helicopters all spewing out unnecessary carbon emissions. The police used intimidation tactics to deter people from coming to the camp, including an incursive raid in full riot gear on Tuesday where a dozen peaceful protesters were injured, and using Stop & Search powers to detain and search (as well as take details and film) every single person entering into the camp.

Searching my bag took over 30 minutes as the officers took every single item out of my bag (telling me for example that I may have hidden razor blades in my pants) and I witnessed them searching for offensive weapons in a toddler's pram to the disgust of her parents and all around. On top of this we heard stories of the police blaring music like Ride of the Valkyries at top volume over the campsite at 5am, as well as removing harmless personal possessions like soap, a board game, childrens wax crayons and wind turbines. On the day of action, police threatened to use dogs, horses, riot gear and batons to disperse a crowd of people including 100s of babies and small children. Last but not least, they used siege tactics by stopping any vehicles from delivering food and water to over 1000 campers - meaning that every last sack of potatoes had to be carried up to camp by hand. Words cannot express how disgraceful and appalling I find this behaviour and I've already written to my MP to ask her to get the government to withold any additional funding to Kent Police who oversaw this disastrous and waste operation.

The police were the source of much of the onsite gossip whilst we were there, but it did nothing to dampen people's spirits and on the whoel fostered an even closer sense of solidarity and community amongst the protesters. I think we can thank Kent Police for radicalising a lot of people who were up to that point passive and unconcerned about the ever-increasing powers of the police force in Britain.

We left the camp on Sunday feeling elated and empowered by everything that we saw and took part in. I for one will be doing everything I can to ensure that Climate Camp is a success again next year, and to return to Kingsnorth and stop the new coal-fired power station being built if it's given the go-ahead.

Bring on Climate Camp 2009!