Not only environmentalists live climate protests. Feminists, religious, immigrants, indigenous, socialists, farmers and vegans are some of the groups that marched in Glasgow, the biggest Scottish city, which hosted the COP26.
Also inside the turnstiles, while diplomats and politicians tried to agree the rules on how to organize and finance the fight against gas emissions that cause global warming, entities from different causes pressed for “climate justice”, the expanded and updated version of environmentalism.
And, between speeches, they swayed to the sound of “Antifa Dance”, by Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux, one of the stars at the end of the march (listen in the video below).
Meet some of the groups that were on the streets of Glasgow during COP26 and their battle cries.
Pacifists
Movement for the Abolition of Wars
What it does: Group discloses that 6% of global emissions result from military activities, including ore extraction, the military industry, use of vehicles in training, heating and cooling of facilities, the use of explosives and fuels in wars, fires and the use of steel and cement in reconstruction. They want the military sector to be included in the reduction targets and open to verification. They ask for discussion of more rational alternatives for conflict resolution.
Motto: “Wars change the climate / climate change causes wars”
Against meat
Animal Welfare Party; The Vegan Kind; Vegan Organic Net
What are you doing: For them, the meat and dairy sectors are the main cause of the climate crisis, a threat to nature and wildlife, a polluter of land, air and water and a cradle for the emergence of pathogens such as the coronavirus.
Motto: “Less meat, less heat” (in English, it’s a rhyme: “Less meat; less heat”); #FoodRevolution
Religious
Young Christian Climate Network
What it does: Brings together Christians aged 18 to 30 concerned about climate justice
vocations ireland
What it does: Group encourages young people with vocation to follow the religious life
Motto: “Sowing the Future” (on the march, they distributed seeds along with prayer leaflets)
therapists
SAL (Supporting All Lives)
What it does: It intends to treat “climate grief”, emotional trauma caused by the climate emergency that, among other problems, causes fear, anger, anguish, anxiety, depression and discouragement. It advocates recognizing these effects and transforming them into fuel to fight climate change.
cultural activists
Future for Humanity Foundation
What it does: It promoted a “festival on the fringes of the COP”, with shows from around 20 attractions, in association with other activist groups and sponsored by cannabis companies.
Motto: “Make the climate cool” (a pun on two meanings of the word “cool”, which means both cool and cool)
Educators
ClimateFresk
What it does: Created and publicized a game, translated into 32 languages ​​and disseminated in 50 countries, through which children learn the science behind the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report through collaboration and imagination.
labor
Internationalist Labor Left; Free Our Unions; anti-capitalist resistance
What are you doing: They defend as part of climate justice the rights of immigrants, the global redistribution of income, freedom of association and the right to free movement for all.
Motto: “The sea is rising / We are too”
Separatists
Radical Independent Campaign; Pensioners for Separation
What are you doing: For them, the independence of Scotland from the United Kingdom will allow the implementation of better climate policies.
Motto: “My underground, my rules / Leave the oil buried”
peasants
Via Campesina
What it does: Affirms that market-based solutions will not bring climate justice and that agroecology and food sovereignty must be adopted.
Motto: “Globalize Struggle, Globalize Hope”
Land Workers Alliance
What it does: It argues that small local farmers are better for the environment.
Motto: “More farmers, better food”
Anti-racists
Black Lives Matter; Youth Against Racism and Inequality
What are you doing: They emphasize that black populations are the most affected by the climate crisis, even though they are not the ones that emit the most greenhouse gases.
Motto: “We choose now; act now”
immigrants
Glasgow Immigrant and Refugee Network
What are you doing: They denounce that they were forced to leave their countries after the destruction caused by the colonizers, they built the countries they moved to and have a right to them too.
Weak: “We don’t want your bloody money / We want to change, honey” (we don’t want your money / we want change, honey); “Say it loud, say it clear / Refugees are welcome here” (Say it loud and clear: refugees are welcome here)
Pacific Climate Warriors
What are you doing: They emphasize that their countries are at risk of disappearing because of the rising oceans caused by industrialized nations. Require financing and repair.
Motto: “Let’s not drown, let’s fight”
Natives
Coica Alliance; GATC (Global Alliance of Territorial Communities)
What are you doing: They bring together indigenous and traditional community organizations from Latin America, Africa and Asia. They advocate that these communities have a greater voice in climate negotiations and have their land demarcated.
Weak: “The time is now / There is no planet B”; “Demarcation already!”; “The struggle for Mother Earth is the mother of all struggles”​
Alternatives
What the F* WWF (WTFWWF)
What are you doing: Large conservation organizations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) are said to violate human rights, for example by supporting sterilization programs. They ask people to donate directly to indigenous communities, not big institutions in the developed world.
Weak: “Decolonize conservationism”; “Outside ecofacism”
Coalition COP26
What it does: It brought together NGOs, unions and parties and organized a side event, the Popular Assembly, during the COP period.
Young
Fridays for Future
What it does: It brings together various youth movements and goes on school strikes to draw attention to the danger of climate injustice.
Weak: “No more blah blah blah”; “Climate justice now!”
Feminist
Women’s Strike; Rosa
What are you doing: They claim that it is impossible to fight global warming as long as women are oppressed.
Motto: “No fight, no progress”
Socialists
International Socialist Alternative, Scottish Socialist Party
What are you doing: For them, the climate crisis is caused not by humanity, in the abstract, but by the ruling class in the capitalist system. In the groups’ view, the solution is to change the system to an international socialism, based on public ownership and democratic control of large corporations and the financial sector.
Weak: “One, two, three, four, climate change is at the door / Five, six, seven, eight, organize and demonstrate!” (1, 2, 3, 4, climate change knocks / 5, 6, 7, 8, get organized and protest), “Change the system, not the climate”)
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