Living up to the name: Action at the Camp for Climate Action 2007
Peter Salmon talks to direct action campaigners from the Camp for Climate Action
The UK’s Camp for Climate Action has always been as much about taking direct action against the root causes of climate change as it has been about mass action and education. It is about going to people and saying that only radical action and radical change makes sense when it comes to fighting back against those responsible for the deteriorating state of the world. It grew from a sense that agreements such as Kyoto or Durban are too little too late.
Heathrow was a fantastic burst of energy - people who had never conceived of taking direct action left the campsite in droves to target climate abusers. For those who were on the front line of this new found world it was a fascinating and happy time, as several years of work finally came together.
Here we talk to activists Kate and James, not their real names, who explain how things developed from the protests against the G8 in 2005 to the frenzy of Heathrow in 2007.
We begin with James: “The start was the protests against the 2005 G8 Meeting in Scotland. While the police were mopping up campaigners in Edinburgh, others were rapidly putting together the ‘eco-village’ in Stirling and this became the centre of protest. On the night before the G8 started, three separate ‘black bloc’s marched out and simply had it. Elsewhere a lot of affinity groups were blockading key routes. It was an empowering time and gave the movement in Britain a good kick up the arse. The anarchists had out-organised the left and the state alike and won a lot of battles.
“But the important thing was that people came away inspired.”
James’ colleague Kate picks up the story, “What you need to remember is that up until then the protest movement was in the doldrums. Stirling showed that we were more powerful than we thought, revitalised us. At the same time there were many of us coming from a radical environmental perspective who were saying that what was being proposed by NGOs and governments was not enough. And we had an audience. There was the sense that the time was right.”
Thus the Camp for Climate Action was born, and decided to bite of more than anyone else had thought of chewing, the biggest CO2 emitter in Britain, the Drax coal-fired power station.
“The choice of target was great,” Kate continues, “the media went mad for it, but from the point of view of actions there were problems that we only became aware of in hindsight. A lot of energy went into convincing people that we could do it in the first place. We were all about building a mass movement involved in radical change, but life is not that simple.”
“We focused on a single mass action hoping that would inspire others to go out to take their own action,” interjects James. “Because there were groups such as Rising Tide or Earth First! around, it was thought that they would pick up the baton of affinity group actions and run with it, whether street campaigns or direct action. However, there was not enough momentum. People were still disempowered by how big climate change is and were struggling to see where to start and what was possible to take on.”
That is not to say the activists did not try. In the run up one group did a banner drop on Didcot power station, partly for the media, partly to get some images and partly to show that a coal-fired power station could be acted against in the first place. However the other big action of the Climate Camp was the blockade of Hartlepool nuclear power station early on in the camp.
James picks up the story, “Hartlepool was meant to show people that action could take place by a dedicated group of people, and that just because Drax was all about coal, it did not mean that we were single issue or taking our eye off the ball on nuclear and the like. It worked, but in terms of inspiring people it did not get over the simple enormity of the task before us.”
However, the actions are just part of the tale. The 2006 camp saw other groups come forward to prepare people. Direct action training was on hand, while groups such as Seeds For Change, Rising Tide and others were coming together to teach and help people explore the options. They did the ground work for what was to happen the following year.
“2007,” Kate says slowly, “Terrifying in its scope. I mean Heathrow was already under full terrorist alert as it was and we were planning direct action against it. And the media was even crazier around us, not to mention now having to deal with very experienced force in the shape of the London Metropolitan Police. The world was watching and we had to get it right; we had to be audacious; the pressure was on to pull it off. It was inspiring and daunting at the same time.”
The Camp for Climate Action organisation was broken down to numerous working groups who looked after various aspects of what needed to happen, from site practicalities to media. Most were open, in line with the non-hierarchical ethos of the camp, but some were closed for security reasons. One of the working groups was Action Support which took on the aspect of ensuring that affinity groups formed and they had the resources to take action.
“We were not about the mass action,” says James, “We were about everything else. We saw ourselves as being the people who brought the necessary skills and inspiration to get people to go out and tackle climate change from a practical perspective.”
“What changed at Heathrow was that we finally broke the fear around taking action against climate abusers,” Kate recalls happily, “The talks, the targets, the support from the locals, the media, everything came together and gave people the entry they needed. Action Support played a role, but it was only catalysing a reaction that was already happening. The time had finally came, and what mattered most was that we were there to facilitate that. It was incredible seeing people coming in from the talks, the training and simply being up for it. In return we gave them the maps, told them how to get the equipment they needed, linked them up with drivers, and put people in contact with each other. The neighbourhood structure also helped greatly as it provided focus points.”
“It was hairy at times,” James comments, “I mean you have to have an element of trust and take risks, but as action after action rolled in you knew it was worth it. And when you looked into people’s eyes, you knew that they were hooked, and you had to go with it. I tell you, there are few feelings as good as seeing a group of people who have never done an action before in their lives standing before you one morning and the next hearing about them in the newspapers.”
So what role did the Action Support working group play in the Camp reaching that point?
Action Support
Initially open, Action Support decided to become a closed group for security reasons. It focused itself on what needed to happen, worked out its own security and got on with the job quietly, carefully networking only with other working that it needed to liaise with. During the camp, it partially emerged to run a marquee as a focal point for those seeking training and information. Its role became threefold: to inspire, to train and to provide resources.
Inspiration
“Obvious,” laughs Kate, “Audacious action. Hartlepool only bigger. Groups such as Plane Stupid, which had partly come out of the previous camp, were picking up the baton, but it was felt that something needed to happen that made people realise there was more to action than marches and street theatre. Thus affinity groups were approached for a day of direct action against related targets early on in the camp.”
On the Tuesday of the camp two private airports were shut down by affinity group blockades.
“Don’t underestimate the effect,” says Kate, “We’d taken the camp, but suddenly we were more than that. People had left the camp and pulled off two great actions. We had hoped for more, but that turned out to be enough. A radical marker had been staked that set a decent standard for everyone to follow, that was more than titillating the media. We demonstrated we could organise and that being bold could work, despite the constant harassment from the police. However, key to its success was it had all been planned in advance.”
Research
James: “This was fun. The region was littered with corporate climate abusers. They were tracked down and the details distributed before and at the camp. A website went up with what, who and why and was press-released to add to the frisson that the camp was about taking action.”
“It was key that we broke down the industry around aviation into sizeable chunks. People see climate criminals as these vast entities, but do not realise that they are made up of lots of different aspects which all depend on each other,” Kate adds. “Explaining that to people was important, hence the leaflets and website.” (http://www.reclaimtheskies.com/)
“And maps,” says James, “That was pretty vital. Someone produced a decent map of Heathrow and its environs. Some were marked with the targets around Heathrow for effective planning, while others were left unmarked so they would not incriminate those caught with them. We knew we had done well when the police turned up using our maps as they were better than their own.” He laughs.
“Not that we are going to tell you how we got them on site,” grins Kate, keeping that secret to herself.
Training
Just as important was that groups which were experienced in non-violent direct action came forward and provided training on various blockading techniques. Banner materials and paints also were made available. Practical equipment was brought in so people could get hands on experience of how to do an arm tube or D-lock protest.
As people came out from workshops on who was doing what to the planet, they could walk straight to the Action Support marquee to learn where and how they could take action. They were greeted by friendly volunteers and pointed in the direction of the trainers. Later others would quietly pick up the mantle and help them decide where their enthusiasm could be directed.
While aviation was the general theme of the camp, people had plenty of scope to explore targets around that. Those interested in immigration issues were able to target an airline involved in repatriation, others were targeting hedge funds involved in airport expansion in their region. Some neighbourhoods came together and worked out what they wanted to do that was relevant to them all, so creating affinity groups around local and regional bonds.
The fear of anything happening at Heathrow meant that the police kept their eyes focused on it, leaving everything else up for grabs, so there was scope to get out and away as opposed to being locked into one target. It is telling that pretty much all the targets discussed for the day of mass action and rejected were hit in or just after the camp finished, despite being discussed in open meetings.
All this fed the excitement in the camp, inspiring more and more to action. It was not the fact there were a couple of actions on one day and then a mass action such as in Drax, but that people were heading out on a daily basis to directly tackle climate criminals, even within Heathrow itself. People’s confidence was further boosted by the stories of those being bailed back to site following being arrested on actions.
This is not the complete story. That is much longer, and probably never to be written, but you can use your imagination to fill in the gaps. The Camp had a lot of luck, divided police, ideal geography for targets and so on, but a lot more luck was made by groups being prepared to take advantage of the situation, by encouraging people to be bold, and providing them with the skills, knowledge, inspiration and resources to put desire into action.
