Last week, IYNF was contacted by the Czech Media. Thomas explains why action for the climate is needed even more, in times of terror attacks. Because we’re disappointed that our version of the article has been changed, you can find our answers in this article in English.
The Czech article can be found here.
You cancelled the climate walk in Paris nearly a week after the terrorist attacks. That means that you were willing to demonstrate even after the attacks. Were you not afraid? Didn’t the safety situation worry you at all?
What happened in Paris is an unfortunate situation, and we are deeply sorry for the victims and their families. The International Young Naturefriends (IYNF), together with a large European network of other social & environmental organizations, were investing time and energy since the COP19 in Warsaw in the mobilizations towards the climate negotiations in Paris. In December, during the official climate negotiations COP21, there is expected to be an agreement that replaces the Kyoto protocol. Delegates, politicians and negotiators were expected to come to the COP21 in Paris with an initial draft proposal that needs to be agreed upon and finalized in order to implement its agreement in 2020.
The reason why we are not held back by a terrorist attack in Paris, is because we know that this situation is only a very small slice of the problems and misery that we will face due to climate change. We were convinced to go to Paris, because we realize what is at stake. The current refugee crisis in Europe for example is not disconnected from climate change. In Syria there were extreme droughts between 2006 & 2010, this caused tension & political instability in the country, and a lot of people back then decided to move from the countryside to the cities where there was less water scarcity. When a basic need like water is scarce, the political situation in a country is harder to keep under control, and in many cases conflicts increase, due to this scarcity.
Therefor the reason for us to keep on mobilizing is not a matter of our safety in Europe right here and now. It’s a matter of the safety of all people, here in the global North & in the global South. Further increase in CO2 pollution will cause resource scarcity in the global South, this will result in crop failures and water scarcity. Due to repeated situations like this, people will have to move as a means of survival. Climate scientist expect mass migration, because a lot of regions in the South will become almost unbearable to survive. Mass migration will reshape our whole world, it will increase political conflicts, it brings with it a lot of unsafety as diseases will spread more easily, it will divide people, countries and nations, and then the means for war are lurking behind the corner.
As much as you are afraid of the situation happened in Paris, you should be more afraid for a world that does not focus on tackling climate change.
How did people who were willing to participate in the walk respond to the attacks? Were they still willing to go to Paris for the Walk or did they sign off?
Our Naturefriends movement exist this year 120 years. Since 1895 we are bringing people together with the living values of solidarity, cooperation and respect for each other & for nature. We have been building expertise in environmental education for a while now, and we have been keep on passing that experience to the next generations with the intention to keep on doing so. Most people who were joining with our mobilization have a background in our organization, and therefore they have been experiencing our values, beliefs and education. An attack in the capital in France may be terrifying, but it was not a reason for most of them to stop their participation in the global mobilization. They realize that it is even more important to take part in the global Climate March, because there is a direct link between violence & safety and climate change.
A couple of days later the French authorities decided to make the Climate March on 29 November illegal. They want the people to be safe and they want to be extra careful. As much as we understand the need for extra measures, we do not understand why this is a reason to violate our freedom of speech. In a country that once initiated the speech ‘Liberté, égalité é fraternité’ it is a strange development to limit the freedom of speech of the whole climate movement in Europe and beyond. Especially after the attack on Charlie Hebdo, were French people were devastated that an illustrator was killed due to his art, his personal freedom of speech, it is not understandable that the French authorities are now limiting the right to protest and the freedom of speech of the people. If the French government would really care about the safety of the people, then they would not answer the terror attack with bombs in the Middle East. How can you expect less terror attacks on your own people, if you are causing violence, chaos & death on people in another part of the world? Bombing for peace is like fucking for virginity.
Can you please describe me how the communication between you and the Paris officials after the attacks? Were you renegotiating the conditions under which the walk still could take place? What would these new conditions be? Why did the ban for the walk came this late? What has changed?
Communication was very difficult the first days after the attack. A lot of information sources were contradictory and it was hard to see the forest for the trees. IYNF did not have direct contact with officials in Paris, but informally we are part of the network Coalition 21 and they were doing all they could to keep things as they were organized. They had a meeting with the French authorities to show the importance of letting the March still happen, but they were not being listened to and one day later it was decided to ban the March. With IYNF we wonder, what is the role of politicians, who should be a representative of the people, if they do not represent the people at all? If people can go shopping on the Christmas market on the Champs-Élysées, we do not understand why others that want to shout for a cause that underlines peace, human rights, solidarity and social & environmental justice, should not be listened to.
Haven’t you thought of organizing the Walk even without an approval of the authorities? Would you do it? Why yes/no?
Not one revolution has started with asking permission. Even without the approval there is going to be a creative non-violent March in Paris. With IYNF we have decided to keep on mobilizing. A part of our group will travel to Paris, while the others will stay in Belgium and join the Belgian movement in Oostende. On 29 November there are going to be around 150 Climate Marches around the world, over 1500 side events related to the start of the UNFCCC climate negotiations are happening to address the importance of the need for a global agreement that is legally binding. We want a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol that is ambitious and that represent the needs of the global issue. As much as we believe that the climate conference is about finding a global strategy to reduce our CO2 emissions, today we believe even more that the COP21 has an undeniable role to pave the way towards a peaceful future. Or as Energy expert Micheal T. Klare states it, that the COP21: ‘Should be considered not just a climate summit but a peace conference – perhaps the most significant peace convocation in history.’
The International Young Naturefriends are taking part in the official negotiations. We are very active in the Climate Change Network initiative of the European Youth Forum. In Paris we will represent the voice of the young people in Europe during the official climate negotiations. IYNF believes that it is both necessary to claim our rights on the streets and find a way to take part in the official negotiations. Although our hope is not too high for this COP21, we will do anything we can – and even more – to support the way towards an ambitious international climate agreement that is legally binding and that is environmentally & socially just!