Climate Camp, Kingsnorth -- 3rd to 11th August

You can read all about preparations for the climate camp protests at Kingsnorth in August here.

The climate camp has been held in 2006 (at the Drax plant in Yorkshire) and 2007 (at Heathrow).

Kingsnorth has been chosen, since it is the first proposed site of seven coal-fired power stations in the UK. These power stations would emit around 50 million tons of CO2 a year.

One of the 10 reasons not to build Kingsnorth is that, insted of employing people to burn coal, we need to talk about how about we build install and run an energy system based on renewables. Germany's renewables sector, for example, already employs 250 000 people. This is the only way forward -- figuring out how to shift employment from dirty industries to clean, sustainable industries, to jobs that pay living wages.

The organisers of the climate camp have issued an "open statement and invitation" to the trade union movement to attend the camp:

We want to clarify that this action is not against the workers at Kingsnorth, nor does it mean we think the UK coal industry should be shut down overnight. It means we want to show the seriousness of the threat both to humans and our environment, now and into the future. This crisis affects the world’s poorest people first and hardest and is a social justice issue.

We recognise the history of political attacks on the miners and the union movement and we firmly resist that. We recognise the need for jobs, viable communities and a strong trade union movement, and we want a decent, fair and long term deal for all, including miners, energy workers and their communities. Extremely rapid reductions in emissions are necessary if we are not to watch millions suffer and die in the most preventable disaster the world has ever known.

We have adopted the model of "Just Transition," in which the needs of workers are paramount within the transition to a new economy: their views are central, there should be adequate retraining where required, there should be no loss incurred. An increasing number of trade unions are adopting this model internationally. There will be ways we can make this transition protect, and benefit, workers and communities worldwide.