12
March 2009 - Konin, Poland — We are delighted
that the construction of an open-pit coal
mine in Poland, where we set up a Climate
Rescue Station in December 2008, has been
suspended. This is a significant win in
our battle against the mine, which would
have lead to around 50 million tonnes of
CO2 being released into the atmosphere,
the displacement of hundreds of local people,
water pollution and land destruction in
an ecosystem protected under the Natura
2000 network.
A Polish court found
possible illegalities in the environmental
assessment process that gave the green light
to the open-pit mine in Tomislawice near
Konin, and construction has now been suspended
pending an investigation. This encouraging
result follows our legal challenge of the
assessment process in December 2008.
Coal is the worst polluting
of all fossil fuels, and it is the single
greatest threat facing our climate. Lignite
(brown coal) releases more CO2 than any
other type of coal so it's a great relief
to see construction of this massive new
mine suspended! And while this is only a
delay, our campaign team in Poland feels
that there is now a good chance that the
mine will be totally cancelled. They are
doing everything (peacefully) possible to
make sure this is the case.
To the rescue
By supporting the local
community we have been mounting pressure
on the government to cancel plans for coal
expansion. Our Climate Rescue Station, on
the edge of the existing mine near Konin,
was the focal point of our campaign against
coal in the run-up to and during UN climate
negotiations taking place in Poznan, Poland,
last December. We helped to catalyse the
local plight of hundreds of residents who
risk having their livelihoods ruined by
the mine. We supported a protest of 400
locals and hosted international journalists
while our activists occupied a nearby coal-fired
power plant for 50 hours.
Scientists raise the
alarm
This victory comes as
leading scientists are sharing their latest
climate research in Copenhagen, Denmark.
They have just warned that climate change
is accelerating at a greater rate than they
expected and that it will worsen dramatically
if we do not take urgent action now. Copenhagen
will also host the most important UN climate
negotiations ever this December. As governments
prepare for this meeting we are reminding
them that quitting coal is essential to
any meaningful deal to save the climate.
Poland is renowned for
being obstructive in climate negotiations
and for its attempts to undermine EU climate
policy. The country uses coal to produce
93 per cent of its electricity, more than
double the world average.
Poland needs an energy
[r]evolution
It is wonderful to see that the voice of
the local community has been heard in Poland.
And we are now warning the Polish Prime
Minister that if he adopts an energy policy
that gives a green light to coal expansion
this will be widely opposed by many Polish
citizens.
The government has just presented an energy
proposal full of coal and nuclear power
without enough support for renewable energy
and energy efficiency. Our office in Poland
is continuing to promote its Energy [R]evolution
scenario, a detailed study of future energy
pathways, which shows how Poland can move
away from coal, and produce 80 per cent
of its electricity from renewable energy
resources by 2050.
+ More
Hundreds of Greenpeace
activists block easy way out for EU money
men on climate change
10 March 2009 - Brussels,
Belgium — Three hundred and forty Greenpeace
activists were arrested as they took their
demand to "Bail out the Planet"
to European Union finance ministers in Brussels.
Activists blocked the
exits of the building where the ministers
were meeting, and demanded an answer on
the climate funding question. Swarms of
uniformed officers, riot police and plain-clothed
cops descended on the activists as a line
of black armoured vehicles, police vans
and busses moved in to block the public
view of the activist-guarded doors. Electric
saws were used to cut through the locks
and police dragged activists face down into
the line of police vehicles. It took the
police more than two hours to remove all
of the peaceful activists.
As the men and women
of EU finance met to discuss the financial
crisis and the climate crisis, we asked
a question: where is the money to avert
runaway climate change? Because it looks
to us like there's far more interest in
bailing out banks then in bailing out a
planet headed toward a bankrupt future.
The decisions made today
by EU finance ministers are important because
they will directly influence Europe’s position
at the historic UN climate summit in Copenhagen
this December. Richer developed countries
need to contribute at least €110 billion
a year by 2020 to make sure developing countries
are able to reduce emissions of greenhouse
gases and cope with the already unavoidable
impacts of climate change.
Each country’s
contribution towards a climate bailout plan
is based on its ability to pay and its level
of responsibility in causing climate change.
Based on this, the European governments'
share is €35 billion a year by 2020, the
equivalent of just €1.30 a week per European
citizen: the price of a bus ticket. To help
raise these funds, we are supporting a new
scheme that puts a price tag on greenhouse
gas emissions and asks rich countries to
pay for their carbon footprint according
to their means and their responsibility
for causing the climate problem.
