Your climate message to Gordon Brown was spelled out in the boldest terms yet on Friday night as Christian Aid staged its first ever Mass Visual Trespass (MVT).
Trespass No 1
Ironbridge power station, 28.08.09
E.ON's Ironbridge power plant in Shropshire provided the stage as our campaign for climate justice moved up a gear.
As the light was fading, our intrepid team of campaigners made their way to within a few hundred metres of the plant before flicking a switch and beaming a slideshow of your video, photo and text messages onto the cooling towers. It was a truly impressive sight.
It could be you up in lights next time! Add your message.
More info What is the Mass Visual Trespass?
Why Ironbridge?
Ironbridge was the perfect stage for our first ‘trespass’ – and not only because E.ON are the people behind the planned coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth.
‘Ironbridge is the birthplace of the industrial revolution,’ says our head of campaigns, Paul Brannen.
‘And while people in the world’s poorest countries are bearing the brunt of droughts, floods, tropical storms and unpredictable weather, it is rich industrialised countries like the UK that are historically responsible for causing climate change.
‘They must now demonstrate a new kind of leadership in dealing with the consequences.
‘So 300 years on and exactly 100 days ahead of the UN summit in Copenhagen, we thought it was time to call for a new revolution – a climate revolution – and we are calling on Gordon Brown to help deliver a fair deal for the world’s poorest people at December’s climate change talks in Copenhagen.’
Why E.ON?
We chose an E.ON power station because we wanted to send a message to the company, as well as to Gordon Brown, that coal kills, and that all new coal power plants must operate full carbon capture and storage from the outset.
Under the government’s current proposals, new plants such as Kingsnorth will only capture 25% of their carbon – with the remaining 75% being pumped into the air as normal.
Coal power Where Christian Aid stands
Coal is the single most polluting source of energy and is historically responsible for 50% of carbon dioxide emissions currently in the atmosphere.
Unless drastic action is taken to cut global carbon emissions now, temperatures will rise by over 2˚C. This will bring truly disastrous results for many already vulnerable poor communities on a global scale.
Halting climate change is urgent
Our team included a number of Christian Aid supporters from the Midlands.
‘Climate change is one of the key issues for people I met in Ghana,’ said 26-year-old Platform2 returnee Natalie Williams.
‘I got involved in the Mass Visual Trespass because people speaking together can make the difference on this issue. We really need the support of everyone, and for leaders to take it seriously.’
Alison Clarke, 58, of Worcester said: ‘This issue is about justice for my children and grandchildren, but even more so for the poorest people of the Earth, who are the worst affected by climate change.’
‘Climate change endangers us all. Halting it is urgent – the highest priority any government should have – so our prime minister must show its importance by going to Copenhagen himself,’ added John Routh, a minister from Sutton Coldfield.
Join the trespass
Want climate justice? Add your message and we'll make sure the prime minister sees it at one of our next trespasses.
