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November 19, 2009
Newspapers across the world exploded this week with the news that fifty-five environmental activists had scaled the roof of British Parliament in London to protest against climate change – and Greenpeace India’s Brikesh Singh had travelled from India to be amongst them.
“Climate change is a global issue,” he pointed out, “and we need global action if we’re going to deal with it.”
Singh and his fellow activists remained overnight on the roof of the Houses of Westminster, a form of peaceful protest based upon moral principles that is known as non-violent direct action, or NVDA. Historically, this type of civil disobedience has been credited with ending apartheid and segregation, winning women the right to vote and shutting down the expansion of the nuclear industry, and is now increasingly being used as the weapon of choice by concerned citizens looking to effect policy change on climate issues. Yet this ‘Climate Satyagraha’ is strangely absent in India – a major player in seeing a deal is reached at Copenhagen, and also one of the countries in which many, many people will suffer and die because of climate change.
Many examples of Climate Satyagraha are being seen across the West. Mostly, these protests are in opposition to thermal power plants that utilise coal, which environmentalists point out is the dirtiest and most carbon-intensive of all fossil fuels. Last week, activists in the UK claimed a major victory as the energy-giant E.ON shelved its plans to build two new coal burning units at the existing Kingsnorth Power Station in Kent, SE England. The decision came after three years of protests, which peaked when five activists scaled a 600ft chimneystack in the power plant and began to paint the words ‘Gordon Bin It’ on its side. Their subsequent trial for criminal damage that eventually pronounced them ‘not guilty’ was a landmark case, the verdict based on the reasoning the damage had been wrought in an effort to avert far greater damage to property and humanity – that which will be caused by climate change.
In April this year, a proposed 1500MW power plant in New Mexico had its air permit withdrawn by the Environmental Protection Agency, following a years worth of protests by the Navajo community whose land the plant would be built on.
Four days ago, four climate activists chained themselves to the conveyor belt of the Dendrobium Coal Mine in south-east Australia, shutting down the mine for the day.
This coming weekend, three climate activist groups in the UK are planning a ‘Great Climate Swoop’ – hundreds and possibly thousands of concerned citizens who will descend on a 2000MW coal-fired power station in Northern England and attempt to halt its operations. The plant emits nine million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year – one of the largest emitters in Britain. The National Thermal Power Corporation of India alone has seven power plants that generate 2000MW or more, fuelled by burning coal.
Of course, the very principle of NVDA began in India with Gandhi, when he coined the term Satyagraha to describe his technique of non-violent protest, defining it as “the Force which is born of Truth and Love.” The idea is that adherence to a personal truth so strong that the protester is willing to sacrifice his or her liberty by going to jail in its defence, creates a force and moral legitimacy that is far superior to any that can be created by weapons or violence.
Yet despite the fundamental role Satyagraha played in gaining Indian Independence, and its continuing use on a range of social and political issues across the country, the use of NVDA in India to address the threat now posed by climate change has only been seen twice: one is the daubing of a coal carrier in Ennore Port in Chennai in 2007; the other is similar to the Kingsnorth action of UK activists, and also involved Brikesh Singh.
In October 2007, six Greenpeace India activists scaled the 230ft chimneystack of Kolaghat Thermal Power Station, the largest coal-fired plant in the state sector of West Bengal, and painted the words ‘SMOKING KILLS’ along the chimney’s length. The group comprised four men and two women; one six weeks pregnant at the time.
“We did it to save the world, we did it to communicate the threat of climate change looming large in our lives,” wrote Singh afterwards on his blog.
The group were arrested and sent to jail, a terrifying prospect for the climbers, none of whom had been in prison before.
“I was so scared,” remembers Singh. “The men in that cell were murderers, rapists thieves…the four of us just tried to stay together. I remember really, really wishing I hadn’t shaved.”
But to their surprise, the other prisoners treated them well, offering them food and blankets and excusing them the rank-establishing rituals other new inmates were forced to undergo. The reason why eventually came clear when a fellow prisoner approached them with a newspaper photo of the group scaling the power plant: their actions were respected as an effort to make the world a better place.
“You guys aren’t criminals,” the inmates told them. “You’re fighting for us, and for a better tomorrow. Why would we treat you badly?”
The group were granted bail three days later, although the verdict on their court trial for criminal trespass is still pending today, a full two years later.
Direct action has been referred to as the ‘last resort of democracy’, and even former Vice President of the US Al Gore has said: “I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration.” He shared the Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in the same year.
Still, how much comfort can the moral defensibility of actions provide to a mother, on hearing that her eldest son is in jail?
“You know, once we explained why Brikesh was in jail our mum was actually happy,” says Sachin Singh, Brikesh’s brother and a fundraiser for Greenpeace India in Mumbai. “She clapped!”
He explains:
“She knows this is a serious issue that is going to affect many millions of people around the world, but it’s only when Brikesh and fifty-odd other volunteers go and stand on the roof of a Parliament building that the world is really going to start paying attention. Our mum knows he’s doing a good job and is proud of it.”
However, there are still many opportunities for Climate Satyagraha to take force in India. Many more instances of mass civil disobedience are expected across the world in the run-up to the UN Climate Summit in December. The website beyondtalk.net invites visitors to pledge, if asked, to ‘perform non-violent civil disobedience and risk arrest in order to get our leaders to make the right climate-change choices.’ Nearly five thousand people have signed the pledge so far already, and November 30th, the day on which the pledge-makers are expected to be called upon, is anticipated as the largest civil disobedience to stop climate change in history. Other dates looming large in the Climate Satyagraha calendar are October 24th – the 350.org Global Day of Action – and December 12th, the global day of action of the ‘tcktcktck’ campaign, a worldwide coalition of major NGOs, trade unions, faith groups and individuals. The Copenhagen climate meetings are expected to be a major target for mass actions.
For now, Brikesh Singh and his fellow activists in the UK are on bail, pending a decision on the severity of their actions after a chilly night on the roof of UK Parliament. In the worst case scenario, he could be forced to leave the country and refused future entry to the UK. Still, he has no regrets.
“I climbed up because I represent a billion people who are being impacted by climate change on a daily basis,” he says. “Right now about a million people are rendered homeless in India because of flash floods, and the UK and other developed countries need to take leadership in climate politics to stop further suffering. But the whole world needs to step forward to avert this crisis and save the climate.”
“For this cause, if I have to go to jail, I would go happily one hundred times.”
“Climate change is a global issue,” he pointed out, “and we need global action if we’re going to deal with it.”
Many examples of Climate Satyagraha are being seen across the West. Mostly, these protests are in opposition to thermal power plants that utilise coal, which environmentalists point out is the dirtiest and most carbon-intensive of all fossil fuels. Last week, activists in the UK claimed a major victory as the energy-giant E.ON shelved its plans to build two new coal burning units at the existing Kingsnorth Power Station in Kent, SE England. The decision came after three years of protests, which peaked when five activists scaled a 600ft chimneystack in the power plant and began to paint the words ‘Gordon Bin It’ on its side. Their subsequent trial for criminal damage that eventually pronounced them ‘not guilty’ was a landmark case, the verdict based on the reasoning the damage had been wrought in an effort to avert far greater damage to property and humanity – that which will be caused by climate change.
In April this year, a proposed 1500MW power plant in New Mexico had its air permit withdrawn by the Environmental Protection Agency, following a years worth of protests by the Navajo community whose land the plant would be built on.
Four days ago, four climate activists chained themselves to the conveyor belt of the Dendrobium Coal Mine in south-east Australia, shutting down the mine for the day.
This coming weekend, three climate activist groups in the UK are planning a ‘Great Climate Swoop’ – hundreds and possibly thousands of concerned citizens who will descend on a 2000MW coal-fired power station in Northern England and attempt to halt its operations. The plant emits nine million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year – one of the largest emitters in Britain. The National Thermal Power Corporation of India alone has seven power plants that generate 2000MW or more, fuelled by burning coal.
Of course, the very principle of NVDA began in India with Gandhi, when he coined the term Satyagraha to describe his technique of non-violent protest, defining it as “the Force which is born of Truth and Love.” The idea is that adherence to a personal truth so strong that the protester is willing to sacrifice his or her liberty by going to jail in its defence, creates a force and moral legitimacy that is far superior to any that can be created by weapons or violence.
Yet despite the fundamental role Satyagraha played in gaining Indian Independence, and its continuing use on a range of social and political issues across the country, the use of NVDA in India to address the threat now posed by climate change has only been seen twice: one is the daubing of a coal carrier in Ennore Port in Chennai in 2007; the other is similar to the Kingsnorth action of UK activists, and also involved Brikesh Singh.
In October 2007, six Greenpeace India activists scaled the 230ft chimneystack of Kolaghat Thermal Power Station, the largest coal-fired plant in the state sector of West Bengal, and painted the words ‘SMOKING KILLS’ along the chimney’s length. The group comprised four men and two women; one six weeks pregnant at the time.
“We did it to save the world, we did it to communicate the threat of climate change looming large in our lives,” wrote Singh afterwards on his blog.
The group were arrested and sent to jail, a terrifying prospect for the climbers, none of whom had been in prison before.
“I was so scared,” remembers Singh. “The men in that cell were murderers, rapists thieves…the four of us just tried to stay together. I remember really, really wishing I hadn’t shaved.”
But to their surprise, the other prisoners treated them well, offering them food and blankets and excusing them the rank-establishing rituals other new inmates were forced to undergo. The reason why eventually came clear when a fellow prisoner approached them with a newspaper photo of the group scaling the power plant: their actions were respected as an effort to make the world a better place.
“You guys aren’t criminals,” the inmates told them. “You’re fighting for us, and for a better tomorrow. Why would we treat you badly?”
The group were granted bail three days later, although the verdict on their court trial for criminal trespass is still pending today, a full two years later.
Direct action has been referred to as the ‘last resort of democracy’, and even former Vice President of the US Al Gore has said: “I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration.” He shared the Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in the same year.
Still, how much comfort can the moral defensibility of actions provide to a mother, on hearing that her eldest son is in jail?
“You know, once we explained why Brikesh was in jail our mum was actually happy,” says Sachin Singh, Brikesh’s brother and a fundraiser for Greenpeace India in Mumbai. “She clapped!”
He explains:
“She knows this is a serious issue that is going to affect many millions of people around the world, but it’s only when Brikesh and fifty-odd other volunteers go and stand on the roof of a Parliament building that the world is really going to start paying attention. Our mum knows he’s doing a good job and is proud of it.”
However, there are still many opportunities for Climate Satyagraha to take force in India. Many more instances of mass civil disobedience are expected across the world in the run-up to the UN Climate Summit in December. The website beyondtalk.net invites visitors to pledge, if asked, to ‘perform non-violent civil disobedience and risk arrest in order to get our leaders to make the right climate-change choices.’ Nearly five thousand people have signed the pledge so far already, and November 30th, the day on which the pledge-makers are expected to be called upon, is anticipated as the largest civil disobedience to stop climate change in history. Other dates looming large in the Climate Satyagraha calendar are October 24th – the 350.org Global Day of Action – and December 12th, the global day of action of the ‘tcktcktck’ campaign, a worldwide coalition of major NGOs, trade unions, faith groups and individuals. The Copenhagen climate meetings are expected to be a major target for mass actions.
For now, Brikesh Singh and his fellow activists in the UK are on bail, pending a decision on the severity of their actions after a chilly night on the roof of UK Parliament. In the worst case scenario, he could be forced to leave the country and refused future entry to the UK. Still, he has no regrets.
“I climbed up because I represent a billion people who are being impacted by climate change on a daily basis,” he says. “Right now about a million people are rendered homeless in India because of flash floods, and the UK and other developed countries need to take leadership in climate politics to stop further suffering. But the whole world needs to step forward to avert this crisis and save the climate.”
“For this cause, if I have to go to jail, I would go happily one hundred times.”
Grace Boyle worked on Greenpeace's Rainspotting report that collected and compiled personal stories of climate change and the Indian monsoon from across India.
TO SEE HOW YOU CAN JOIN THE CLIMATE SATYAGRAHIS, VISIT WWW.GREENIDOL.IN AND CLICK ‘DO MORE’
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