{"id":20038,"date":"2018-12-14T16:05:24","date_gmt":"2018-12-14T15:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=20038"},"modified":"2021-12-01T13:50:57","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T12:50:57","slug":"my-friends-think-im-crazy-why-im-taking-a-stand-against-coal-in-poland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/20038\/my-friends-think-im-crazy-why-im-taking-a-stand-against-coal-in-poland\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMy friends think I\u2019m crazy\u201d \u2013 Why I\u2019m taking a stand against coal in Poland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>World leaders may talk the talk, but it\u2019s the activists, the impacted communities, the younger generation, that are truly walking the walk.<\/b><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20039\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20039\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20039\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/ba954c71-gp0stsqw5.jpg\" alt=\"Activists Climb Belchatow Coal Power Plant in Poland. \u00a9 Anonymous\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/ba954c71-gp0stsqw5.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/ba954c71-gp0stsqw5-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/ba954c71-gp0stsqw5-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/ba954c71-gp0stsqw5-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/ba954c71-gp0stsqw5-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-20039\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ahead of the Katowice Climate Change Conference, COP24, Greenpeace activists climb a 180 metre-high chimney at Belchatow power plant, the largest climate polluter in Europe and one of the largest coal fueled power plants in the world, to demand climate action and a coal phase out.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the past two weeks, Katowice in the south of Poland has been taken over by the year\u2019s biggest, and most important climate change conference. The UN\u2019s Conference of Parties, COP24 is the annual \u201cOlympics\u201d for environmental academics, scientists, NGOs, politicians, activists, and anyone else who cares for the future of our planet. Ultimately, the \u201cgold medal\u201d is to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/press-release\/19625\/no-excuses-climate-on-fire-time-to-act-greenpeace\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">achieve a binding climate policy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, but lurking in the shadows are those that are insistent on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2018\/dec\/11\/australia-only-nation-to-join-us-at-pro-coal-event-at-cop24-climate-talks\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dragging everyone else behind<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This was the moment during the Trump administration&#39;s side-event at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/COP24?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#COP24<\/a> when protestors interrupted to urge the panel to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/KeepItInTheGround?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#KeepItInTheGround<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KusY3KkjhI\">pic.twitter.com\/KusY3KkjhI<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Leo Hickman (@LeoHickman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LeoHickman\/status\/1072111511546531840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 10, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the warning that there are <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2018\/10\/8\/17948832\/climate-change-global-warming-un-ipcc-report\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">just 12 years left to save the climate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, COP24 is crucial in actually putting the Paris Agreement to work \u2013 the agreement <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2018\/07\/12\/countries-yet-ratify-paris-agreement\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ratified by all but 20 countries<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to limit the increase of global average temperature to 1.5\u00b0C, so as to reduce the risks and effects of climate change.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But no matter what the outcome in Katowice, the real action is happening on the ground. In 2018, a year that has experienced <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/18156\/from-fires-to-floods-this-is-what-extreme-weather-looks-like\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">worsening climate change impacts<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; tragic wildfires, heat waves, typhoons, and floods \u2013 people around the world are calling for urgent climate action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are four people who are no longer willing to wait and doing all they can.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>\u201cMy family has been involved in coal for almost a century\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>Marek, 32 &#8211; Climate Campaigner at Greenpeace Poland<\/b><\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_20040\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20040\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20040\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/3737e90d-gp0stsqwh.jpg\" alt=\"Activists Climb Belchatow Coal Power Plant in Poland. \u00a9 Anonymous\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/3737e90d-gp0stsqwh.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/3737e90d-gp0stsqwh-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/3737e90d-gp0stsqwh-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/3737e90d-gp0stsqwh-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/3737e90d-gp0stsqwh-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-20040\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marek, protesting at the Belchatow power plant<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I grew up in a coal mining town in the region of Silesia. My family is involved in coal and has been for almost a century &#8211; my grandmother, great grandfather, and other members of my family worked as miners; and my parents are involved in the industry. Certainly, coal was one of the most important centres for the local economy &#8211; even the local football clubs are sponsored by coal mines or mining companies! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before climate change became widely known, I remember that the talk in Poland was about air pollution and the ozone layer. There was a lot of climate denialism. Now, we\u2019ve gotten to a point where the climate has changed so much that there\u2019s no option but to take swift action. The world is not black and white and neither is Silesia, the mining region. We need a \u201cjust transition\u201d but it cannot be an excuse for inaction. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By the end of COP24 I hope that my country learns something. One of the world\u2019s biggest climate change conferences is happening here and Poland really has an opportunity to show to the world that they can be proactive. For example, at this point in Poland, wind energy is 50% cheaper than coal! All the solutions are there &#8211; the government just needs to implement them. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>\u201cA lot of my friends think I\u2019m crazy. \u2018It\u2019s not your problem!\u2019 they say to me.\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>Belgis, 24 \u2013 Greenpeace activist from Indonesia<\/b><\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_19608\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-19608\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/11\/a6885ebe-gp0stsqx1_medium_res.jpg\" alt=\"Activists Climb Belchatow Coal Power Plant in Poland. \u00a9 Anonymous\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/11\/a6885ebe-gp0stsqx1_medium_res.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/11\/a6885ebe-gp0stsqx1_medium_res-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/11\/a6885ebe-gp0stsqx1_medium_res-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/11\/a6885ebe-gp0stsqx1_medium_res-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/11\/a6885ebe-gp0stsqx1_medium_res-510x340.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-19608\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Belgis, protesting at the Belchatow power plant<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About three times now in Indonesia, I have climbed a coal power plant, a coal chimney, and a crane &#8211; all to protest coal. When my friends ask me \u2018Why?\u2019 the truth is, I\u2019m doing it because of my father.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My father is in the Indonesian army and his office is less than 10 kilometres from one of the country\u2019s largest coal power plants. Little does he know that the coal fly ash can spread up to 50 kilometres, which pollutes the air and can severely impact health. My father is old and has some health issues, but when I tell him this he doesn\u2019t believe me. Instead, my father thinks that if I want to protect the environment I should just plant a tree or put my trash in the bin. He doesn\u2019t support my activism! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reason why I\u2019m in Poland is because I\u2019m here to beg &#8211; to shout! &#8211; to world leaders that we need to stop the mining, stop coal, and switch to renewable energy. In Indonesia I\u2019ve met fishermen, farmers, and Indigenous communities whose lives have all been made worse by coal \u2013 whether it\u2019s having their land taken away by coal mining development, or their source of food becoming harder to access.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimately, I want to prove to my father the dangers of coal. Maybe some of us don\u2019t think or worry about climate change, but because we don&#8217;t see it, it doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t feel it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>About 20 km away from Katowice lies Imielin, with a population of about 8,000. However, a coal mine expansion threatens the town and its residents. These people are <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/press-release\/19846\/climate-pilgrims-and-polish-community-urge-cop24-leaders-to-save-the-climate-save-the-people\/\"><i>standing up against this project<\/i><\/a><i> that will ruin their homes and the climate.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<lite-youtube style=\"background-image: url('https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/kdfYW6kMiV8\/hqdefault.jpg');\" videoid=\"kdfYW6kMiV8\" params=\"rel=0\"><\/lite-youtube>\n<h2><b>\u201cI have to fight to save my home\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>Alicja &#8211; teacher, writer, and choir singer<\/b><\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_20043\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20043\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20043\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/3e653bce-gp0stsuob.jpg\" alt=\"Alicja Zdziechiewicz in Imielin, Poland. \u00a9 Tom Lowe\" width=\"1200\" height=\"795\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/3e653bce-gp0stsuob.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/3e653bce-gp0stsuob-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/3e653bce-gp0stsuob-768x509.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/3e653bce-gp0stsuob-1024x678.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/3e653bce-gp0stsuob-510x338.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-20043\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alicja, resident of Imielin<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I moved to Imielin about four years ago in order to live a quieter life. Instead, I have to fight to save my home. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When we built our houses, the mining company informed us that they would not dig in this area. But the mine wants to extract coal with the cheapest and most aggressive method, which will cause the ground to cave in six metres, meaning my house will collapse. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s a tiring and unfair fight \u2013 the authorities don&#8217;t listen, the coal director doesn&#8217;t listen, and at an administrative hearing, we got less time than the coal representatives to argue our case! But a sense of unity with other residents gives me strength, and our fight has raised our awareness of similar protests around the world. For example, I supported the community-led protest to save the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/press-release\/18830\/tens-of-thousands-call-for-german-coal-phase-out\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hambach Forest<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Germany, and the growth of the movement gives me hope that we can stop the mining company and save this town and my home.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>\u201cToday Imielin is green, but tomorrow it could be black.\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n<h3><b>Irek \u2013 activist and small business owner<\/b><\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_20044\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20044\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20044\" src=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/ae2577b0-gp0stsuoe.jpg\" alt=\"Irek G\u00f3rniok in Imielin, Poland. \u00a9 Tom Lowe\" width=\"1200\" height=\"795\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/ae2577b0-gp0stsuoe.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/ae2577b0-gp0stsuoe-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/ae2577b0-gp0stsuoe-768x509.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/ae2577b0-gp0stsuoe-1024x678.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2018\/12\/ae2577b0-gp0stsuoe-510x338.jpg 510w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-20044\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Irek, resident of Imielin<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I built my house in Imielin about 18 years ago. Back then, I felt confident that there would be no coal development \u2013 now they want to change the story.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Imielin is a small town, but the fight against coal is global. We need to work together and I know we\u2019re not alone \u2013 the support from other people gives me hope. Standing together is how we\u2019ll win this fight, and I will not stop until we win. I do not want coal in my town. No coal in Imielin!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shuk-Wah Chung is a Writer and Content Editor for the Communications Hub at Greenpeace East Asia. Follow her on Twitter\u00a0<\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/shookiewah\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">here<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"EmptyMessage\">Block content is empty. Check the block&#8217;s settings or remove it.<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>World leaders may talk the talk, but it\u2019s the activists, the impacted communities, the younger generation, that are truly walking the walk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":20039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[100,73],"tags":[89],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-20038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about","category-social-and-economic-systems","tag-climate","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20038"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51263,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20038\/revisions\/51263"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20038"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=20038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}