I recently attended a meeting conducted by 3 50.org and heard a wonderful address by one of thefounders of 350.org, American Bill McKibben. 350.org all about, you may well ask. 350.org is a global, grassroots climate movement holding our leaders accountable to science and justice.
“We believe in a safe climate and a better future − a just, prosperous, and equitable world built with the power of ordinary people.”
I met with the Executive Director of 350.org New Zealand, the charming and eloquent Niamh O’Flynn about the organisation’s work in New Zealand.
Niamh has been a climate activist for 10 years, and has headed 350.org in New Zealand for three and a half years.
“We are heavily dependent on volunteers,” she told me. “I love supporting young activists who often become lifelong campaigners. We’re not into big-at-sea activities. We don’t sit and write endless submissions to government. We look at where we hold some power and where we can change the narrative.”
Divestment has been a big 350.org activity. It has helped to push companies and universities to take their investments out of oil and gas companies.
Niamh is proud to have been involved in pushing Otago University, Palmerston North Council, Auckland Council and others to divest their investment in fossil fuel companies. Of course the biggest thrill for 350 volunteers was the Government’s decision to stop further oil and gas exploration off New Zealand’s coast.
“Climate change work can feel thankless," admits Niamh, “but the recent Government announcement was very emotional for me. For much of my 10 years of activism, we couldn’t talk about climate change. It was still too controversial. We talked about oil on beaches, and loss of penguins. Now the Prime Minister is calling climate change the defining issue of our time.”
Niamh worries about being too blamey. By that she means criticising people for not being ‘pure enough’ environmentalists. You still drive your car, you don’t compost, in fact you don’t grow a single vegetable, so don’t tell me about zero carbon. Apparently, Bill McKibben was taken to task for using a plastic bag. Those opposing slavery were chided for wearing cotton shirts.
Niamh O’Flynn has no time for that kind of pressure. “Sure, we need a holistic societal change,” she says, “but its ridiculous to say you can’t act until you are completely ‘pure’.”
350’s three main plugs are: keep carbon in the ground, help build a more equitable zero-carbon economy, and pressure governments into limiting emissions.
350 goes on to say - it’s warming, it’s us, We’re sure, It’s bad, We can fix it.
Climate change isn’t a distant, abstract problem - it’s here now. People all over the world are feeling the impacts, from island nations that are going underwater, to indigenous land being exploited for fossil fuel extraction.
The fight against climate change is a fight for justice. That means listening to the communities who are getting hit the hardest, and following the leadership of those who are on the frontlines of the crisis.
People are stronger when they collaborate, bringing together not just environmentalists, but students, business owners, labour unions, universities and building diverse coalitions that are strong enough to put pressure on governments and stand up to the fossil fuel industry. (JOHN ELLIOTT)