CAMPAIGN ACTIONS
Adhacks
Conservative Party Conference protests
In early October 2021, while the UK Conservative Party held its annual conference in Manchester, activists in the city and in London made sure Tory MP’s were aware of what their policies were doing to the climate, and people in Mozambique and around the global south, whose lives are being devastated by the fossil fuel industry – an industry that is being partly financed by the UK government itself. The UK Export Finance agency has agreed to provide Mozambique LNG with $1.15 billion.
COP 26
During the COP 26 conference in Glasgow in November 2021, climate activists from around the world converged on the city to carry out actions against the fossil fuel industry. The conference itself was very unjust – because of COVID-19 restrictions on countries mostly in the global south, those most affected by climate change, very few activists and communities from these countries were able to attend and raise their issues, and the impacts they are facing from climate change. Calls for COP26 to be postponed fell on deaf ears, and the discriminatory event went ahead anyway. So did the campaigning – in Glasgow and other parts of the world, on the COP26 Global Day of Action, activists marched, protested and held other actions to express our dissatisfaction and anger at the COP, its processes, and pro-fossil fuel majority voices.
COP Gastivists Projection
In what was one of the funnier actions, the Gastivists projected messages onto the conference building. Upon seeing the messages, someone who we can only assume was working for the conference organisers, projected their own message on top of it, which then led to a hilarious back and forth ‘conversation’.
Eni event disruption
During an event held by Italian company Eni, activists disrupted the talk and read out loud a statement from JA! Which told of the human rights abuses and climate destruction caused by Eni’s actions in Mozambique.
Hands off Horse Hill
Activists in Horse Hill marched against the UK government’s planning permission for four oil wells in the surrounding area, near Gatwick Airport in Surrey. During the march, a member of the Weald Action Group read a statement from JA! About the impacts of gas in Mozambique. In February 2022, the UK Court of Appeal dismissed a challenge by campaigner Sarah Finch in which she argued that Surrey County Council acted unlawfully when it granted this permission. The judges’ disagreed in this case, and Sarah says: ““I’m dismayed by this judgment – but reassured it was not unanimous.”
Shell AGM 2021
Outside the Shell office during the Shell Annual General Meeting, Code Rood activists held an action, which included bringing a massive wrecking ball to the building, and where they read a statement by JA! About Shell’s complicity, as a purchaser, in the destruction caused by the gas industry in Mozambique. Inside the AGM, a question was asked on behalf of JA! About Shell’s involvement in Mozambique.
Standard Bank AGM 2021
During the Standard Bank Annual General meeting, while JA! And other activists took part in the online meeting, protestors in Johannesburg, South Africa, marched on the bank’s headquarters. Standard Bank is one of the biggest financiers of Mozambique gas.
UKEF Judicial Review
In December 2021, Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland with support of JA! Were in court in London for a judicial review of the UK government’s $1.15 billion financing of Mozambique LNG. Before and during the court case, activists across the UK showed their support outside the Royal Courts of Justice, and in their cities, and on social media, for FoE EWNI and JA! And the communities in Mozambique suffering from the devastating impacts of the gas industry.
International Action against dirty energy
In October 2017, JA! activists took to the streets of Maputo to inform the public about the urgency for climate justice for Mozambique and the destruction of dirty energy.
World Action Day for Rivers
In 2019, on World Action Day for Rivers, JA! activists protest in front of a billboard in Maputo against the proposed Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric mega-dam in Mozambique. The social, environmental, economic and climatic risks of Mphanda Nkuwa have not yet been thoroughly analysed, and studies carried out so far indicate that the construction of this dam could have devastating consequences for the Zambezi River; for the people who are most dependent on this ecosystem; and for the country as a whole.
Climate Justice Now!
Total AGM Shutdown
On May 25th, 2022, 250 French activists blocked the entry of Total’s AGM in Paris. On what was also Africa Day, the activists chained themselves to the doors and to each other for several hours, preventing the hundreds of shareholders who had come for the first in-person meeting since 2019 to enter the building. Activists from Les Amis de la Terre, Greenpeace, Alternatiba Paris and ANV-COP21 joined forces to denounce Total’s destructive activities for human rights, climate and biodiversity. Representatives from Stand With Ukraine, Justiça Ambiental! and various Ugandan and Tanzanian organisations were also present to talk about the dramatic impacts of Total’s activities in Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Russia. Activists asked Total to stop its Russian activities fuelling the war in Ukraine, the Mozambique LNG Project and to stop all oil and gas projects and repair the damages they have already done.
