Around the world, people are taking up the struggle against global climate change as the corporations use every means at their disposal to continue to profit from ecological destruction. From India to Peru people have answered these attacks with protests, demonstrations and strikes. Here is a small sample of some of these recent struggles.
Germany – March, 2011 After the Fukushima disaster in Japan, 250,000 people gathered in a massive demonstration all over Germany to say no to the dependence on the nuclear industry. The movement has forced the government to promise it will shut down 17 nuclear power plants by 2022.
Ningbo, China – October, 2012 Thousands of people in Ningbo, China demonstrated against the further expansion of a refinery that has exposed residents and workers to deadly chemicals such as paraxylene. The state controlled enterprise, Sinopec Group, was forced to suspend its $8.9 billion expansion plan. Protests of thousands have broken out against similar facilities in other cities such as Maoming, Dalian, and Kunming.
Cajamarca, Peru – January 2012 About 3,000 Mapuche peasants protested against the Newmont Mining Corporation’s expansion of the Yanacocha gold mine which would destroy the lakes and contaminate the water supply. A state of emergency was declared, during which three people were killed by police. Since then, the mining company has been forced to halt the $4.8 billion expansion of the mine.
Australia – November, 2013 The largest demonstration ever in Australia to demand action on climate change took place with an estimated 60,000 people across the country.
Karadere, Bulgaria – March, 2014 Over 1,000 people protested against the plan to sell off Bulgaria’s protected Karadere natural public park off the coast of the Black Sea to investors who want to turn it into a massive tourist resort.
Missoula, Montana – March, 2014 About 80 people from Native American and environmentalist groups demonstrated against the proposed construction of the Keystone XL pipeline to take a stand against the destruction of the climate and likely oil spills into the water supply. They briefly blocked the shipment of machinery used to process the substance in the tar sands.
