Looking at the images from this morning newspapers, you would be forgiven for thinking that most of yesterday’s protests against the G20 were about being opposed to things - be it globalisation, bank bail outs or power being used to profit the few. Yet not far away a very different kind of protest sprang up, as a flash mob of climate campers closed a street for 12 hours in order to highlight what can be achieved if we focus creatively on solutions, as well as problems.
Bunting, spring flowers, a farmer’s market stall selling cake and vegetables, workshops and a pedal powered sound system. These all combined to ensure that the camp set up outside the carbon exchange on Bishopsgate was an example of workable alternatives to the capitalism and environmental destruction that have got us into our current economic and ecological mess. Workers from nearby offices wandered happily through the camp all day, reassured that the police’s predictions of violence and rioting were certainly not in evidence here.
The climate is changing and so must we - climate camp was a triumph of positive protest and I look forward to it returning to the streets of London later this year…..
April 2nd, 2009
