Climate change is one of the most important social and environmental issues of our generation. That’s why ASEN is focusing on climate justice. We aim to build a diverse movement that can confront the root causes of climate change in an ethical way. We are building links and supporting community groups such as Rivers SoS, fighting the banks that fund climate destruction, mobilising students for TARA and Climate Camp 2011 and turning our attention to our university campuses to campaign for clean energy.

At ASEN camp in January 2011, a wicked bunch of ASEN folks put our heads together and came up a calendar of climate change related events that we’re keen to help out with over the year.

In 2010 many campuses in Australia embarked on 100% renewable energy campaigns to get out universities to make the switch to green power. Some succeeded! Others continue to fight.

Read more about the Campus Sustainability Campaign.

Contacts

Renewables on campus organising, contact the most excellent…

• Sally from NSW: sstu0505 [at] usyd.edu.au
• Loki from VIC: lachlan.campbell.type [at] gmail.com

To talk all things dirty coal, contact these ones…

• Steve from QLD: steveskitmore [at] gmail.com
• Gem from NSW: gemromuld [at] gmail.com
• Phil from WA: philvlachou [at] hotmail.com

Resources

Readings about Climate change – brief summaries of books and online resources about climate change

Climate Broadsheet (O-week 08)

Renewable Energy Scorecard

Last year a bunch of ASEN members approached several Universities across Australia to find out exactly what they’re doing for Climate Change. The results of this can be viewed in the Renewable Energy Scorecard. The database is not entirely finalised and work is still being done to cover every University in Australia, but it should at least give you a good idea of which campuses are taking climate change seriously

Links

• Step It Up
• Climate Movement
• TheClimateHub
• Six Degrees
• Rising Tide
• Climate Action Monash

Renewable Energy on Campus Resource Pack

In 2010, Australian Student Environment Activists made a Renewable Energy Resource pack to help campus collectives to run campaigns for clean energy.

The pack has past proposals that collectives who wrote to Universities demaning renewable energy and other sustainability initiatives, strategy documents, info on how Universities make decisions, fact sheets on renewable energy and climate change, as well as heaps of  sticker templates, draft petitions and posters to get to word out to students. You can download it here:

http://unsw.envirocollective.com/files/renewablespack.zip (11 Mb)

2011: A Year In the Life of Climate Campaigners

This is a snapshot of some of the things that ASEN climate campaigners will be working on this year.

FEBURARY

• O-Week across the nation

MARCH

• Newcastle flotilla blockade of the coal port
• NSW elections
• Lake Cowal Summit
• World Naked Bike Ride

APRIL

MAY

• TARA farmer-enviro coalition anti-coal camp in South West OLD

JUNE

JULY

• Senate changeover (Greens get the balance of power)
• SOS  in Albury
• Protests at Rockhampton over war games
• Children of the Pacific rally
• NAIDOC Week

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

• Semester 2 starts, O-Week round two.

OCTOBER

• 350 events

NOVEMBER

• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP17) in Durban

DECEMBER

And ongoing throughout the year are :

• Greenpeace ethical banking campaign
• HRL campaign in the La Trobe Valley (Victoria)
• Summer Slam forest campaign on south coast (NSW)
• Implementation phase for Canberra loves 40% (ACT)
• Greenpeace Dirty Dozen anti-coal power station campaign
• Support Rising Tide 7
• Beyond Zero (possible additional report to be released)
• Renewables on Campus by 2015 campaigns (everywhere)
• And various renewables campaigns
• Flick My Switch (UTS and possibly expanding)
• Various bike-related activity
• Release of federal government’s climate change committee report
• Nukes No Solution campaign
• No Coal-Seam Gas
• Stop part 3A anti-inappropriate development campaign

Camp for Climate Action 2010

‘Sustainable community living and peaceful direct action targeting Australia’s largest source of domestic emissions – Bayswater Power Station”

Dec 1st – 5th 2010, Lake Liddell Recreation Area, The Hunter Valley, NSW

The climate science is in, now its time to act.
Climate change is the biggest threat to our future, and coal is the biggest cause of climate change, yet right now across the country there are plans for 12 new coal or gas fired power stations.

If built this ‘dirty dozen’ will increase Australia’s total emissions by 7% and NSW’s emissions by up to 15%. At a time when we must rapidly reduce emissions to avoid dangerous climate change, this is simply unacceptable.

Bayswater power station in the Hunter Valley, NSW, is already the equal largest source of emissions in Australia and is the site of one of the planned power stations. The planned expansion will double Bayswater’s current emissions.

Renewable energy technologies are viable now. By continuing to invest in coal, Australia is losing an important opportunity to become a world leader in clean energy industries like wind and solar thermal, and creating thousands of new jobs in the process.

As a community we need to show the government that we won’t cop more dirty coal when there are better, cleaner alternatives. We want a just transition to renewable energy now – not more broken promises.

Join people from all over Australia for 5 days of workshops and forums on climate change issues and solutions, non-violent direct action and organising, music and entertainment. Climate Camp is fun and family-friendly with a sustainable village atmosphere and will coincide with the next round of global climate talks in Mexico. The camp’s finale will be a creative and bold peaceful mass action at Bayswater.

While our politicians fail us, Climate Camp will be creating a vision of real sustainability, real democracy.

www.climatecamp.org.au