Press release – Issued by Climate Camp Ireland – Tuesday, 5th July, 2022
Event in early August will see activists take direct action against planned Shannon LNG terminal
Climate campaigners will converge on north Kerry in early August for a six-day event they say will help “build a strong, radical climate movement across the island of Ireland”, while also taking direct action against the proposed Shannon LNG terminal.
The first Climate Camp in Ireland since 2010 will take place from August 2nd to 7th on farmland at Saleen Pier, near Tarbert, and organisers are expecting hundreds of people to take part. The camp will be close to the site of the controversial fracked gas import terminal and will feature climate-related workshops and debates, direct action training, practical skill-sharing, music, cultural activities, festival fun and more.
Séamus Diskin of Climate Camp Ireland said:
“This camp, also known as Féile Slí Eile, will be a family-friendly gathering, a welcoming, safe space created by activists from across Ireland and local campaigners – a space that is a model of the kind of society we want, and need, beyond capitalism. We can’t tackle the climate crisis without tackling capitalism and the relentless drive for profit and growth.
“The camp will also be a base for direct action targeting Shannon LNG. We want to send a loud and clear message that if the government allows this disastrous project to go ahead, it will meet with determined resistance.
“Projects such as Shannon LNG would lock us into fossil fuel dependency for decades and contribute to catastrophic climate breakdown. We are now in a planetary emergency, with the effects of global heating escalating by the month – the UN Secretary General has called it a ‘Code Red for Humanity’.
“To avoid total ecosystem collapse and the deaths of hundreds of millions of people, we must rapidly transition away from burning fossil fuels. And yet governments including Ireland’s are not taking the threat seriously – they are fast-tracking new gas-burning power stations and allowing power-hungry data centres to grow and grow. And now the gas lobby is successfully exploiting the war in Ukraine to strengthen the case for an LNG terminal in Ireland.”
Johnny McElligott of local campaign group Safety Before LNG said:
“There has been a local campaign resisting this planned terminal since 2007. Gas continues to be touted as a ‘transition fuel’ but the peer-reviewed science is clear – gas causes as much harm to the climate as coal or oil. And due to methane leakages and the energy involved in processing and transport, fracked gas transported via LNG has a carbon equivalent footprint 44% higher than coal over the crucial 20-year period.[1]
“While the latest peer-reviewed scientific studies have found that one third of the total increased methane emissions from all sources globally over the decade up to 2019 was coming from US fracked gas (shale gas) [2], the current crisis in Europe is expediting decisions on LNG infrastructure without considering climate-change impacts.
“The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports from 2021 (table 7.15, page 139) have indicated a Global Warming Potential (GWP) for methane 108 times that of carbon dioxide when considering its impact over a 20-year timeframe.[3]
“Fracking has devastating environmental impacts in the areas where it is extracted, mostly in the US. Ireland has banned fracking due to the dangers to human health and environment – how can we justify importing fracked gas from other countries?”
The diverse programme of events at Climate Camp will include workshops on fossil fuels, fracking and LNG; direct action techniques and strategy; refugee and migrant solidarity; Irish conversation classes; herbal medicine and wildcrafting; a talk by Chas Jewett, a Native American water protector; and much more.
“We’re calling on like-minded groups and individuals across Ireland to join us in organising the event, putting on a workshop, helping to set up the camp or simply coming along to take part.” said Séamus Diskin. “There are tasks to suit every skillset.”
To get involved, email: climatecampireland@gmail.com
ENDS
ABOUT CLIMATE CAMP IRELAND
Climate Camp Ireland is organised by a collective of environmental campaigners, community activists and others from across the island of Ireland. The main organising group is Slí Eile, an anti-capitalist climate action group.
Climate Camp Ireland has three main aims:
• Bringing people together to build a strong, radical climate movement on the island of Ireland
• Creating a collectively held space that provides a model of the society we want and need beyond capitalism
• Resisting the planned Shannon LNG terminal.
NOTES
1. Testimony of Prof Robert W. Howarth, Cornell University, before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action, 9 October 2019
2. Ideas and perspectives: is shale gas a major driver of recent increase in global atmospheric methane? – Robert W. Howarth, Cornell University, 10 Apr 2019
https://www.biogeosciences.
3. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): Sixth Assessment Report, 2021
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/