501
School strike week 151. This Friday we are in a tree plantation in Sápmi, Northern Europe. This used to be a forest, but after it was cut down forest companies have planted an invasive tree species that grows faster than the local ones. 1/7
502
Cutting down forests - at a time when we need to maximise every possible carbon sink - isn’t only disastrous for the climate, but also for biodiversity. Not to mention the local indigenous Sami reindeer herders who have lived here and cared for the land for thousands of years.2/7
503
When humans change the landscape, they also completely alter living conditions for the local wildlife and for the reindeer and people living there. It’s not just forests and carbon sinks that are eliminated, but also the history, future and traditions of the Sami people. 3/7
504
Forests are not renewable, whatever the industries may say. Trees are renewable, not forests. In a short term we only switch from one source of carbon to another when we burn biomass. Since we don’t have the time it takes for the clear cut to compensate for the carbon debt ...4/7
505
...(to stay below 1,5°C global heating) it should not be called “climate neutral”.
Amid the climate crisis and more frequent and intense extreme weather events (such as heatwaves, floods and wildfires) - these plantations also exacerbate their effects and devastation. 5/7
506
The indigenous Sami people have been historically systematically oppressed, and still are so today. Indigenous peoples make up 5% of the world’s population, but take care of 80% of the remaining healthy ecosystems. 6/7
507
They are almost always on the frontline of the climate- and ecological crisis, but they are also leading the resistance. We have to listen to the guardians of the land and value their traditional knowledge. The exploitation of nature, land and people needs to stop. 7/7
508
We ask the European Commission @vonderleyen and @TimmermansEU to #StopFakeRenewables and remove forest biomass from the Renewable Energy Directive.
You can plant trees, but you cannot plant forests. Forests are not renewable.
509
You can use hashtag #StopFakeRenewables , tag EU officials and sign this petition: you.wemove.eu/campaigns/the-…
Here’s a letter to EU officials from 62 global scientists on the issue: alfredodifilippo.com/2021/07/10/for…
#UniteBehindTheScience #ClimateJustice #UprootTheSystem #FightFor1Point5
510
Right now the EU is in final negotiations around the #EUForestStrategy
Meanwhile Sweden’s forest industry is waging war against independent science. Word is politicians are siding with them.
@YlvaJohansson, surely you will be on the right side of history?
alfredodifilippo.com/2021/07/10/for…
511
”Approvals for companies to drill for oil and gas on U.S. public lands are on pace this year to reach their highest level since George W. Bush was president.”
We’re not only subsidising the climate and ecological crisis - we’re speeding it up. #MindTheGap
apnews.com/article/joe-bi…
512
“The Amazon rainforest is emitting a billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.”
#FaceTheClimateEmergency #EcologicalBreakdown theguardian.com/environment/20…
513
So it’s official. Unless the EU tear up their new #Fitfor55 package, the world will not stand a chance of staying below 1,5°C of global heating. That’s not an opinion, once you include the full picture it’s a scientific fact.
#MindTheGap between words and action.
514
This is Riehpovuotna/Repparfjord in the northern part of Sápmi, in Norway. The fjord is a protection area for the threatened Atlantic salmon. The Norwegian government has granted a permission to pump 2 million tons of toxic mining waste into the fjord annually. 1/3
515
This will impact the local fisheries that are essential to the Sea Sami culture and will be yet another attack on them from the Norwegian state.
The mining company has planned a mine in the mountain in the middle of reindeer guottetbáiki which is crucial for the reindeer. 2/3
516
There is an activist camp at Riehpovuotna and many are resisting.
Though we must combat the climate crisis, this cannot be used as an excuse for so-called “green” colonialism with the same mindset that got us here in the first place. #iifalnussir #reddfjordene #savethefjords 3/3
517
”2,000 firefighters on the ground who are battling wildfires raging across almost 800,000 hectares (roughly 2 million acres) in Siberia.”
dw.com/en/russia-send…
518
Deadly heatwaves, floods, storms, wildfires, droughts, crop failures...
This is not “the new normal”.
We’re at the very beginning of a climate and ecological emergency, and extreme weather events will only become more and more frequent.
#FaceTheClimateEmergency
519
"Only about a tenth of the $17tn in bailouts provided by governments since the start of the pandemic was spent on activities that reduced greenhouse gas emissions or restored the natural world."
#MindTheGap between words and action.
theguardian.com/business/2021/…
520
School strike week 152 on a clear cut in Sápmi. The #EUForestStrategy is presented today. They’ll continue allowing clear cuts and call burning forest biomass “renewable” - worsening the climate- and ecological emergencies, ignoring indigenous rights and demands
#FridaysForFuture
521
522
”Prof Bill McGuire, for instance, from UCL, told me: ’The obvious acceleration of the breakdown of our stable climate simply confirms that - when it comes to the climate emergency - we are in deep, deep s***!’”
#FaceTheClimateEmergency
bbc.com/news/science-e…
523
Siri, show me an accurate definition of the expression “shooting the messenger”
torrestargets.com/greta-thunberg…
524
I may be able to laugh at this, but let’s not forget about the environmental defenders around the world who are actually being killed as we speak.
#DefendTheDefenders
globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/e…
525
Right now everyone is talking about the climate emergency - and rightly so. But as soon as these tragedies are over we'll most likely forget about it and move on like before.
Unless we treat the crisis like a crisis all the time, we will not be able to halt the climate emergency. twitter.com/GretaThunberg/…
Autistic climate justice activist Born at 375 ppm