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Climate Camp Scotland

Communities to gather for largest protest camp in Scotland in a decade - Press Release

3rd July 2023 For Immediate Release


Organisers say Climate Camp Grangemouth will be the biggest protest camp Scotland has seen in over a decade, building on previous camps that have resisted illegal gas flaring in Fife and the loss of community parkland in Aberdeen.


Hundreds of people from across Scotland and the world have registered to take part in the six day camp at INEOS Grangemouth, Scotland's worst pollution hotspot. (1)


Participants at the Grangemouth event will represent India, the Netherlands and Ukraine as well as all corners of Scotland. The opening speaker Leonidas Iza is joining on behalf of Ecuador’s biggest indigenous group to speak about energy companies and ecological justice.


In 2022 Climate Camp Scotland took place in Torry, Aberdeen, to protest the expanding oil industry and the loss of St. Fittick's Park. (2) The local ‘Friends of St. Fittick’s Park’ group marched with campers to occupy the symbolic site of Old Torry, a village destroyed to make space for a Shell oil yard in the 1970s.


Ishbel Shand, Friends of St. Fittick’s Park, reflected on the 2022 event:


“St Fittick’s Park is the last accessible green space in one of the poorest and most polluted areas of the North East of Scotland. The fight to save it has dominated all our lives for the past three years…


“The days we spent with our friends from Climate Camp Scotland were a high point in the campaign, a massive boost to our morale and a reminder that the struggle for environmental and social justice is global.


“Our sympathies are with the folk in Grangemouth, who have suffered so much at the hands of the oil industry, and with the communities globally that have been blighted by those who threaten humanity’s future for short term economic gain. We shall overcome some day!”


In 2021 the community campaign against illegal flaring by Exxon and Shell at Mossmorran invited climate campers to Fife. Thousands of complaints were made to regulator SEPA about the health and environmental impacts of gas flaring. (3)


Jemma Kettlewell, from the Mossmoran community group 'Actions Speak Louder than Words' reflected on the 2021 event:


"Mossmorran climate camp was an inspiring weekend bringing together Fife

community, climate activists & more from over Scotland.


"Climate camp Scotland organised engaging workshops and skill shares which brought people together. There was something for everyone; it felt like folk were included in a safe space.


"On the Sunday the camp took a powerful message to the gates of big polluters Exxon & Shell demanding justice for workers and local community and that the plant be shut down.

It felt that by bringing people together, collectively we can make positive change and demand a world beyond fossil fuels."


Like in previous years, this year's camp seeks to build connections between local and global injustices.


Jess Gaitan Johannesson, Climate Camp Scotland said:


“Communities and workers will be coming together at our biggest ever climate camp to organise and take action in Grangemouth.


“We do not accept sky high bills, polluted air and a collapsing climate. This energy system is failing us, but Scotland and Grangemouth can transition to sustainable industry and jobs and we’re going to drive that change together.


“We invite everyone who can to take part: whether you just want to pop along to see what’s happening or to camp with us for the whole event. This camp will show how powerful we can be when we act together.”


ENDS


FREE PHOTOS of speakers and previous climate camp events:


NOTES TO EDITORS


(1) INEOS controls four sites in the top 20 climate polluters in Scotland, all in Grangemouth town. See:


(2) Aberdeen Press & Journal, climate camp 2022:


(3) BBC News reports complaints about flaring in 2019 and 2020:


(4) Climate Camp Scotland are bringing workers, front-line communities, and climate action groups together to build the movement for a swift and just transition from fossil fuels, and take mass action that brings about climate justice. www.climatecampscotland.com

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