17 November 2013
Last Saturday 11th of November Young FoE Ireland took part in a European coordinated action which involved a stunt outside the Polish Consulate on Eden Quay, Dublin City Centre. The aim of this action was to raise awareness of the UN Climate talks taking place this month in Warsaw, Poland, and to put pressure on the Polish government to stop stalling international climate negotiations in hopes to protect their booming coal industry. The action was named Poland NOT Coaland.
This action was organised in Norway during the summer at the Young Friends of the Earth Europe Summer Camp. Several countries across Europe held similar stunts on the same day in an attempt to coordinate the efforts of European youth activists and benefit from strength in numbers.The action was held at 4.30pm on a busy pedestrian street in the heart of Dublin City. Hurried passers-by were surprised to find Santa Claus dumping sacks of coal outside the Polish Consulate accompanied by an array of banners, placards, posters and several Young FoE activists who were handing out flyers.
- Young FoE activists Jack Mc Carthy and Emma-Jayne Geraghty sharing some festive cheer and with passers by.
- Young FoE activists (left to right) Emma-Jayne Geraghty, Jack Mc Carthy and Sinead Mercier.
Reactions were, as always with these events, mixed. However the festive feel to the action coupled with the wintery bite in the air gave the stunt a cheerful vibe and children especially were invariably excited to stumble upon the group.
Young FoE Ireland has sent four “Climate Champions” to Warsaw this week to represent the concerns of young activists living in Ireland and join similar civil society groups from all corners of the globe. Throughout their time in Warsaw the Climate Champions will be blogging on a daily basis on the events taking place both inside the conference and outside, including posting pictures, videos and other useful resources.
One of the major priorities of Young FoE Ireland during this time is to express our solidarity with the people of The Philippines and support them in their struggle for Climate Justice. We urge all Young FoE Ireland followers and partners to join us in this and post this picture to their Facebook and other social media profiles, using the hashtag #WeStandWithYou.
Many thanks to the Youth in Action Programme for supporting our events.
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