Climaction

Climaction is a radical environmental Climate Change coalition in New Zealand. Formed in October 2006 at a broad meeting in Auckland City's Methodist Mission, it advocates "System Change Not Climate Change", citing the need for the ecological movement to move "Beyond Kyoto" and reduce greenhouse gasses by 90% within the next twenty years.

It sees this coming from a mass movement unafraid to take direct action, taking inspiration from Martin Luther King's movement for Civil Rights in the 1960s. So far it has organised two major protests in Auckland, one on November 4, 2006 [http://gallery.globalclimatecampaign.org/image/tid/239] as part of the International Day of Action on Climate Change, and another on March 3, 2007 for Free and Frequent Public Transport called Carmaggedon. [http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/72669/index.php] It is currently working within the union and student movements in conjunction with Auckland's populous Pasifika Community for the Live Earth Day of action on July 7, 2007.

It involves many notable NZ activists and individuals from groups such as Socialist Worker (Aotearoa), Radical Youth and the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand and has been supported by notable people such as Sue Bradford, Laila Harré, John Minto, Simon Oosterman, Matt McCarten, Dean Parker, Councillor Christine Caughey, Councillor Robyn Hughes [http://www.arc.govt.nz/arc/about-arc/meet-the-councillors/robyn-hughes.cfm] , Grant Morgan and the Residents Action Movement who polled over 89,000 votes in the last Auckland Regional Council elections. It is connected nationally with the Climate Defence Network and works alongside Greenpeace Aotearoa New Zealand, and has sisterly contacts with international groups such as Rising Tide and the UK based Campaign against Climate Change.

Media

Climaction has received media coverage in New Zealand during their participation in the International Day of Action on Climate Change on Nov 4th 2006, and the Carmaggedon protest for Free and Frequent Public Transport on March 3rd 2007. Up to 300 people reportedly attended these events.
* A 15 minute documentary regarding a visit by Al Gore to New Zealand included a short discussion with Climaction members protesting outside [http://tvnz.co.nz/view/tvone_minisite_story_skin/891743] ,
* Climaction were mentioned in an article in the NZ Herald (one of New Zealand's major newspapers) [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10408656]
* An article in the Aucklander newspaper (a free regional newspaper) briefly mentions Climaction [http://www.theaucklander.co.nz/living/story.cfm?storyID=3707555]
* NTDTV, a non-profit Chinese-language TV network based in New York, covered the Climaction protest for International Day of Action [http://www.ntdtv.com/xtr/en/2006/11/06/a_47111.html]

Climaction has also been mentioned in a number of leftist newsletters and publications:
* Review of Climate Change UNITY in Green Left Weekly with history of Climaction [http://www.greenleft.org.au/2007/701/36362]
* Prominent trade unionists and leftists support Climaction- quotes [http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/71939/index.php]
* Climaction reported on the NZ Global Peace and Justice Auckland Newsletter [http://gpja.org.nz/160_climaction_conference_saturday_25th_november]
* NZ Animal welfare group reports on Climaction carnival [http://www.safe.org.nz/Safe-News/View-Article/International-Day-of-Action-on-Climate-Change-/]
* Climaction protest covered by the Global Climate Campaign website [http://www.globalclimatecampaign.org/index.php?page=ShowCountry&country=2]
* Critical Times review of "System Change not Climate Change" handbook sold by Climaction [http://www.criticaltimes.com.au/reviews/global-warming-the-activists%E2%80%99-handbook/]
* Climate Defence Network- list of supporting organisations in New Zealand (Climaction included) [http://www.climatedefence.org.nz/supporting.html]
* It has also been written about in other NZ leftist journals such as the Workers' Charter newspaper, the UNITY journal (NZ's premier Marxist publication) etc.

External links

* [http://www.climaction.org.nz CLIMACTION] - website