Climate9 bio : Climate 9

Climate9 bio

Jimmy Kerr

I am Jimmy Kerr, a 34 year old postgraduate student from Paisley. I live near Glasgow Airport, the biggest single CO2 emitter in the area and the cause of unacceptable levels of air and noise pollution. Some days the noise is so bad that the windows rattle in the tenement flats. Other days, when the wind is blowing in the right direction, the air become tinged with deadly pollutants, but most days I lie awake at night and thinking about the climate change and the future of our planet and how the expansion of the aviation industry will put that future in great peril. As a committed activist and organiser, I am working hard to build strong sustainable communities where each one of us can live healthy and fulfilling lives. Jimmy@climate9.com

Josie Hanson

Josie

Hello my name Josie Hanson, I am 25 years old, I moved to Scotland three years ago. I am originally from a farming community in Devon where the effects of climate change are already being felt. I grew up with a great respect for nature and have occupied myself with learning about its beauty especially the medicinal properties of native UK plants and flowers and how I can help preserve them. All of the ever fast increasing changes I’ve witnessed fill me with fear that the impact of our decadent way of life will be far more detrimental to future generations than we could have predicted. josie@climate9.com

Bill Boggia

Bill

My name is Bill Boggia I am 44 years of age. I grew up in South Wales, and just kept moving north to where I currently live in the Highlands. I love the outdoors, the feeling of freedom that comes from being in it, and its beauty. I shared this with my 5 children who are now mostly grown up. To my mind experience of and love for the natural world is invaluable. Once I started to awaken to the realities of climate change I began an ongoing process of making necessary changes in my life. I now work in marine renewable energy, enjoy my garden, wild harvesting in autumn with friends, and making home brew. bill@climate9.com

Dan Glass

Dan

Hello, my name is Dan Glass and I like being alive on this planet. I am 26 years old and I’m a community youth and education worker in Glasgow with communities affected by poverty, racism and the social impacts of climate change. I grew up under three flight paths and from a young age choked on noise and air pollution. I enjoy going out with mates, having a wander around town, having a laugh and seeing my family. But if I were honest, action to stop climate change has eaten up most of my spare time in the last few years. Coming from a family where all my grandparents survived the Nazi Holocaust, it has always been instilled in me that if you have the opportunity to tackle injustice before its too late, you must. All we have heard from the Government is talk, talk, talk on climate change and not enough action. If we are to survive, we must rescue our planet from those corporations which—and people who—are destroying it, and believe in humans capacity for positive social change. dan@climate9.com

Mark Andrews

Mark

My name is Mark Andrews. Born and brought up in north-west London I prefer not living in such a huge and congested city. I now live in Edinburgh, where I went to university. I decided to stay after falling in love with the city and the country. In studying politics I have seen how social and environmental issues are inextricably linked. I am especially concerned with the effects on people who live near high emission industries. I currently devote my time to activism to try and prevent runaway climate change. I love watching and playing football in my spare time though. It’s great to follow teams in both of Britain’s top leagues. mark@climate9.com

Tilly Gifford

Tilly

My name is Tilly Gifford. I’ve lived in Scotland for six years now. I grew up in France, where the family business is jam-making. About four years ago the discrepancy between the mainstream media’s gloomy climate predictions and the complete absence of any material response in everyday life was getting me down. I used to fly RyanAir back to France. I was concerned about climate change, but nobody had joined the dots for me: I just didn’t know how polluting aviation was or how directly our actions impact our climate. I’m now 25. I’m a practising artist, and still hungry to learn community-organising skills. I work on a farm too. I can’t imagine the inspiration and fear stirred up by runaway climate change is going to leave me any time soon. tilly@climate9.com

Mila Karwowska

Mila

I am Mila Karwowska. Ever since childhood, I have been very conscious of the impact of irresponsible living and damage to the planet. I moved to Scotland three years ago from a little town called Biala Podlaska in Poland, finding a thriving community of people who feel the same as me about a number of eco-issues – from aviation and pollution to over-consumption. Before I left Poland, I spent a lot of time with people who were leading alternative lifestyles and spreading the word about ecological issues and they really rubbed off on me. That, coupled with being born in the year of communism’s demise, has really taught me that the world is in our hands, and that we can make our future so much better if we spend a little more time conserving and a little less time consuming. mila@climate9.com

Kate Mackay

I’m Kate Mackay and I’m 21 years old, born in Yorkshire, I am currently living and studying photography in Glasgow. Environmental awareness was a large part of my upbringing; and has continued to shape my life: from being an active member of ‘The Woodcraft Folk’ as a child to building and living in a tree house this year. I love the outdoors particularly walking on the Yorkshire Moors or in the Cairngorms with my dog. kate@climate9.com

Johnny Agnew

Johnny

Hello, my name is Johnny Agnew. I’m 23 and grew up in the countryside in Midlothian where I spent my childhood on a farm. I live and work in Glasgow, I am also studying a Masters in Wildlife Conservation and regularly carry out practical conservation work with the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers. The rest of my time is spent working towards environmental sustainability and challenging big polluters with groups such as Plane Stupid. From an early age I have been aware of the impact we have on the world around us. I feel that climate change is the crux of this impact our society has and we have a responsibility to stop the damage we do before it is too late. Government inaction will not prevent runaway climate change; we have to do that ourselves. jonny@climate9.com

Juliana Napier: Climate9 Spokeswoman

Juliana

My name is Juliana Napier and I’m 25 years old. I’m a musician and teacher and have lived in Scotland since I was 10 years old. I love playing music and in an ideal world I would devote all of my time to this, but since I learned about the causes and effects of climate change while at university I feel that I have a responsibility – We are already feeling the effects of climate change in the UK and they are even more extreme in the Global South. I have always been told that if you see injustice it is your duty to stand up and fight against it. press@climate9.com

Climate9 Appeal News: June 7th 2011 at Edinburgh High Court

FOR UPDATES SEE http://www.climate9.com/newsie/
June 7th 2011 at Edinburgh High Court

An appeal to better judgement

Today defendants Tilly Gifford and Dan Glass from the Climate 9 had their appeal heard at Edinburgh Appeal Court against the conviction they received last summer for Breach of the Peace.

The conviction related to a direct action taken in March 2009 where the Climate 9 shut down Aberdeen airport and directly stopped 107 tonnes of emissions from contributing to man-made climate change. They played golf in a cage on the taxiway to highlight the fact that the airport's expansion will serve to deliver Donald Trump's super-rich golfer pals to his contentious course at Balmedie Estate.

Following a two week long trial in August 2010, which was the first jury-led climate change trial in Scotland, all 9 defendants were convicted of Breach of the Peace for their role in the protest. Dan and Tilly made the decision to appeal against the conviction as they hold firm to the belief that the action they took was justified, proportionate and necessary in the face of catastrophic climate change.

Appellant Dan Glass said “the Scottish legal system defines breach of the peace as an activity "causing fear and alarm to the ordinary and reasonable person, and which threatens serious disturbance to the community. I can't think of a better way to describe climate change. Sometimes, we believe, the law must be challenged to protect our fundamental freedom of expression and to disrupt lawful activities that are harming the prospects of future generations. Furthermore it’s the role of as democracy to protect the voices of the minority aswell as the majority”

The appeal has reached its final stages after months of anticipation and against a backdro0p of severe climate change, as recent estimates suggest an unthinkable 4 degree temperature rise by 2080. During the 4 hour hearing this morning the court heard a strong case from the defence, who argued that the jury wasn’t given any sense of this grave context regarding both the importance and urgency of the protest.

Appellant Tilly Gifford said “The judge presented a choice to the jury between 'breach of peace' and 'freedom of expression' without any context. This is simply not good enough. The jury should be given the serious climate change context of the situation relating to the case, otherwise the inference is completely abstract from reality.”

The appeal verdict will be heard within the next 6 weeks in a final court hearing. A date is not yet set. If it is successful it will set an important precedent for future protest cases, through actively defending freedom of expression and supporting the legitimacy of the right to protest given the governments inaction to effectively tackle climate change. It would be the first legal case in Scotland to engage with the severity of climate change that we face and challenge the ‘business as usual’ attitude that the aviation industry is taking in its expansion plans.

Plane Stupid spokesperson Joe Ryle said “Aviation remains the fastest growing source of CO2 emissions in the UK and we cannot let this go unchallenged. However the heart of this debate is about our fundamental right to protest and whether we are prepared to tolerate greater disruption to business as usual in the face of climate change.”

Climate9 bio

Climate9 Appeal News: June 7th 2011 at Edinburgh High Court

Climate 9 in the news……..