We are a single issue movement. Our issue is Climate Justice.
From marriage equality to Indigenous rights, our movement will stand up for justice whenever, wherever we can.
A few weeks ago I sent out an email blast to Fossil Free’s e-list asking people, especially young people, in our movement to enrol to vote in the upcoming postal survey on marriage equality.
The response we got was a bit polarising — there were many warm and supportive replies, but also many people replied back to inform me that I’d made a strategic mistake, as Fossil Free should stay talking about climate and climate only.
But the thing is, Karen, our movement has never just been about the environment.
I’ve been organising in this movement for over 2 years and again and again, people tell me they are taking actions on climate change for a better future — a vision that requires us to fight collaboratively on many fronts from resisting colonialism, racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia to our government’s relentless attacks on young people’s housing, welfare, worker’s rights, education and more.
At the core of this movement is our desire to live in a society that respects lives — over corporate greed, over prejudice and over political power games.
People tell me that it is important to appeal to the mainstream. And yes, I agree, we do need to appeal to a broad base of people — after all we believe in people power, not inner-city progressive elites saving the world. But the lucky thing is, the generation behind this movement is woke af: young people are the most supportive generation for marriage equality, we have the highest opposition to an immigration ban and a majority of us reject capitalism.
Because we know we don’t exist in a silo, and our problems are interconnected — you can’t talk about building a better future without talking about the structural oppressions bringing communities down.
Which is exactly why we are creating this column — a space for people in and out of our movement to raise their voices about issues that concern them when they want to.
It was through the climate movement that I started to understand the ongoing systemic oppression facing First Nations People worldwide— and while there are still so much the climate movement can do better to support the fight for land rights and Indigenous justice, I appreciate the efforts by those First Nations People and allies who pushed this movement to start talking about colonialism and capitalism.
Something Naomi Klein once said really hit home — we now have an opportunity not just to save the world from catastrophic climate change, but to create something better out of it.
To me, that’s what climate justice means — it means that we’ll help build a stronger and more resilient and equal society that will not leave anyone behind, no matter what climate change throws at us, now or in the future.
With that in mind, Fossil Free has signed on as an official ally of the Yes campaign for marriage equality. But we won’t stop there.
This movement will continue to stand in solidarity with communities hurt by injustice and will provide support whenever, wherever we can and are needed. That’s our commitment — and while we know we won’t do a perfect job, we will keep learning and improving.
And this blog is the start.
If you want to write a post on this blog, want us to repost an existing article or want us to write about a specific cause, get in touch with us at campus@350.org.au with the subject line [JusticexFossilFree]
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