Climate Change Activist Training Camp by Niamh Mcalister

Climate activists gathered in Biarritz, France, where they were told by campaign groups such as ANV, Alternatiba and Friends Of The Earth, how to engage with police, block officials and what to do if they got arrested. They were attempting to teach more than 1,000 young activists how to protest peacefully. The camp were anticipating the G7 summit, where, on the 25th of August, they protested for more to be done to tackle the climate emergency. They marched carrying portraits of the french president, Emmanuel Macron, which they illegally removed from the town hall. They were part of a ‘Take down Macron’ movement . The protestors chanted, ‘One, two , three degrees, it's a crime against humanity!’ while holding Macron’s portrait upside down. The G7 (Group of 7) Summit is a group with the seven countries that have the most industrial and economic power in the world. They gather to discuss important global economic, political, social and security issues. The annual meeting was held in France this year. These countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.  There have been protests like this all around the globe, with Extinction Rebellion leading the charge in London. You might have also heard of Greta Thunberg, a 16 year old climate activist who became famous for leading a children's campaign which takes place every Friday. Protests are getting bigger, with people blocking cars and chaining themselves to buildings. One protestor, only 12 years old, said, ‘’I feel like I need to do something, because why wouldn’t you want to save your future?”. He’s right, why wouldn’t you?  Some people say that camps like this are irresponsible as they essentially teach young people to break the law. It could be argued that young people should be taught to respect the law, but, in fact, here they are learning how to break it. Generally, people are accepting of this camp because of what they are protesting for, but what if they were protesting for something else? What if they were extremists? Would people be as approving of them in this case? Well, although there is truth in this, what these people are protesting for is a lot more important that issues like who will win the next election, or what happens about Brexit. These protesters are fighting for a future for all the generations to come, they are fighting to save our planet.  What about the Suffragettes? Or Mahatma Gandhi? They broke the law to fight for what is right. Would the world be a better place without them? Should they have stayed silent? Were they wrong to speak out against an unfair world? What good would that have done? What these protests are doing is way more important than respecting the law. In the words of Matilda Wormwood, ‘Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty!’