Banner action against Oslo Energy Forum

By Motmakt - February 19, 2015

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author’s.

Today we, a group of autonomous environmental activists, hung a 40 square meter banner from the Holmenkollen ski jump to protest the Oslo Energy Forum. The forum is being held at Scandic Holmenkollen Hotel, which is located just a couple of hundred meters from the ski jump. There are two primary reasons for why we chose to thave our banner action at this location: Firstly, because it is a national landmark that lies in close proximity to the place where the forum is held, and secondly, because winter sports like skiing will be something only found in history books if the fossil fuel industry is allowed to continue its current levels of polluting.

The Oslo Energy Forum is a closed meeting space where CEOs of various petroleum companies, politicians and other hand-picked guests meet to discuss the future of energy production. Neither the media nor civil society organizations (such as environmental organisations) are granted access to the meetings. Thus the general public is left to speculate about what kind of agreements and dirty deals are made at the conference. For the most part, the identity of who will be attending is also kept in the dark. Of the few names that are made public are such powerful figures as Johannes Teyssen, the CEO of the German company E.ON which produces electricity through hazardous nuclear plants and the burning of coal, and the Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg, who recently managed to change the definition of where the arctic ice cap starts, allowing petroleum companies to drill for oil further north than what was previously allowed. Wolfgang Ischinger, the ambassador for the Munich Security Conference, a forum where Western powers plan bombing raids against less powerful nations, is also present. We believe that when such people exchange ideas without any transparency, the outcome will be nothing good for our climate. The ideas and strategies that are likely to come out of the forum, are ones which will accelerate and worsen the current climate crises even more.

We believe that radical social change is inevitable, for future generations to have the opportunity to live their lives on anything resembling a planet worth living on. Capitalism is based on the absurd idea of unlimited economic growth, and seeks to achieve this through appealing to some of mankind’s worst traits, such as greed and a competitive mindset. Thus, capitalism will not be able to handle the task that is confronting us, and must be abolished for there to be any hope for a descent future for coming generations. In its place, we need to establish a social order based on humanism and solidarity. A social order where the economy is organized with the goal of fulfilling human needs, not for generating the highest possible profits for private holders of capital. A social order where everyone contributes based on their abilities and receives according to their needs. A social order that does not destroy our planet and the natural conditions for life itself.

We have no faith in being saved by politicians, capitalists or other parts of the elite. It is time we take the struggle for a decent future into our own hands. That´s why we declare:

Save the climate. Smash capitalism. Shut down the Oslo Energy Forum