On Wednesday 21st February at 9.30 AM members of climate direct action collective London Rising Tide entered the plush new offices of Carbon Neutral Ltd. This on the day Rising Tide were invited to give ‘evidence’ to the privatised All Party Parliamentary on Climate Change (yes, really!), which is ‘sponsored’ by this carbon emissions ‘offsetting’ company; so, no vested interests there then! This is our ‘evidence’.

After waltzing in and signing their names (well, someone’s!) the plucky occupiers were shown to the boardroom. They barricaded themselves in using wooden desks and chairs, not even having time to check the furniture’s Forest Stewardship Council certification. Meanwhile, outside, corporate ‘offset officers’ dressed in white overalls were busy unfurling a banner which read ‘Carbon Offset = Climate Upset’. The officers then got working on literally sweeping under the carpet a bag of coal that had mysteriously appeared. After photographers and a Swedish film crew had witnessed the offset officers assuage guilt and contrition by hiding said coal, we all agreed that social revolution was a better solution than carbon absolution. Then, the offset officers were thrown out of the courtyard.

Meanwhile, time had passed upstairs and our occupiers had locked themselves in, preventing anyone from entering the boardroom. They had made themselves busy by using flipcharts to cover the windows with the legend ‘offices recently occupied by London Rising Tide’ and other snappy slogans. The occupiers continued to engage in banter with the chief executive and other staff, temporarily preventing them from bio-fooling the public. Having moved the banner and coal outside into Pentonville Road, the plod duly arrived with their cutting crew. Things didn’t look good but we leafleted them on their way in anyway.

After some time plod exited (apparently having leafleted staff inside) to explain that they were taking no action since our occupation was unlawful but not illegal (presumably therefore deemed a civil matter). The occupation continued until about 4PM when we decided a day’s work had been done, or not, depending on whether you were us or them.

The Carbon Neutral Company, formerly known as Future Forests, were the company involved in the Coldplay forest fiasco. I’m sure you’ve heard ‘A Rush of Blood to the Head’, come on, we know anyone reading this is familiar with criminal ‘records’! With the ‘help’ of the Carbon Neutral Company this CD was triumphantly trumpeted as a carbon neutral recording, with the carbon emitted in its production being ‘offset’ by planting 10,000 mango trees at Karnataka in India. The job of these trees was to absorb carbon; however, what they did was release more carbon when they largely died in the largely dry Indian state, with only a few hundred now remaining. Of course each link in the management chain blamed the next link, until the small farmers who planted them ultimately got it in the neck. Well, that is what hierarchical structures are for isn’t it? One of the project participants, Anandi Sharon Mieli of Women for Sustainable Development, is quoted by that clarion of the left, the Sunday Telegraph, as saying ‘Carbon Neutral had a condescending attitude, they do it for their interests, not really for reducing emissions. They do it because it’s good money’. So she has no trouble seeing the wood for the trees and the money growing on them (that’s enough metaphors).

So, carbon ‘offsetting’ then. Well, the maths don’t add up in terms of carbon, and carbon sinks are putting climate at the brink. Only personal action and responsibility will stop us being c02nned by corporate accountancy greenwash solutions like ‘offsetting’. So remember, next time you think about booking that oh-so-essential flight, start now by making flying socially unacceptable and revealing carbon ‘offsetting’ as the smokescreen solution that it is.

VM

www.londonrisingtide.org.uk
www.shelloiledwildlife.org.uk
www.carbontradewatch.org
www.climatecamp.org.uk
www.newint.org (Back Issues, July 2006)
www.wrm.org.uy (World Rainforest Movement)