Because what we really need right now is more mining.
If you haven’t heard already, our climate is pretty darn crooked at the moment. Extreme weather events continue to increase in their frequency and destructiveness. Just to name a few examples, 40 separate fires have been burning throughout New South Wales in recent weeks, cities in Brazil are ‘smothered’ in dark clouds after a fire ravaged parts of the Amazon rainforest and over seven million people have already been displaced because of extreme weather in the first half of 2019 alone.
It’s clear the climate catastrophe is well underway.
Yet, this week, hundreds of mining companies from around the world will descend on Melbourne for the lavish International Mining and Resources Conference. Here, they’ll conveniently discuss how else they can ruin our environment for money. Some of the participating mining companies (or ‘climate criminals’ as activists have described them) include BP Exploration, BHP, Glencore, Yancoal and Rio Tinto.
Seriously, after decades of inaction and denial about the environmental and social destruction caused by mining, the fact that events like these can go ahead is absurd.
Luckily, climate activists have started giving these mining monsters the welcome they deserve. From Monday October 28 to Thursday October 31, the Blockade IMARC event seeks to disrupt this conference and ideally shut it down.
Gotta say, we're feeling Greta's vibes over here…. #auspol #GretaThunberg pic.twitter.com/Sa4ONhz4SS
— BLOCKADE IMARC OCTOBER 28 (@blockadeIMARC19) September 24, 2019
After a week of rebellion earlier this month, this is the next big event on the calendar for climate activists in Melbourne. Organisers have encouraged everyone to skip their usual activities and join the non-violent blockade.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or your political persuasion – [there are] countless reasons to blockade IMARC. From protecting animals to defending Indigenous land the world over to fighting the exploitation of workers, there’s a reason to join our blockade,” IMARC’s website reads.
So, if you’ve got time to spare this week, head out to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and join activists as they fight for a future free from coal and greedy corporations.
Protesters chanting “can’t wipe the blood of your hands” outside the Exhibition & Convention Centre ahead of the IMARC conference this week. About 50 people have turned out so far. @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/JtAaqHHfoH
— Alanah Frost (@akfrost_) October 27, 2019
Never miss a story. Sign up to Beat’s newsletter and you’ll be served fresh music, arts, food and culture stories three times a week.
