Climáximo supporters protested this morning at GALP headquarters: “GALP is to blame for exceeding the average global temperature limit and for all the deaths and destruction that this entails”.
This morning, several Climáximo supporters stuck posters on the façade of GALP’s headquarters reading “We’ve reached the limit. We don’t want this scenario every year. Stop fossil fuels now!”.
João Neto, graphic designer and spokesperson for the action, states that “2024 will go down in history as the year of climate overshoot – that is, the first year in human history in which global warming exceeded the critical limit of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. With just 1.5°C of global warming, we have witnessed several disasters such as the devastating floods in Valencia, where at least 230 people were killed and more than 36,600 displaced. We have reached the limit and are on the brink of climate collapse. This is the last call for action. At this very moment, more than 30,000 people have been evacuated in California due to huge fires in the middle of winter in a region with a temperate climate, just like ours”.
In a statement, the collective recalls that “if the average temperature continues to rise in the coming years and if, instead of one year, we have several years in a row with global warming exceeding 1.5ºC, we will exceed irreversible chemical and physical limits that will worsen the consequences of the climate crisis”. And, adds João Neto, “this is not about numbers or meteorology, we are talking about the destruction of crops, homes, the increase in disease and thousands of deaths. It is hell on Earth, it is a war against people and Nature”.
However, the collective affirms that “it is still possible to pull the brakes and change course”; “Scientists warn that we only have five years to achieve a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. It is urgent to end our economic dependence on fossil fuel exploitation, and for the Global North to cut all fossil fuel emissions by 2030. Governments and companies choose to continue expanding fossil fuels. They say we cannot live without these fuels, but in reality, the only ones who cannot live without fossils are they, because it would cause them to lose their profits. There are alternatives. But since governments and companies have decided to kill people to maintain their profits, we must be the ones to stop the attacks and implement the solutions with our own hands”.
Climáximo supporters express “their solidarity with all those who have lost their homes and loved ones this past year due to the climate crisis’ and call on ‘everyone to stop accepting this system and start defending life and the climate”.