In times of drought, maintaining golf is criminal”: Climáximo supporters entered the Oeiras golf course and started planting a vegetable garden for food production because “the mandate to stop the climate crisis lies with the people.
At 10am this morning, 6 Climáximo supporters entered the Oeiras Golf Course with hoes and dozens of vegetables and trees in order to inaugurate an urban agroforestry garden for food production, to stop the crime of continuing to use energy resources and water to maintain golf courses in the midst of the climate crisis and farmers’ protests over water shortages.
The activists planted a variety of horticultural species and native trees, showing how, “with our own hands”, people can “build a world according to real interests and needs, stop criminal and misguided consumption by the super-rich, and give new purposes to places that are currently restricted to the elites who are most to blame for the climate crisis”.
In a statement, the collective refers to the study published by the European Environment Agency which concludes that “the risks related to extreme heat, such as exposure to forest fires and drought, are already at ‘critical levels’ in Portugal”, compromising agricultural production and access to drinking water for the population. They also point out that “the increase in food prices due to the impacts of the climate crisis through drought is clearly being felt and is compromising people’s access to essential foodstuffs”.
“We are in the 10th hottest month in a row, facing drought of agricultural and forest land and the emptying of dams, rivers and ponds, leaving hundreds of farmers across the country in distress, with protests less than a week ago in the Algarve. The elites of capitalism go about their normal lives and contribute disproportionately to the worsening drought. The elites who enjoy this kind of leisure are the same ones who have levels and patterns of consumption that lead to abysmal greenhouse gas emissions, compared to the vast majority of the population – the richest 10% produce half of the CO2 emissions, globally and also within a country,” explains Leonor Canadas, who has a degree in Agricultural Engineering.
The spokeswoman added that “in an emergency situation such as the one we are experiencing, there can be no doubt about which consumptions to prioritize: luxury consumptions and consumptions that are not socially useful and have a major impact in terms of emissions, waste of fresh water and destruction of ecosystems, must stop immediately. The use of land and scarce natural resources such as water must be planned and managed according to essential needs, such as food production.” According to Leonor, “The choice to continue these consumptions, like the use of fossil fuels, is an act of premeditated and coordinated violence by governments, the ultra-rich and corporate CEOs, because they know they are guaranteeing the destruction of life and condemning hundreds of thousands of people to death, and they do it nonetheless to maintain their profits.”
Climáximo, which interrupted election night, claims that both the current and next governments have plans to guarantee climate collapse, so the mandate to stop the climate crisis is in the hands of the people. The collective calls on all people not to consent to the current war on lives and to join the climate resistance.