English
CALL TO ACTION
We have feared it, we have lived from and in it, processed and over the centuries shaped it, and today we perhaps (above everything else) project dreams and wishes onto it. Through the Nordic countries’ common law, we have, to varying extents, the right to move through it. We take the mushroom, the berries and the animals that live in it for granted. Everyone has a relationship with it. In our parliaments and dinner tables it is spoken of as a commodity and an asset.
But how do green forests become gold? And at what cost to the forests?
We are facing complete climate disaster. As a result of the emissions of greenhouse gases changing the chemical balance in our atmosphere – the earth is heating up. Floods, droughts and conflicts over dwindling resources follow as a consequence.
The establishment says that forestry is the salvation. The forest binds carbon dioxide, and for every tree cut down, two new ones are planted. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.
For the forest to bind something effectively, it needs to grow – for a looong time. What is produced from the forest also needs to be used for long-lived products, so that they are not immediately consumed and release the carbon dioxide again. Carbon is not only stored in the trees but also in the ground where the trees once stood. After clear-cutting, the land is left bare and releases tons and tons of greenhouse gases.
In Sweden, almost 80% of harvested forest is used for short-lived products, and 25% for specific paper pulp, in an enormously energy-demanding industry. The pulp and paper industry is the main driver of clear-cutting, as it provides quick access to cheap, low-quality lumber. They are the engine driving the death machine.
The new trees are also not the same as the forest that was there before. A forest is an advanced ecosystem, a mix of old and new, not just a row of trees but a home of biodiversity and an oasis for thousands of endangered species. But that kind of forest is not easy to make money from. The forest industry wants straight rows of identical trees – like a conveyor belt of products.
What lobby organizations, easily bought politicians and dubious scientists call a forest is not the same as what most of us think of when we hear the word. It’s not a lively, unkempt, busy place. It’s gigantic plantations. Since the end of the nineties, both the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Swedish forestry companies have been using a definition of forest that even includes clear-cutting. An incestuous relationship exists between Swedish authorities, the forest industry and prominent forestry researchers.
When Bolsanaro authorizes the devastation of the Amazon rainforest, it’s easy to be appalled from a distance, but it’s time we turn our attention to the threat of a much closer forest. The clear-cutting in Sweden and the water crisis in Brazil are connected, not least through the forestry group Stora Enso, who are the ones who make big money while indigenous people are forcibly relocated there and the rights of Sami villages are violated here. We turn our gaze to the forest, not just for the forest itself, but for the climate and the future.
The PR image that the forest- and the pulp industry have managed to establish about their business is total fiction – pulp fiction.
We need to do something about it, and we understand that we need to do it now. The rescue from the climate emergency is often presented as a question of our individual consumption patterns. To some extent that is true, of course, but it is shifts blame from those who got rich off the sale of short-lived junk to us who are forced to buy it. Disposable packaging, advertising leaflets and paper receipts are just a few examples of things that would do more good in their original form: the forest. Conscious consumption choices are not enough, we have to change the whole capitalist system.
We believe that climate policy is, at its core, class politics and that the struggle for transformed production is ultimately a matter of ownership. Thus, solidarity between workers will be decisive. But our power goes beyond power at
work. Just as colleagues discover their power when they make common demands or take on a collective conflict, in the same way we discover our power in mass action.
When hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of people get together and decide to close a cement quarry on Gotland, block the way for fascists or take the streets back on International Women’s Day, they discover their collective power as a mass. Stopping the climate catastrophe will require a mass movement on streets, in lime quarries and on moss-covered paths.
We are forced to work for wages to survive, but at the same time our survival is jeopardized by the emissions from the industries many of us work in. Workers are held hostage by fossil capitalism. As soon as we demand action against the climate crisis, we are threatened with the loss of our jobs.
Climate activists are expected to answer the question of which jobs would replace, for example, an environmentally and climate-unfriendly cement quarry. Despite the fact that Sweden is one of the richest countries in the world and that many have become filthy rich from our natural resources, it is not conceivable that companies or the state would compensate the workers who would need to be retrained in a green transition. We believe that no one should have to choose between unemployment or climate disaster. Of course, that’s just the beginning. Because as long as our civilization requires constant growth and profit, the earth’s resources will always be under negotiation and attack. We cannot hope that our current economic system will make any kind of green transition. Too many people profit too much from that not happening. We have to work together to get out of this climate disaster and create something new together. A way of life that does not require the profitability and productivity of everything, but sees value in life as such, on its own. A world without forestry capitalists, starvation and coercion.
In the summer of 2024, we will meet in Gävle, not because a single mill in a particular place is worse than any other, but because Swedish forests are threatened, and with it a habitable earth. In the summer of 2024 we will show our collective power. We do this together, by meeting, networking and acting on the basis of a large climate camp, thereby finding the strength and resources we need to take the next step.
To not just shut down a pulp mill or block an industry, but to shut down the entire system that is destroying our planet and to build something else together! See you 15-19:th of June!
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FAQ
Who is behind ”Take Concrete Action”?
The TCA network is a mixed group of climate justice activists from different parts of Sweden who are tired of politicians’ inability to get things done in the environmental and climate issue, therefore we arrange the climate camp ”Take Concrete Action – Pulp Fiction”. We want you to come with us to Gävle, socialize, network and file at events – for a world worth living in! We believe in low thresholds and that everyone should be able to participate according to their ability.
How do I get in touch with you?
Send us an email at takeconcreteaction@riseup.net or write to us on social media! We have independent local groups in several places in Sweden, and we try to write up what they have planned here on the website under the ”events” tab.
Do you have social media?
Of course! Follow, share and like us on:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/takeconcreteaction
Instagram: instagram.com/takeconcreteaction
Can you come to my city and hold an information meeting or training?
Yes, we would be more than happy to do so! Send us an email at takeconcreteaction@riseup.net and we can come and inform you about the camp and how you can participate! If you are a group, you are welcome to tell us where you are, how many people are interested in participating and if you have any wishes about when you should come/not come!
About us
What have you done before?
The network was born as a collaboration between climate and environmental groups and left-wing political organizations in the winter of 2021/2022. First with a focus on blocking the climate-unfriendly cement industry in Slite on Gotland, which we also did with great success. Along the way, we realized that not only did we have a lot to learn from each other, we enjoy doing politics together and received great feedback from the participants. Above all, the camp activities were appreciated, and that is why we have chosen to put the finishing touches on it for 2024. The camp is a place where comrades can meet, network, learn from each other and together sow small seeds for what will hopefully be mass actions that change society.
You have written a lot about mass actions… What does it really mean?
Mass actions are a way for the vast majority to not only express their opinion, but also make a direct physical and economic difference. That said, we are not against demonstrations or other methods of activism. We believe in a pluralism of methods, where mass action is one of many!
A mass action can include a variety of ways to participate. In the case of Cementa, we used a so-called finger structure with demonstrations and groups that act collectively, with different levels and roles in participation. It was also possible to arrange other things in connection with the action, under the TCA umbrella. The only requirement was that everyone followed our network’s Action Consensus, which will also be posted here on the website. In addition, several action trainings were arranged where the participants could be prepared for various scenarios that may arise during direct actions.
Together we are strong!
About the climate and the forest
If you are against the forest industry, why do you want to focus on pulp mills?
The pulp mills’ production cannot be separated from the forest industry, but is an outgrowth of it. They are directly dependent on deforestation to produce their disposable items. We have written several texts about what we oppose with the pulp industry, you will find them here on the website. We also support and participate in several other initiatives that lead to direct collective action to protect the climate and the environment: From SKogsupproret, to the local occupation of the Blodstensskogen in Uppsala, the struggles in Ojnareskogen, Gallok, Norra Kärr and Vilseskogen, etc. (see more at kolonierna.se). The fight against the forest industry is a long tradition in Sweden and globally, which we are happy to continue through opposition to pulp mills.
Will you organize more actions against Cementa in the future?
Hi Cementa, nice of you to ask! We haven’t forgotten you 🙂
How do I join?
There are several levels of involvement. First of all, of course, you must come to the camp in Gävle! Bring your political organization, mom or best friend. You can join one of our study circles, send a few pennies to our fundraiser or participate in some other local activity. Maybe you have an idea for a workshop or want to present something on site. If you would rather become an active part of the network (hooray!) and be involved in the preparatory work, contact us via email. We’re growing like crazy, so be patient – someone will respond to your email eventually.