December 29, 2017

2017 highlights – a year in review

A year packed with bold climate actions against the fossil fuel industry and a growing movement telling its own stories of impacts and resistance at the frontlines of climate change in new and inspiring ways.

A lot of communities and regions around the world suffered through the impacts of extreme weather events and their consequences this past year and we know that the fossil fuel industry is at the core of this wreckage. This is why we take action and encourage others to do the same, and why our resolve has only strengthened throughout 2017 as we faced challenges but also continued to see the impact of people power and our voices grow stronger against the fossil fuel industry.

As we step into 2018 here are some of our highlights from the past year.

We’re still in awe of the beautiful, creative, poetic Fossil Free Culture actions – strong reminders that impactful actions can take any shape or form we imagine. 

The campaign to liberate the Louvre Museum from the tentacles of Total and fossil fuel sponsorship was launched with sobering artivist performances.

In Amsterdam, the campaign by Fossil Free Culture Netherlands — demanding that the Van Gogh Museum breaks its ties to oil giant Shell — started up with a series of brilliant performances.

So many times throughout 2017 the climate movement came together to take action and tell stories. It mobilized and confronted the industry that is at the heart of climate impacts, and told its own story in new and creative ways, the actions grew and multiplied. But it wasn’t just about the numbers, it was about those most impacted, those living at the frontlines of climate change. Their voices and actions became stronger and louder than ever.

We shared four stories of Saami people speaking their truths about what climate justice means to them, in the Arctic regions of Northern Europe, at the frontlines of climate change.

In April we celebrated 100 UK Divestment Commitments.

In May thousands of people around the world came together as part of the Global Divestment Mobilization to amplify local and global Fossil Free campaigns. 10 incredible days to celebrate show that we are the ones on the right side of history.

And then came a summer of powerful and vibrant actions, kicked off by the Code Rood action to block the coal loading station of the port of Amsterdam. 

The first ever Czech Climate Camp took place. 

We are the limits. Photograph by: Vladimír Čičmanec

And in between all these camps and actions there was a powerful, ongoing story that grew more and more, the NoTAP movement in Italy, Greece and beyond. The struggle of a community against a climate wrecking gas pipeline. We did our best to support this inspiring resistance.

And July was the Rolling Resistance, a full month of actions to Reclaim the Power and say no to fracking in Lancashire.

And then there was another first, the first ever Climate Camp Sweden in Gothenburg.

2017 was also a year of two massive Ende Gelände actions in the Rhineland. The first one took place in August and it was magical.

Disobedience.Live streamed it all.

And when the Nobel Prize was announced in October the Divest Nobel campaigners were right there to demand moral leadership and divestment from all fossil fuels.

As fall set in and with COP23 just days away there was a second Ende Gelande action in the Rhineland.

And the Pacific Climate Warriors shared their message and called for climate justice.

And then just when we thought it was all over and we could take a break… came December. From London to Paris, Barcelona to Stockholm, in just one short week, people took powerful actions to show that fossil fuels have no social licence: divest, defund, desponsor, disrupt! And we decided that it deserved its own wrap-up. 

So in these last days of 2017 take a moment to let it all sink in, remember what we achieved together. What’s above is just a fraction of what took place. Climate change isn’t stopping but neither are we! Time to recharge for a #FossilFree 2018.

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