This Is What It Looks Like When People All Over The World Break Free From Fossil Fuels

Over the last 9 days a global wave of actions to keep fossil fuels in the ground has been gathering momentum all over the world. Words alone are not enough to describe how powerful this moment of action is.

If you’ve missed any of it, here’s what’s happened so far in just the first 9 days of Break Free:

It started in Wales, where over 300 people shut down the UK’s largest open-cast coal mine for a day.

Hours later, 10,000 people from all over the Philippines gathered in Batangas City to demand an end to coal.

In Christchurch, New Zealand, hundreds of people held one of the country’s largest banks, ANZ, accountable for their role in funding and profiting from climate change.

In Australia thousands of people shut down the world’s largest coal port using kayaks, canoes and homemade rafts.

On Monday, Thousands of people protested against fracking during concert at Expo Ingá, the main annual rural fair in the state of Paraná in Brasil.

At the historic site of Nigeria’s first oil well, people demonstrated the environmental and social damage that happens when the oil goes dry and the community is left with only the pollution and none of the wealth to clear it up.

Then back in New Zealand, protesters shut down another ANZ branch, this time in  Wellington.

Then on Wednesday thousands of people from coal impacted communities in Indonesia, rallied in the capital, Jakarta.

All this, and it’s not over yet. There are many more powerful actions planned between now and May 15.

As each action unfolded this week, people from all over the world expressed their solidarity through the Break Free Digital Witness project, which provides live support and amplification for activists as they take to the streets (or coal mine, or water, or anywhere else). You can still be a Digital Witness for the actions to come — click here to join, I know folks on the ground would really appreciate it.

You can see all of the amazing photos from last week and follow the remaining actions as they happen at breakfree2016.org.

The next few days will also be incredible, not least of all because together these actions set the stage for the just transition to 100% renewable energy that this overheating planet needs.

Thank you for being a part of it.