Wales

Wales Just Hit A Massive Green Energy Milestone

December 7, 2024 The Canary. Organize! Border Militarization, Divestment, Fossil Fuels, Higher Education, Wales

Earlier this week, it was revealed that over 75% of UK universities have now divested from the fossil fuel industry, illustrating how cutting financial ties with the industry is being increasingly recognised as a step that aligns with university goals and values. Laura Clayson, campaign manager at Climate Justice, said: This news is incredibly significant given how fossil fuels have shaped the nation’s recent history and landscape. It is an act of solidarity with frontline communities globally, as well as those within Wales itself. This includes the community surrounding the controversial Ffos-y-Fran, the UK’s last and largest open cast coal mine, which closed in 2023. The community continues to have to fight for justice, for everything from health impacts to restoration of the area, as the mining company continues to break their promises on each and every front. We hope this news provides some additional strength to their struggle.

Universities Are Ending Recruitment Ties To Fossil Fuel Companies

December 6, 2024 The Canary. Resist! Employment, Fossil Fuels, Higher Education, United Kingdom (UK), Wales

Aberystwyth University has committed to ending its recruitment ties with fossil fuel and mining companies. In doing so, it becomes the 10th UK university and the 3rd in Wales to exclude the fossil fuel industry from its careers and recruitment activities. In an updated Ethical Careers Policy published on Aberystwyth’s website, the university states that it will “no longer collaborate or hold relationships” with fossil fuel, mining or tobacco companies. The announcement makes Aberystwyth the 10th UK university and the 3rd in Wales to publish such a policy, following similar commitments from the Universities of Swansea in November 2023 and Wrexham in December 2022.

Wales Gets Its First ‘Dark Sky’ Community

January 13, 2024 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Create! Infrastructure, Light Pollution, Wales, wildlife

Presteigne and Norton, a town and neighboring village in the Welsh county of Powys, have been announced as Wales’ first “dark sky community” by DarkSky International. Lights will be dimmed or turned off earlier in order to lower light pollution in the area, allowing residents to get a clearer view of the night sky, reported BBC News. “The Community has worked tenaciously over the last six years to highlight the benefits of becoming a dark sky community,” said Leigh-Harling Bowen, leader of the Presteigne & Norton Dark Skies Community, a press release from DarkSky International said.

BAE Systems Factory Blockaded Over Links With Israeli Military

January 3, 2024 Voice.Wales. Resist! BAE Systems, Direct Action, Palestine, Wales, Weapons Maker

A group of over 60 activists from the Cymru Peace Coalition have blockaded one of the UK’s largest munitions factories, holding banners saying “stop arming genocide” and “UK weapons kill.” In the early hours of Wednesday 3rd January, the group travelled to the BAE Systems factory in Glascoed, near Pontypool and blocked the entrance. The have take action to highlight what they say is BAE Systems’ complicity in Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza, which has already killed over 21,000 Palestinians, including over 10,000 children. The International Federation of Human Rights has described the situation as “an unfolding genocide” against the Palestinian people by the government of Israel – including the suspected production of white phosphorous rounds, which are currently banned under international humanitarian law.

Band Walks 870 Miles On Tour To Promote More Sustainability

November 9, 2023 Paige Bennett, EcoWatch. Create! Music, Music industry, Sustainability, United Kingdom (UK), Wales

Filkin’s Drift, a band of two based in Birmingham, UK, have been highlighting sustainability in their latest tour by walking about 870 miles along the coast of Wales. Musicians Seth Bye and Chris Roberts walked between stops for their 60-day tour, carrying the instruments they needed and just enough clothing to walk and perform each day. Bye and Roberts each carried a 33-pound bag on their journey, the BBC reported. “We’re not at all suggesting that everyone should give up driving and walk to all their gigs because it has completely taken over our lives, but things like choosing more sustainable routes (should be considered),” Roberts said, as reported by the BBC.

Police Turned Up To A Coal Mine Operating Without A Licence

July 12, 2023 Glen Black, The Canary. Resist! Extinction Rebellion, Mining, Police, Wales

Merthyr (South Wales) Limited started operating Ffos-y-Fran, located about 25 miles north of Cardiff, in 2007. It is the UK’s largest opencast coal mine. However, after 15 years of opposition from local residents and ecological campaigners, Merthyr was supposed to stop mining on 6 September 2022. When the day arrived, though, the company simply applied for an extension and continued taking coal from the ground, causing despair for residents and campaigners. Then, on 26 April, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council unanimously rejected the extension. This should have stopped Merthyr completely.

Four Sentenced To Prison After Dismantling Weapons Factory

June 27, 2023 Palestine Action. Resist! Anti-War, Legal System, Wales, Weapons Maker

At Mold Crown Court, Judge Rowlands sentenced three activists to 23 months, and one other to 27 months, after the four were convicted of “conspiracy to commit criminal damage” against a Welsh based American weapons factory, Teledyne Labtech. The action which took place on the 9th December 2022, saw two of the four dismantle military equipment from the inside of the factory, whilst the others occupied the roof [1]. In total, it’s alleged the four damaged over £1.2million worth of equipment belonging to the firm, severely disrupting the production of weaponry. Half of their sentences are expected to be served in prison, of which they have served nearly 7 months to date, as they’ve been remanded since the action took place.

Palestine Action Breaks In And Smashes Weapons Factory In Wales

December 9, 2022 Palestine Action. Resist! Direct Action, Israel, Palestine, Palestine Action, Wales, Weapons Maker

Activists from Palestine Action have broken in to Teledyne Technologies’ weapons plant in Presteigne, Wales. Climbing in through smashed windows, activists began to thoroughly dismantle the factory of the American-owned firm, forcing closure of a site used to supply military hardware to Israel. Activists have taken apart offices, broken computers, and have begun occupation of the roof to ensure that the factory remains inoperable. The group took over the Teledyne factory at 7.30am on Thursday morning, and vow to continue this action for as long as possible to stop the manufacture or shipment of Israel’s drone technologies and military gear. Teledyne Technologies, and its subsidiary E2V Technologies, hold weapons export licences for both Israel and India, where their surveillance and targeting systems are used in the repression and killing of Palestinian and Kashmiri civilians.

Drivers Forced To Drive Around Extinction Rebellion Protesters

May 3, 2021 Katie Bells, Wales Online. Resist! Blockade, climate crisis, Extinction Rebellion, Wales

Swansea, Wales - Extinction Rebellion protesters across Swansea stopped traffic across the city after staging a sit down protest on busy roads. The 30 minute protest, took place on Swansea's High Street, Gower Road in Upper Killay and Sketty Road in Uplands on Saturday morning. Video footage from Upper Killay shows a protester peacefully sitting in the road wearing a sign that read: "I’m terrified that there is nothing to live for because of the climate crisis". The protest led to queues of traffic forcing cars to drive around the protester. In the video, one business owner can be heard asking the man to move. "I've got a business to run and you're blocking the road," he said, before walking away.

Welsh Government Announces Nationalisation Of Rail Service

October 24, 2020 The Canary. Create! Privatization, Public transportation, Trains, Wales

The Welsh government has decided to nationalise its railways following a significant drop in passenger numbers because of coronavirus (Covid-19). The country’s transport minister Ken Skates said bringing day-to-day rail services for its Wales and Borders franchise under public control would help secure the future of passenger services and protect jobs. Private firm KeolisAmey, a joint venture between French transport giant Keolis and Amey, has run the franchise in Wales for just two years after taking it over from Arriva Trains Wales.

The Welsh Village Being Abandoned To The Sea Because Of Climate Change

May 28, 2019 By Robert Harries and Laura Clements, Walesonline.co.uk Educate! Climate Change, Wales

The council says it can't protect the village from the elements forever and, sooner than later, everything must go. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be sat in a deckchair in my back garden with the water up to my neck before I move out.” What will your village, town or city look like in half a century? Most of us would probably imagine a more modern, populated and eco-friendly version of the environment we live in today. But for one Welsh village the question is salient and immediate. And they have no idea what the answer is. But there's a chance it won't exist at all.

Thousands Of Protesters Filing In For NATO Summit

September 1, 2014 teleSUR, www.telesurtv.net Resist! NATO, Protest, Stop the War, Wales

With just 5 days before the NATO summit in Wales kicks off, security is tightening and counter-NATO protesters are making their presence felt. In anticipation of a NATO summit in the Welsh city of Newport, activists have began to arrive, setting up a protest camp. It is expected that tens of thousands of people will join the camp in the days leading up to the summit, starting on Thursday. Newport is starting to resemble a fortress as the preparations are made with 3 meter high fences, barricades and roads blocked. Nine and half thousand police officers will also be in the city to protect the summit. According to a statement posted by the Stop the War Coalition website, the United States will at the two-day summit pressure Western powers “to increase their already huge military budgets at a time when poverty and inequality are soaring.” “None of the cuts would be necessary if the sums Britain spends on its military and armaments were invested in social need instead of the war machine,” said the coalition in a statement.

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