Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Climate campers pack up and leave Aberdeen after five days of protests

The Climate Camp Scotland packing up their tents. Picture by Kenny Elrick.
The Climate Camp Scotland packing up their tents. Picture by Kenny Elrick.

The Climate Camp Scotland group has packed up and left Aberdeen after five days of protests in the city.

Protestors were seen packing up their tents, de-erecting their marquee, and leaving St Fitticks park as their five days of camping comes to an end.

Over the week the campers had built a toilet block and a kitchen at the Torry green space.

The organisers believe the camp had well over 250 people at its busiest point.

People had flocked from across the UK to attend.

During their time in the Granite City the protestors have:

The protestors packed up their tents and left Aberdeen. Picture by Kenny Elrick.

Do the campers agree with the ‘Greenwashing’ graffiti?

During their stay in the city, the Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC) on Queens Road was targeted by graffiti outside its building.

The graffiti labelled what the business was doing as “Greenwashing”.

The company was trying to develop technology for an affordable net zero energy industry.

Net zero is when the amount of greenhouse gas emissions we put into the atmosphere balances with the amount we are able to take out.

One of the organisers, Quan Nguyen said: “We don’t know who did it, it was a group unattached to us. But we do approve of the message.

“Net zero is a Greenwash and relies on technology that isn’t ready. It contains highly inaccurate and really sketchy information.”

Quan Nguyen was one of the organisers. Picture by Kenny Elrick.

‘Net zero needs to get in the bin’

Another organiser, Benji Brown, 30, claimed: “Net Zero needs to get in the bin. It allows you to fiddle the numbers with tree planting schemes.

“But the root cause is an economy that relies on fossil fuels.

The campers instead are trying to promote already available technology such as public transport, high-speed rail, well insulated homes, and heat pumps.

During their time at St Fitticks they used a solar panel to power their megaphones and electrical devices.

Solar panels used to charge equipment. Picture by Kenny Elrick.

How will the protestors be getting home?

Many of the protestors traveled far to get to Aberdeen, including some from France, Ireland and Bristol.

Mr Nguyen said: “We are going home on public transport, bikes, buses, we have also rented a couple of vans to transport kit. We also have a couple of car shares.

“But no one has just driven up by themselves.”

Despite the over 150 people that stayed at the camp, organisers hope that they will leave the park in a better condition than when they arrived.

He added: “There were some beer cans when we first got here but we cleaned them up.”

“We hope to leave without a physical trace but with a trace in people’s minds.”

The camp had a large kitchen to feed the amount of people. Picture by Kenny Elrick.

Will the campers be back?

It was Lindsay Kemp’s first time at a camp-based protest like this one.

The 34-year-old from Glasgow said: “It was worthwhile coming to something like this.

“Hopefully it has a ripple effect over time.

“We are not used to doing things in a big group. It’s different than doing it alone. It gives you power. It breaks down barriers.

“It makes you realise that you can do more than you can imagine.

“I will be back again 100%.”

The Climate Camp Scotland protestors have leaving St Fitticks park after the end of their five days of camping. Picture by Kenny Elrick.

Conversation