Partnerships are the bedrock of our work at 350.org. We could not do this crucial work to fight climate change without hundreds of partner organizations and thousands of volunteer activists around the world. There are many partners on the ground whom we work very closely with and support their work to maximize their impact for progress.
One example of this partnership is 350 Ghana Reduce Our Carbon (350 G-ROC), a 350 group in Ghana that has been fighting new coal-fired power plants. 350 G-ROC was founded by young activists who were trained at 350.org’s Global Power Shift (GPS) event in 2013. After attending GPS, the group decided to focus on stopping coal plants from being built in Ghana.
Farid Shamsu Deen (center) and colleagues during a 350 Africa workshop in Accra, Ghana.
Last fall, 350 G-ROC, with support and amplification from 350.org, launched a campaign to demand the cancellation of Shenzhen Energy Group’s Sunon Asoli Power Plant coal project in the western region of Ghana. 350 G-ROC held community events, activist trainings, and reached out to local chiefs and universities where the plant was planned to be built. When many local chiefs and the community came out against the project, the government announced that they would move the plant to central Ghana and delay construction until 2019. 350 G-ROC vowed to continue to demand that the government abandon all plans for the plant and has already begun work in the communities that would be impacted in the central region.
When asked why 350 G-ROC dedicates their time and skills to fighting climate change, organizer Farid Shamsu Deen replied, “why should we accept Shenzhen Energy Group, a company that has been chased out [of China], to flourish in Ghana while negatively impacting our communities, health, water, and air?”
Landry Ninteretse, 350.org‘s Sub-Saharan Africa Field Organiser, added, “I admire the bravery and leadership of the 350 G-ROC team having been able to win and their determination to continue to fight.”
It’s thanks to 350 G-ROC and partners like them — from Brazil to South Africa and from Great Britain to the South Pacific and hundreds of places in between — that we can achieve so much in so many places in such a short time. The fossil fuel industry is powerful, but with people power like this and with growing resistance and more participation in the climate movement, we are making amazing progress.
Our heartfelt thanks goes out to 350 G-ROC and all our volunteer activists, partners, and supporters all around the world!