Name

Danni Paffard

Location

London, UK

What was your ‘eureka’ moment for getting into sustainability?

Sat in a packed tent at ‘Climate Camp’ in 2009 - having turned up slightly on a whim because it had ‘climate’ in the title - someone was explaining with ever-expanding circular arrows the nature of capitalism, and the obvious environmental problems of expecting infinite growth on a finite planet. That, and the following days spent shoulder to shoulder - cooking, dancing, learning, taking action - with some of the most passionate and inspiring people I’d ever met, was the moment I really joined the climate movement. I’d always cared about the environment, and desperately wanted to help. Watching our politicians and leaders claim to understand the scale of the problem, and yet so comprehensively fail to respond appropriately had left me feeling helpless and angry. Finding the people that shared my concerns and values, and were ready to take the bold action that was necessary was when hope returned and I had my ‘eureka’ moment.

What have you been doing on sustainability since?

Since joining the climate movement in 2009 I’ve shut down power stations, camped in chimneys, almost got sued by EDF for £5m and narrowly avoided prison as part of the Heathrow 13 - standing up against the environmental disaster that would be a third runway at Heathrow. I’ve been part of creative interventions with Liberate Tate opposing oil sponsorship of the arts - oil spills in galleries, giant turbines in the turbine hall, a tattoo with the parts per million carbon in the atmosphere the day I was born. A tattoo that grows in significance with every oil sponsor that gets dropped. On a daily basis, I challenge the power of the fossil fuel industry as part of the fossil fuel divestment campaign - the fastest growing divestment campaign the world has ever seen, as more and more institutions around the world ditch their investments in the fossil fuel industry.

What’s your vision for reaching a sustainable future?

We already have the technology we need to build the sustainable future we need - working on the amazing Zero Carbon Britain report taught me that. Standing between us and the just, democratic society we need is politics and inertia. Both of which can be overcome through campaigning and activism that builds our power and challenges theirs.

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