Joss Garman who was born in Wales, Radnorshire, England in 1985 described as a champion of the green movement by the Sunday Times. In addition, he is the director of the UK program for the European Climate Foundation. He has also been a climate change campaigner for more years through positions in NGOs, think tanks, politics, and now is a philanthropist.
Other roles include the political director of Greenpeace of the UK, the Associate Director for the Institute for Public Policy Research & political adviser for the Labor Party. Garman also a member of the Royal Society of Arts and sits on the advisory board of the UK Energy Research Center.
Since he was first known as an activist in England, he immediately attracted attention because of his courage in defending the environment and he even nicknamed the “new Swampy”. He has been arrested for more than 20 times and helped establish Plane Stupid, a direct action group that has angered airlines and airports, disrupted the select transport committee and closed the office of EasyJet’s London.
BAA (British Aviation Authority) even tried to stop Garman and other demonstrators from organizing climate change camps at the summer Heathrow years ago, but the camp kept going and Garman demonstrated elsewhere. He was nominated by George Monbiot and Philip Pullman as one of the future activists at that time.
Garman knew the best results were achieved through group efforts. He said that we would not be able to save the world through the actions of altruistic individuals, but by working together as movements throughout the world to change the way the economy we support.
Joss Garman and His Love For The Environment
At the age of 15, Garman wrote to Greenpeace asking volunteer. When he found there was no local branch where he lived, he set up his own branch. “I grew up in beautiful Welsh countryside and was rich in wildlife, and I thought that was the key to why I always felt very strong in protecting nature,” he said. “The more I learn about the scale of threats, the more I want to be part of a movement that will deter dirty industries and instead promote cleaner ones.”
While at school Garman campaigns outside supermarkets on issues such as fossil fuel power plants. He protested genetically modified food and the Iraq war. Once he organized a mass strike at his school against conflict. He even broke into a Royal Air Force station in Fairford, southwest England, to block the runway and stop the bombers leaving for Iraq. He was threatened by armed guards and held alone for more than two days. Garman emphasized that the best campaign is a campaign that empowers people to get involved and to challenge decision makers.
Joss Garman and Stupid Plane Group
Garman, although no longer involved in stupid plane groups, said that airplane is the biggest threat to climate and we cannot wait for sustainable technology to validate it, which means we need to end the culture of using aircraft to destinations that can be achieved with cleaner forms of alternative transportation. That means advertisements for low-cost airlines must begin to be seen in the same way as advertisements for large cigarette companies.
For the long term, Joss Garman will focus on environmental efforts for Greenpeace UK. He recommends that everyone join organizations like his own, or organizations like 350.org, a global grassroots group that takes action on the carbon footprint.
