A human chain of people will link up on Saturday to create a Mili-Band, pressing the Secretary of State for the Department of Energy and Climate Change Ed Miliband to reject E.on’s plans for building a new coal-fired plant at the Kent site.

They will represent a coalition of organisations who oppose new dirty coal at Kingsnorth because of the devastating effect climate change is already having on poor people around the world. Current plans to test carbon capture and storage would only capture 20% of emissions, meaning that 6 million tonnes would still be pumped into the atmosphere every year, the equivalent of the total emissions of 25 developing countries.

The coalition, which includes Oxfam, the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, the RSPB, and the Woodcraft Folk, believe approval of the plans will derail hopes of securing a fair and safe deal to tackle climate change at the UN climate negotiations in December. The decision on whether Kingsnorth should go ahead - expected later this year - is a test case as to how serious the UK government is in matching its actions with its rhetoric to take urgent action in cutting emissions and avoiding runaway climate change.

Campaigns and Policy Director Phil Bloomer said: “Building a new coal-fired plant at Kingsnorth amounts to a fatal game of Russian roulette for the millions of people around the world whose lives are already being devastated by climate change. They need solutions and it is rich countries like the UK that must lead the way in providing them - not continue in a blinkered business as usual manner. Kingsnorth does not need to go ahead to test CCS and it is time for people’s lives to take precedence over narrow business interest.

“The Mili-Band is an opportunity for people to demonstrate their opposition to the plans in a peaceful way and to represent the swathe of public opposition felt up and down the country.”

The Mili-Band will be part of a fete, where Sam Duckworth of Get Cape Wear Cape Fly and Ugandan world music star Geoffrey Oryema will be performing on stage. EastEnders favourite Nina Wadia (Zainab Masood) will compere.

Millions of poor people around the world are living on the frontline of climate change with increasingly unpredictable seasons and more frequent and intense weather patterns. Coal poses the greatest threat to their future, being the dirtiest fossil fuel and accounting for more than half CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. Ed Miliband has the chance to turn his back on a generation of new coal or commit millions more people to the impacts of climate change for generations to come.

Deborah Doane, director at the World Development Movement said: “Emissions from a new Kingsnorth plant alone could force 20,000 more people from their homes to become refugees and 50,000 more people to go hungry because of drought and lower crop yields.  For the UK government to ignore this fact, is an injustice on an unprecedented scale, and that’s why Kingsnorth must not go ahead without capturing all of its carbon emissions from the start.”

Susan Nash, vice president society and citizenship at the National Union of Students said: “Climate change is the biggest challenge facing our generation. Plans for a new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth represent a serious threat to the lives and futures of young people in the UK and beyond.”

Kit Jones, young trustee of Woodcraft Folk, added: “We reject new coal at Kingsnorth. My generation doesn’t want to be defined by fossil fuel dependency as previous ones have. Instead we are excited by sustainable alternatives that will really help protect the lives of millions of the poorest people around the world. We know these work because we’ve played with them - but you can’t “play” with six million tonnes of CO2 or a host of other harmful gases.”

Ruth Davis, the RSPB’s Head of Climate Change Policy, said: “Emissions from coal plants are a major cause of climate change, which is killing coral reefs and melting glaciers and is behind the death from starvation of thousands of seabirds around the UK’s coasts this year.

“Without dramatic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, we are facing the collapse of many of the world’s ecosystems, including its tropical forests; the extinction of more than half its species; and untold misery for millions of people.

“The Government knows this and it is astonishing that it is still considering consenting coal fired power stations that don’t capture all their CO2 emissions.”

Ruth Bond, NFWI Chair said: “The WI believes that 2009 is a vitally important year for our planet. The Government needs to show the same commitment to tackle climate change in December’s UN talks that WI members have shown in their own homes. By not building Kingsnorth, the government will make it clear that they can take the tough decisions needed to tackle climate change.”

Notes to Editors:

• Interviews, images and further information are available by contacting Lucy Brinicombe, 01865 472192 / 07786 110054 / lbrinicombe@oxfam.org.uk. Sam Duckworth is available for interview prior to the event, as well as on the day with Nadia Wadia. Please get in touch if you would like to interview either beforehand so arrangements can be made.
• Journalists and photographers are welcome to attend. You should arrive at Hoo Village Institute, 25 Main Road, Hoo, ME3 9AA at 11am so that you can carry out interviews and be taken to the site for photographs of the Mili-Band and further interviews.

 Facts: 

• Global emissions need to peak and start to decline by 2015 if the world is to avoid catastrophic climate change. This is also when E.on plans to have a new coal-fired plant operating at Kingsnorth and when the Millennium Development Goals should be met. Climate change is already hindering progress in meeting these goals.
• For example, the international community agreed in 2000 to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty by 2015. However, climate change is already responsible for forcing 50m more people to go hungry and driving 10 million more people into extreme poverty.
• The average number of people affected by climate-related disasters could increase by 52% to 375 million by 2015
• Every year climate change leaves over 300,000 people dead, 325 million people seriously affected and economic losses of US$125 billion.
• E.ON has an opportunity to turn its business and its emissions story around: in 2015, nearly half of its generating capacity will be lost as outdated plants close
• We do not need Kingsnorth to test CCS. We can test pre-combustion CCS, capturing 90% of emissions from day one. If we want to test post-combustion CCS - the technology that would be tested on Kingsnorth - we could do so on the existing plant: Longannet. Only if this technology is proven to capture all emissions should Kingsnorth be considered.
• 6 million tonnes of CO2 that Kingsnorth is projected to emit falls just below Panama’s total annual emissions at 6.1 million tones.
• The 25 developing countries include Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and the Solomon Islands.

The Mili-Band is organised by a coalition of organisations in the UK who are concerned about the devastating human impact of climate change and who thereby oppose dirty coal at Kingsnorth. The organisations involved are: Oxfam, the World Development Movement, People and Planet, The National Federation of Women’s Institutes, Christian Aid, Woodcraft Folk, RSPB, The National Union of Students and Avaaz. The coalition is grateful to Greenpeace for their support.

All organisations are members of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition.

More from the Oxfam Press Office at http://www.oxfam.org.uk/news