When building climate solutions isn't enough.

Last Friday, on behalf of the Frack Free Kimberley campaign (an alliance between Lock the Gate, Broome-based Environs Kimberley and Traditional Owners), Raaise helped put on a screening of the beautifully made documentary film Fighting Giants at Nala Bardip Mia (Our Story House) on Wadandi Boodja (Margaret River).

Western Australia’s Kimberley region is historically and culturally significant—it is home to a vibrant, living Aboriginal culture that is tens of thousands of years old. The Kimberley also boasts some of the world’s largest, intact, natural landscapes, with globally significant wetlands, free-flowing river systems, pristine oceans, and wildlife species that have disappeared from most of the rest of the continent.

But now, the Kimberley is under threat like never before, as multinational giants line up to frack it, against the wishes and protests of Traditional Owners. Communities are opposed to the damage fracking would cause to Country, including the Fitzroy River catchment, Roebuck Plains, La Grange and the Great Sandy Desert.

Apart from transforming the Kimberley’s pristine wilderness into an industrial landscape, fracking would also worsen the climate crisis and increase the risk of extreme weather events (like the January Kimberley floods that wreaked havoc on the region’s people, wildlife and cattle).

“You know that moment, when something you’ve known for a while suddenly becomes real? It happened to me when I first saw the aerial photos of the utter devastation wrought by Cyclone Kenneth in Mozambique—all the streets and places I knew so intimately, gone—and it happened again on Friday night, while watching Fighting Giants. Taking in the aerial footage of the damage that has already been done by fracking, I realised how real and urgent this multi-dimensional threat is.”

 - Amy Carter-James, Co-Founder | Raaise

The risks of fracking (which involves injecting high-pressure fluids, sand and a cocktail of chemicals into horizontally drilled wells, causing the shale to crack and releasing gas and oil) are becoming more and more apparent, and include water pollution, air pollution, and soil contamination. For Traditional Owners, the effect that fracking would have on the Fitzroy River catchment is of huge concern, since the River is absolutely fundamental to the lives of six language groups in the region.

“Although they are located thousands of kilometres away, the Kimberley and its people are on my mind and in my heart every day. If we don’t fight to protect this beautiful part of the world, if we don’t stand alongside Traditional Owners who are simply trying to exercise their right to live in peace, if we allow the carbon bomb that is the Canning Basin to be exploited, then all of the solutions we’re building to address the climate crisis won’t amount to much.”

 -Sonja Trio, Co-Founder | Raaise

Fighting Giants is a potent reminder to those of us in the climate startup world that it’s not enough to just keep our heads down, day-to-day, building solutions—we’re going to need to keep an eye on the wider environmental movement, too. And, from time to time, we’re going to need to break some things, starting with the fracking industry.

Remember, people power has stopped destructive fracking projects many times before, and it can do it again. The Kimberley and its people are counting on us to do our bit. 💪🏽

If you’d like to help us stand up for climate justice in all its forms, please share this campaign, stand up and shout to amplify the voices of the Traditional Owners of the Kimberley, and (if you’re in Australia) take a minute to sign and share this link with 5 friends now. If you’re in the UK/Europe, sign up to the campaign to stop the development of the Rosebank Oil Field.