European Climate Exchange site hacked

Climate on Sale!

In a bid to protest against carbon trading, which is used as a way to reduce emissions by the EU with cap and trade systems, the European Climate Exchange (ECX) has been hacked by activists of the autonomous tech collective *decocidio*.

The ECX is the leading marketplace for trading CO2 emissions in Europe and the cyber attack was a clear protest against carbon trading being used to combat climate change.

The hackers took the website offline and in a public act of digital direct action posted a message that they aimed would raise awareness about carbon trading as a "dangerous false solution to the climate crisis". Instead the group showed its support of the grassroots activists aiming to oppose the power structures and companies profiteering from the dysfunctional Cap & Trade scheme.

As well as embedding the video of The Story of Cap and Trade as well as links to groups such as Earth First, Climate Justice Action, and the Hack Bloc, the group posted a series of reasons citing why carbon trading was a fraudulent business and a scam.

They stated that:

""The Cap and Trade system (as implemented in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme) has a whole range of issues:

• Its main purpose is not to reduce emissions, but to help polluters meet "reduction" targets in the cheapest way possible, in a business-as-usual scenario.
• Leaves room for unverifiable manipulation.
• Generates outrageous profits for big industry polluters, investors in fraudulent offset projects, opportunist traders and new 'marketplaces' such as the European Climate Exchange.
• It distracts attention from the wider, systemic changes and collective political action that needs to be taken to tackle climate change and it's fundamental root causes."

They also reminded that in 2009, the Friends of the Earth had released a warning that carbon trading could trigger a second 'sub-prime' style financial collapse and fail to protect the world from global warming catastrophe. A copy of the full report, 'A Dangerous Obsession', is available at: http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/dangerous_obsession.pdf

To see the ‘hacked website' - click here.

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