Korean co-op Dure Consumer Cooperative Union took part in a Climate Justice March in Seoul last month, under the slogan “Climate disaster, we can’t live like this”.
The march, one of a number of demonstrations around the world, gathered an estimated 35,000 citizens and over 400 civic groups in Seoul on 24 September, with actions including a “die-in”, where protesters lay in the road to symbolise climate change’s danger to life.
Dure, which is is made up of 24 member co-ops with 118 grocery stores, brought over 300 people to the march including employees and members.
Lee Yang-hee, chair of Paldang Life Cooperative, a member of Dure, attended the march, saying the climate crisis is a food crisis and that “the foundation of domestic agriculture may be at stake”.
Dure also distributed stickers and information on carbon emission reduction and food sustainability at the march, as well as hosting sign making workshops for children and families, using recycled boxes.
In recent years, Dure has been making efforts to reduce its climate impact, including working to reduce its plastic and styrofoam packaging and increase recycling and reusing of containers. It has also engaged its members through surveys and campaigns around the climate crisis, as well as forming a climate environment committee through its members’ association.
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Dure first took part in the Climate Justice March when it took place in 2019, in the wake of the global School Strikes for Climate campaign in 2018 and the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit. The marches have been paused since then due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking about this year’s march, Dure’s team manager Jungsun Ryu said she “felt the need to explore fundamental alternatives to the climate crisis together, and to actively act and speak out from the parties to the climate crisis”.
