Literally just a massive list of ways you can support climate action during COP26
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This one is a shoutout to all the men who have told me, confidently, nonchalantly, that it’s too late to make a difference.
‘We’re all screwed,’ they usually say. Often with a shrug afterwards. As if it’s so straightforward. As if we naïve people still trying just haven’t got the message yet.
Let’s run with that for a second. Say I decide to give up and ‘just live my life.’
How long do you imagine that fun will last? How far do you imagine cynicism will take you? How long will my fast-shrinking bubble of privilege protect me from a heating world, fractured supply chains and floods?
I don’t mean to sound biting. Well, maybe a little. But I used to think that it was cool to not care too. I used to think it was naïve to imagine we could stem this towering and overwhelming tide of climate and social crises that threaten to drag us into a sizzling and chaotic future.
Now I think that trying is the only sane course of action.
We try because there are families in Bangladesh whose homes have been swept away. Because children in Madagascar are starving to death. Because today it is ‘them’ and tomorrow it will be you, or me, or the person we walked past on the street today.
(And what a terrible way to think about the world, as if there is a ‘them’ vs ‘us’ split, as if the time it will take the climate crisis to catch up with us is determined by anything other than a sickening postcode lottery).
So to those men - tell me again that we’re all doomed and shrug as if it’s obvious. And I will say that if you think that way, then you still don’t understand the situation.
There is no space for inertia in the face of the earth’s ticking clock. There are either climate activists or future climate activists. You are either taking action or you are not paying attention.
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What’s Going On?
Current country national pledges put us on track for an apocalyptic 2.7 degrees of warming.
Related: What will 1.5, 2 or 3 degrees of warming actually look like?The United Arab Emirates pledges net zero by 2060, keeps producing oil anyway.
Related: Net zero is not zero: the problem with net zero targets.Leaked documents show fuel and meat-producing countries are lobbying to edit a UN report to water down climate action.
Useful: Sneak preview of the UN report that the countries are trying to censor.Fossil fuel company Total knew about climate risks since 1971 and actively covered up the science to make a profit.
Related: Sign the petition to stop banks financing Total.Oil company BP paid to spy on green campaigners.
Useful: The dodgy past of Welund, the intelligence firm spying on activists.Fossil fuel industries are getting subsidies of $11 million a minute.
Useful: What does the IMF report actually say?Climate activists reclaim the stage at a TED event featuring the CEO of Shell.
Related: Hot Take newsletter talks to activist Lauren MacDonald about her experience.Over 80% of EU citizens want laws to hold corporations accountable for their impact on human rights and the environment.
Useful: The methods corporations use to try and get out of taking responsibility.
Focus On… COP26. Again. Because it’s not just about the conference.
You probably know what COP26 is. You know it because we already wrote about it. So did every other climate media outlet in the world.
COP26 starts in under a week. It might be a failure. Most climate policy negotiations are. It’s not even the best place for change - it’s difficult to see how world leaders will arrive at the decision that they must abolish their own systems of power and profit. Many activists have chosen not to attend, many others from the Global South are unable to attend.
Change may or may not happen in the closed-off meetings. But it will certainly be happening in the streets, the side events, on social media and around the world. It always has.
I put a shoutout for COP26 campaigns on social media yesterday and have been receiving a continuous stream of emails, comments and tags ever since. More than I can keep up with. More than one person can do. This movement isn’t defined by one meeting or one policymaker. It is a tidal wave of grassroots campaigns, activists, discussions and emotion.
So here’s a resource list of campaigns, initiatives and petitions you can support to give the next two weeks the biggest chance of making a real difference.
[P.S. This list will be continually updated as campaigns continue to be sent in]
IF YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE
Sign the emergency open letter for climate action by activists Greta Thunberg, Vanessa Nakate, Dominika Lasota, and Mitzi Tan.
Sign the Friends of the Earth petition to get the UK to take real climate action.
Sign up to Couch to Carbon Zero to get a daily email with an impactful action you can take for 10 days. Starts 1st Nov.
Sign the Stand.Earth petition to tell world leaders to stop fossil fuel exploration.
Sign the Earth Day petition to tell negotiators to finally meet the Paris Agreement targets.
Sign the #StopCambo petition to scrap UK plans for a new oil field.
Sign the Global Justice Now petition to stop corporate courts blocking climate action.
Tell the UK government to stop paying oil and gas companies.
Sign the petition to protect Fairtrade farmers in the face of the climate crisis.
Are you a scientist? Sign the Scientists Warning Europe open paper to policymakers.
Sign the European Cyclist Federation petition to get governments to boost cycling.
Support the Federation of Young European Greens’ campaign to keep polluters out of the negotiations.
Sign The Time Is Now declaration to demand a green transition in the UK.
Sign Gumtree’s petition to create new recycling and reuse rules for local authorities in the UK.
Sign the open letter by 25 breweries calling on world leaders to take climate action and reform the food system.
WWF has created a page that allows you to email leaders to remind them of their climate promises.
Better World produced a song for World Environment Day. Royalties go to WWF, Trees for the Future and Oceana. Give it a listen on Spotify.
Tell the EU to add labelling on the environmental impact of its products.
IF YOU HAVE 10 MINUTES
Submit a 30 second video to join in the digital World Climate March on behalf of everyone who can’t attend COP26 in person.
Write a Letter to the Earth.
Support the She Changes Climate campaign to get 50/50 representation of women in policy negotiations.
Watch & share the short BBC Media Action series showcasing the stories of underrepresented communities in Bangladesh, Nepal and Kenya.
Join in Climate Reality’s social media campaign 24 Hours of Reality on the 29th October.
Share open call by Fashion Revolution and other fashion industry organisations to regulate fast fashion industry for a just transition.
Share the open letter to Alok Sharma to address climate change and modern slavery, written by 58 organisations.
Share the open letter by more than 50 organisations for COP26 to acknowledge the role of animal agriculture in carbon emissions.
Share the Future Trees Trust 12 policy recommendations for protecting trees and nature.
Share the campaign The World Is Looking To You COP26 to encourage delegates to be more ambitious.
Earth Overshoot Day have been sharing ‘100 days of possibility’ to highlight a climate solution every day until COP26. Check them out.
We Don’t Have Time are providing a COP26 backdoor with daily live broadcasts from Glasgow and global hubs.
Tune into COPTV for live broadcasting from the conference by young people from across Scotland.
Subscribe to Pebble Magazine for weekly insights on what’s going on at the conference.
COP26 Coalition and Minda Ninja have a launched a collective media project of volunteer-shared coverage of COP26. Join the Telegram here.
Help the UN Development Programme to share their #DontChooseExtinction campaign on social media.
UN SDG Action are inviting you to share your COP26 experience with the hashtags #TurnItAround #Act4SDGs on social media.
Want to play a game? Well you can buy the Bananas Game for a family-friendly introduction to apocalyptic carbon emissions.
The Winning Side Podcast are at COP26 and wanting to share the voices of underrepresented communities. Check them out!
Make the Million Tree Pledge to plant (you guessed it) a million trees.
UK Youth Climate Coalition have a photo competition running on the theme of ‘police and the climate.’ Enter before 19th November!
IF YOU HAVE TIME TO JOIN AN EVENT
6th November is Global Day of Action uniting climate groups everywhere. Here’s how you can join in.
Register for the People’s Summit for Climate Justice from 7th - 10th November.
How can the law support climate justice? World’s Youth for Climate Justice are running a series of hybrid events during the next two weeks.
CAN Europe are organising a video project for climate activists from around the world. Filming 4th and 5th November, registration form here.
Are you a teacher? Join the Great Big Lesson on the 5th November for a free interactive class for anyone aged over 11.
Join a 45-minute Climate Classroom lesson online or in person.
Extinction Rebellion are holding protests in Glasgow and around the world and everyone is invited to join.
IPCC (yeah the report people) will be livestreaming events throughout COP26.
Join the New York Times and Tortoise Media for a ‘think-in’ hybrid event. Free with Future Leaders Network code FLNNETWORK.
Sign up to Social Value UK’s free online webinar on how to shape the law to support ethical values in business. 10th November @ 1pm GMT.
I WILL BE IN GLASGOW:
Want some fresh air? Why not join the group walking from London to Glasgow.
Prefer cycling? Help 16-year-old Jessie cycle to COP.
Check out #TheColourOfTheClimateCrisis exhibition by Do The Green Thing.
The European Greens and the Green European Federation are co-hosting two weeks of green events at The Green Hub. Check it out.
Climate Fringe are holding daily civil society events in the city and a news digest of what’s going on each day.
Beyond The Green are holding a 3-day fringe festival, 5th-7th November.
The Environmental Justice Foundation is turning a skateboard shop in Glasgow into a climate hub for two weeks. Yes really.
UK Schools Sustainability Network are taking students from across the country to COP and looking for other organisations to partner with. Say hi.
Extreme Hangout is hosting a youth hub with 12 days of panel events in Glasgow.
Take 5 minutes to call Mother Earth with Force of Nature at the Youth Climate Hub.
Grab a beer and join Net Zero Now on the 4th November for their Forget 2050 event.
Stop Ecocide are holding a partner event on ‘Fashioning the Future’ on Friday 5th November @ 9pm.
Aged 16-35? Join Green New Deal Rising in their warehouse from Wednesday 3rd. Events all weekend too.
Join the Landworkers’ Alliance at Civic House for two weeks of events on food sovereignty and agroecology.
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