Climate Emergency Campaign

NEW: Take Action! Ask your MP to sign the Climate Emergency Early Day Motion

Why the Climate Emergency demands?

Whilst the Climate Talks in Durban managed to preserve the vision of an all-inclusive legally binding emissions reductions treaty they did precious little to make any real progress towards achieving that vision - and indeed look like pushing it so far into the future as to give it no chance of bringing about action in time to prevent a catastrophe. The Rio+20 Earth Summit never looked like it would constitute much more than a perfunctory exercise in  green platitudes and so it proved, in the event.

In the face of international gridlock we need powerful national campaigns to force governments to act. Here in the UK our best chance to influence the international community is by conspicuously bold action here at home - action that matches up to the scale of the Climate Emergency we face. The Campaign against Climate Change is demanding emergency action on climate. This includes not just long term planning for a low-carbon future but steps to cut emissions immediately:

A ZERO CARBON BRITAIN BY 2030 - with real carbon cutting solutions that take into account the embedded carbon in the UK's imports and the impact of the UK on ecosystems worldwide. See more here.

10% CUT IN EMISSIONS WITHIN ONE YEAR   "..if we want to aim for a high chance of not exceeding a 2°C increase in global temperature by the end of the century, our ...emissions need to be cut by nearer 10% annually rather than ....2–4%". Kevin Anderson from the Tyndal Centre as quoted in the Guardian

A MILLION CLIMATE JOBS - within one year -  through a GREEN ENERGY REVOLUTION  with massive investment in renewable energy, insulation programs, improved public transport etc... See more here.

BANNING DOMESTIC FLIGHTS - building a better train/coach network. See more about aviation and climate here.

55 MILE AN HOUR SPEED LIMIT - and ending the roads program.

EXPANDED PUBLIC TRANSPORT - massive investment in public transport.

END AGROFUEL USE - and eliminate patterns of consumption associated with rainforest destruction and climate-negative land use change. See more here.

GOVERNMENT INFORMATION PROGRAM - massive campaign to inform the public of the scale of the climate threat - booklet in every home, regular TV info, etc.

Climate Emergency 'Early Day Motion'

On the 2nd July this year John McDonnell (Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington) re-tabled  the CLIMATE EMERGENCY Early Day Motion (EDM) as EDM 303. This EDM is the most radical statement on climate change in a parliamentary context and supports most of our emergency demands. An Early Day Motion is a formal statement made by MPs  - they are sometimes the first stage in the genesis of an actual Bill, but more often simply something that other MPs can show their support for. 

You can ask your MP to sign up to the EDM - the simplest way is by emailing them through www.writetothem.com. The text of the EDM is below, along with a list of MPs who have already signed.

You might also want to check out whether they have signed any previous versions of this Early Day Motion. EDM 303 is a retabling of EDM 853 which John McDonnell tabled on 18th October 2010 - itself a revised version of  an EDM tabled by Colin Challen MP in October 2009. 

Previous versions of the Climate Emergency EDM have had around 60 MPs sign it. Last year some supporters and local groups used the EDM as an opportunity to lobby their MP about climate change - arranging meetings and/or contacting the local press. (some stories here). Here are some notes on the EDM with background information for MPs. 

Even if your MP signed the EDM previously, ask them to sign it again. Every time an MP gets something to remind them that people are desperately concerned about the climate crisis it can only be good! 

The Climate Emergency EDM reads as follows:

That this House recognises that there is a climate emergency and that the catastrophic destabilisation of the global climate represents one of the greatest threats that humanity faces; further recognises that there is a need to reduce the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million or below; further believes it is impossible to predict how close the world is to dangerous tipping points, and that immediate action is required to enact a programme of emergency measures with substantial emissions reductions in the short term of the order of 10 per cent. within one year, with a longer-term goal of achieving a Zero Carbon Britain by 2030; further believes that at least two hours of prime time television per week should be used to explain the gravity of the crisis to the public, that domestic flights should be phased out, a speed limit of 55 miles per hour introduced and unabated coal usage reduced; further believes that investment in greening the economy can be an effective way of reviving the economy and,in that spirit, urgent investment should be made in energy efficiency and renewable energy, public transport and the retro-fitting of efficient insulation to existing housing stock, leading to the creation of a million green jobs within one year; and further believes that the introduction of such measures would send a positive signal to other countries in the negotiations for an international emissions reductions treaty.

So far EDM 303 has been signed by 

While an amendment has been proposed by:

The prpoposed amendment is as follows:

after `reduced', insert `until the Government provides sufficient investment to develop efficient carbon capture technology'.

which means Mike Wood is another MP signing up to the broad message of the EDM (indeed since the original EDM refers only to "unabated coal" then the amendment does not contardict anything within the original EDM - it just draws more specific attention to the possible use of "carbon capture technology")

Has your local MP already signed EDM 303 or signed older versions? Maybe you could get them to speak at a climate change meeting, or find another way of making use of their stated support for radical action on climate.