On Sunday 29th January, we'll be holding both the Campaign against Climate Change AGM and also our trade union group AGM. Both will be online. Our supporters are welcome to attend both or just one.
10.00-11.10: Campaign against Climate Change AGM
We'll be looking back at 2022 and towards the year ahead, including:
Keep it in the ground - stopping the Cumbria coal mine: Update from campaigner Maggie Mason of South Lakes Action on Climate Change. The decision to approve the Whitehaven coal mine is a fossil fuelled disaster, now being challenged in the courts, and is emblematic of this government's approach to climate change.
Building for mass mobilisation: Discussing plans announced by XR for mobilisation in London on 21 April. With Cathy Allen, XR.
As part of our AGM, we elect members of the steering group of the campaign. The steering group meets around 5 times a year and is responsible for the strategic direction and financial management of the Campaign against Climate Change. Steering group members should support the general approach of the campaign, represent across the group as a whole a diversity of experience, skills and interests and have enough time to be able to contribute some practical help between meetings.
If you wish to stand for the campaign's steering group, or one of the officer positions (Chair, Treasurer or Secretary) you will need to send your name, with the names of your proposer and seconder (who should also be campaign members) to claire@campaigncc.org by 23rd January. Any members who are interested in joining the steering group and would like to know more about what is involved are welcome to email before then for an informal chat.
Any motions submitted (they should be brief) also need a proposer and seconder and should be submitted by the same deadline.
People have had enough. On top of a decade of austerity cuts, rocketing bills are hitting hard, forcing families to make impossible choices.
And the cost of living scandal is also a climate scandal.
The UK is particularly vulnerable to oil and gas price rises. Again, this is because of government choices: refusal to tackle the UK's dependence on fossil gas, alongside deliberate removal of support for home insulation, leaving our homes drafty and expensive to heat.
But Rishi Sunak has consistently blocked any meaningful investment in home insulation. Instead he has gone down the most dangerous route possible by incentivising fossil fuel extraction. For every pound invested in UK oil and gas, corporations can claim 91 pence tax relief on the new 'windfall tax'. How about investment in renewables for long term secure (and cheap!) energy? No tax relief for that, this is a reward for dirty energy only.
The Chancellor was forced into a U-turn on a windfall tax, so we can see that people power works. Now we need to demand better. His plan would take money from oil and gas companies and returning it straight to their pockets. By refusing to reverse benefit cuts or invest in insulation or renewables to lower bills, families are left vulnerable.
People have had enough. On top of a decade of austerity cuts, rocketing bills are hitting hard, forcing families to make impossible choices.
And the cost of living scandal is also a climate scandal.
The UK is particularly vulnerable to oil and gas price rises. Again, this is because of government choices: refusal to tackle the UK's dependence on fossil gas, alongside deliberate removal of support for home insulation, leaving our homes drafty and expensive to heat.
But Rishi Sunak has consistently blocked any meaningful investment in home insulation. Instead he has gone down the most dangerous route possible by incentivising fossil fuel extraction. For every pound invested in UK oil and gas, corporations can claim 91 pence tax relief on the new 'windfall tax'. How about investment in renewables for long term secure (and cheap!) energy? No tax relief for that, this is a reward for dirty energy only.
The Chancellor was forced into a U-turn on a windfall tax, so we can see that people power works. Now we need to demand better. His plan would take money from oil and gas companies and returning it straight to their pockets. By refusing to reverse benefit cuts or invest in insulation or renewables to lower bills, families are left vulnerable.
With climate breakdown accelerating, and dependence on volatile fossil fuels sending energy bills soaring, now is definitely not the time to double down on oil and gas extraction.
Join us to discuss the fights against new fossil fuel extraction - in the North Sea and onshore. We’ll also hear from campaigners against other worrying developments that may go under the radar, that even claim to be 'green', like burning wood for energy. And talk about the real solutions: how we can shift away from fossil fuels and create climate jobs by insulating houses and developing renewable energy. How can we as climate campaigners best stand with those who have been forced (further) into poverty by the current crisis.
Everyone interested in climate campaigning welcome!
With climate breakdown accelerating, and dependence on volatile fossil fuels sending energy bills soaring, now is definitely not the time to double down on oil and gas extraction - but it seems the government is going to ignore the experts and do that anyway.
Join us to discuss the fights against new fossil fuel extraction - in the North Sea and onshore. We’ll also hear from campaigners against other worrying developments that may go under the radar, that even claim to be 'green', like burning wood for energy. And talk about the real solutions: how we can shift away from fossil fuels and create climate jobs by insulating houses and developing renewable energy. How can we as climate campaigners best stand with those who have been forced (further) into poverty by the current crisis.
Speakers
Tina Rothery, anti-fracking Nana
Gabriel Davalos, Stop Cambo
Suzanne Jeffery, chair, Campaign against Climate Change
Wolfgang Kuchler, co-author of the buildings chapter in 'Climate Jobs: Building a workforce for the climate emergency'
On Saturday 15th January, we'll be holding both the Campaign against Climate Change AGM and also our trade union group AGM. Both will be online. Our supporters are welcome to attend both or just one.
10.00-11.10: Campaign against Climate Change AGM. As well as the formal business, we'll be looking forward from COP26, with open discussion on how we can build on the momentum of coalition work in local and national campaigning, and in global solidarity.
As part of the AGM, we will be electing members of the steering group of the campaign. The steering group meets around 5 times a year and is responsible for the strategic direction and financial management of the Campaign against Climate Change. Steering group members should support the general approach of the campaign, represent across the group as a whole a diversity of experience, skills and interests and have enough time to be able to contribute some practical help between meetings.
If you wish to stand for the campaign's steering group, or one of the officer positions (Chair, Treasurer or Secretary) you will need to send your name, with the names of your proposer and seconder (who should also be campaign members) to claire@campaigncc.org by 12th January. Any members who are interested in joining the steering group and would like to know more about what is involved can also send an email for an informal chat.
Any motions submitted (they should be brief) also need a proposer and seconder and should be submitted by the same deadline.
From 11-13 June leaders of the G7 countries are meeting in Cornwall. We expect self congratulatory press releases about their agreements on climate, Covid and finance. But the truth is there can be no ‘global leadership’ without real action to redress the global imbalance of money and power that underlies the interlinked crises of climate, Covid, poverty and war:
Ending 'vaccine apartheid' by lifting patent control on vaccines (wealthy nations, including the UK are blocking this) and scaling up production.
A just transition away from fossil fuels, ending all fossil fuel development and financing
Cancelling the debt crippling the poorest nations
Delivering on promises of climate finance: 12 years ago, $100bn a year was promised by richer nations to enable the Global South cope with climate impacts and develop sustainably. This represents 0.3% of the GDP of the G7 nations alone. It was never delivered.
Decisions taken at G7 will set the agenda for COP26 – the crucial climate summit in November. As host, Boris Johnson’s government should be leading the way, but the UK is way off track to meet its climate targets, while UK international aid has been shamefully cut.
The Covid pandemic has intensified calls for a global Green New Deal - an urgent transformation of the global economy with massive investment to tackle climate change and address inequality. But what does a just transition look like for oil workers facing immediate redundancies because of low oil prices and privatisation? And with much wider unemployment expected, how do we take the initiative to create momentum for climate jobs on a local level, creating solutions rooted in communities and a real alternative?
This workshop draws on recent research with offshore oil and gas workers in Scotland. While many are looking for better job security, they are not being given a clear path to transfer their skills to renewable energy. The oil industry in Brazil also faces insecurity due to privatisation. Meanwhile, campaigns for free public transport in Glasgow and for a mass home retrofitting programme in Leeds are challenging the piecemeal approach taken by national government and calling for investment that meets the needs of local communities and creates climate jobs ‘from the ground up’. Workshop participants are invited to bring their experiences of mobilising for a just transition and climate jobs in their own sector / community.
Speakers: Antony Devalle, Sindipetro-RJ, Brazil, Gabi Jeliazkov, Platform, Stuart Graham, Free Our City, Ellen Robottom, Leeds TUC. Facilitator: Suzanne Jeffery, Campaign against Climate Change
The 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 26) will be the most important official climate change event since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015. Up to 200 heads of government from around the world as well as up to 30,000 delegates, including climate experts, business leaders and citizens, will meet to draw up a new climate change strategy.
