Let's face it, most people who volunteer are passionate about helping people - but for some influencing social change is also important. Volunteering for a campaigning organisation allows volunteers to help make things happen for large charities. Find out what the grass roots activists get up to here.

All | Isabel | Helen | Rachael | Carolynn | Moira

Main | Next page »

Monday Feb 08, 2010

Where's your head at?

Apologies for the barren desert that has been my blog for the last month or so! Who knew a degree would actually take up most of your time?

This weekend I abandoned ship and took the train and bus home to Wales to try and recover from the month of hell that was coursework, mooting, work and everything law-related. The stability of my surroundings really made me think about what it is I am trying to achieve in this world, and it’s not just me who’s on the reflective path right now. I think almost the whole of the environmental movement are undergoing some self evaluation, even the UK Government is looking at the voting system!

Take me as an example, not even environmentally (for once), but I am studying law, solely to become an environmental lawyer, and there is no other way to do that except completing this degree. However my hellish month made me truly question what I was in it for. Why should I chase after the competitive and inevitably money-minded counterparts who I do my course with? Why should I feel inadequate next to their furtive information gathering and secret smiles on receiving their exam grades? (it is a bit like the UN) And the answer, after much thought (and some relief seeing as I have been working towards this for a while!) was that I want to be able to compete with them because then I know I am representing the environment in the best place possible. I need to be in the upper echelons if I want to create the change I am going to all this effort for. So it really should be worth the effort now, to make sure I get there. I do not however, condone work above everything else, and my bout of evaluation definitely clarified some small but very important priorities.

I am in this movement because I love life and the World that upholds it so much that I can’t bear to see it plundered and destroyed. Without the love for the things that make up my life I lack the core of inspiration that is what I need to convince others of my vision for a green future, and also, the inspiration to keep me going despite setbacks and failures. For me, if I don’t make time for love, music, exploring, food and other pleasures in my life I soon lose the will to live, and in truth, I am contradicting the reasons that I advocate the things that I do!

The UK Youth Climate Coalition is undergoing restructuring having evaluated their effectiveness over the year and a half it has been in existence. The co-directors Emma and Casper are handing over the reigns to give a new direction and focus to the Coalition.

Closer to home the Welsh Youth Forum on Sustainable Development faced up to the reality of whether it really is affecting the lives of young people in Wales. We concluded in the negative, and all of a sudden we have instigated systemic and drastic changes to shake us all up!

350.org are in a period of questioning their next moves, with Copenhagen over and done with, they are questioning whether 350 still the number the world needs to shout about or should they direct their campaigning talents elsewhere?

These are only 3 examples of many, but they are indicative of the vacuum that threatened to exist before Copenhagen, and has not become somewhat of a reality in Britain. Because although a lot of spirits are renewed by the collective efforts Copenhagen inspired, many campaigns were due to end by December 2009. So now what?

This is where you stop, take stock and have a breather to afford yourself more clarity.

Things get stagnant, volunteers and inspiration starts to flag, and without noticing it, you’re just not at the cutting edge where you want to be.

Some of the most important aspects of evaluation include governance structures-is your rep’s/board members/directors/partners/advisory board too impenetrable?! Are you actually doing the things that you say you/your organisation says its doing? How do you know? Do you get feedback from your target audience on your campaigns and methods of communicating messages? If not, maybe you should, because you’ll probably be surprised what hooked them.

I recently caught the biographical drama about Mo Mowlam on TV; having never really known anything about her, I was profoundly moved by Mo’s contribution to the negotiation of peace in Ireland. Her methods unorthodox, and all the while battling with cancer, she battled vile and degrading men, played them at their game and better, and won the nations hearts with her personality and capacity for honesty and modesty. (Not least calling Blair ‘babe’?! When I’m in that position I know I’ve made it.) When the wig that she had to wear got too hot or itchy, she’d whip it off-wherever she was.

One of my favourite quotes is: “If you haven’t been kissed by Mo in Northern Ireland, you must have been running hard in the opposite direction.” Admittedly however, it has been said that she confused her popularity with the public with her political popularity, which waned towards the end of her post in N.Ireland. She was offered posts by Blair that basically were a way to get her out of the way (Mayor of London anyone?), and although no one can guess what the cancer did to her way of thinking and life, if she just had had the capacity to stop and take stock, reassess her successes and failures, and then work on both, her political career could possibly have continued until her death in 2005...who knows.

So what’s in store to reassess for?

2010 is an important year.

Not in the same way that 2009-the year of Copenhagen was said to be, but in a much more tangible sense.

Copenhagen has marked the line that gives us a boundary on which to work on to achieve a global effort to battle climate change-in whatever form that takes, UN or no UN. Copenhagen was seen as this pie-in-the-sky summit that everyone was outwardly pinning all our hopes on so as to try and create a political reality out of a vision, despite being inwardly sceptical of any deal being achieved.

The world’s biggest ever summit of world leaders produced an accord that takes with it countries responsible for 80% of the world’s emissions, compared to the Kyoto Protocol which only has the potential to regulate 30% of global emissions. Significant amounts of money were laid on the table for adaptation and mitigation in developing countries- $30 billion USD between 2010 and 2012. But a lot of this money has been redirected from existing aid budgets! (Yes, inc. Gordon Brown) And nothing legal was in any sense produced, whilst removing the date for a legally binding deal in 2010!

Despite the good and the bad of the accord it has to be acknowledged that this accord was negotiated by a select group called the ‘friends of the chair’. Amounting to a sum total of 24 countries out of the 194 party to the UNFCCC which are supposed to be PART OF THE PROCESS! This move caused an absolute uproar the next morning, as the Danish Government chairing the negotiations brought the accord ‘out of the sky’. Countries like Tuvalu, Bolivia and some other vocal developing countries who hadn’t been involved were outraged that after all these collective negotiations, all the hard work and all-nighters had culminated in a document they were meant to sign that they had had no input into whatsoever.

Surely this is diplomatic suicide on the part of the Danish Government hosting the talks? In consensus (which the UN uses) convening a meeting with the most powerful countries in the room, which form a minority should not be able to drown out the numbers of those left out. Very undemocratically however, currently that is the direction on the UNFCCC. Which is why a lot of people are saying the sheer numbers of countries involved means that an agreement could never feasibly be reached...I understand their view, the anger, hurt and determination on every side was tangible in the plenary halls of Copenhagen, calls for better transparency frequently rang out and disrupted negotiations. The calls were met with impatience from the PM of Denmark who just wanted to ‘get on with the job’. Obviously he will never have a career in diplomacy because he should have realised that countries will not cooperate and participate in negotiations is they do not feel heard or if they disapprove of the process. Trust is the essence of willing participation. Without some serious mediation and ‘team-building’ (I’m not even joking!) I really don’t foresee an ambitious and legally binding deal that includes every country, coming out of Mexico (COP16).

Has the failure of Copenhagen, as the pinnacle of possibility, indicated the need for a change in tactics and process akin to that of UKYCC and WYFSD? Is the lumbering body of the UN capable of accommodating such change? (I would think not having experienced their inabilities and shortfalls so far, but that’s only an observation!)

So where are you at? Bored?

Start by voting to change British Politics: www.power2010.org.uk

Continue by getting involved in the British campaigning discourse: www.38degrees.org.uk is hosting discussions and a consultation on where they campaign next....

If you are interested in attending future UNFCCC negotiations yourself, to support under represented countries, get in touch with us via www.unfairplay.info

Posted by Isabel ( 12:00 AM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Monday Nov 09, 2009

How appropriate

So about 5 weeks ago I started studying Law at Bristol University for the first time. Oh.my.god. Yes, it's much more difficult and time consuming than I had thought, or even planned! Bang goes most of my time basically, hence my lack of time to write. You'll be glad to hear however that the last month hasn't been totally steeped in legal jargon and visits to the library. There is an amazing group/society called the Bristol University Sustainability Team (BUST) who are doing some really exciting things. I've got stuck into projects such as getting allotments for all of the 10 halls of residence, fruit trees planted around campus to provide free and seasonal food for students to pick, the 350 day of action (see photos below), and an amazing project called Foodworks which is where a team of us go out skipping during the week, collecting chucked out and unwanted (but still perfectly good) food from supermarkets and other retailers, then we get together and cook it all up once a week, and distribute it amongst the homeless in Bristol. Check out their site to get involved.

Anyway, in my legal studies I have actually come across some knowledge that will definitely benefit any campaigning I do in the future-all related to the power struggle between the "independant" courts system (judiciary), Parliament (legislature) and the Government (the executive). Bear with me on this one it'll all make sense.....

Broadly speaking there are 2 ways of seeking redress from the wrongful actions of a Government:

1) political

2) legal

The 1st is in some cases far more powerful than the 2nd. For example, the MP's expenses scandal-was every MP in the frame taken to court? Not atall. The pressure of the media coverage and the rebuke of their party leader was enough to send them crawling back to parliament, cheque book in hand to repay all their superfluous claims.

However, there are cases when the best course of action is legal. And that's because you are maybe seeking damages for an event that happened specifically to you at the hands of the council or a public official (e.g policeman) because the political redress of media coverage and an official apology would a) not be enough and b) might not, by itself, be enough to change the situation for future incidents. (In courts the doctrine of president is a powerful one-basically if you receive a landmark verdict in your case, it will go on to be an authority used in any subsequent cases in courts lower down and it'll be used as guidance and possibly a marker of where to aim for because the facts are the same.)

However, politics also relies a lot on things called 'conventions'. These are rules developed through time that create expectations on how members of Parliament and Government should behave for fear of the political fallout and head shaking that would go on in their circles, as a result of bypassing one. These are not laws, they're not enforceable in the courts, they're simply an unwritten code of conduct. An unwritten code of conduct that is not legally binding or recognised in court, is one that can slowly change over time to move with the times; I'm also sure that it's something that can be interpreted differently by different people, so that most people's interests, unless the complete opposite of the convention, can be accomodated in some way.

It's here I introduce why this is an interesting thought to bear in mind.

This last week, after the 5 days of UN climate change negotiations in Barcelona, newspapers all over have latched on to a number of important and influential people who've all been spouting some very dangerous bullshit. Excuse my french.

And that is that Copenhagen, as it's likely to fail anyway, needs to look to agree a politically binding treaty rather than a legally binding treaty. With a lack of time and a real need to get something out of the much-hailed Copenhagen talks in December, the hope and desire to succeed of the last month or two, has been surplanted by a very clever get out clause.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Denmark's Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen and US chief climate negotiator Todd Stern were the first to say that only a "politically binding" agreement can now be achieved.

The UK have just jumped on the bandwagon too-with Ed Miliband coming out publicly saying that he thinks only a political deal can be done in Copenhagen-even though he has been optimistic up until now the way he sees it the treaty will need to be "a meaningful political track with strong numbers committed by all countries", but it won't be legally binding. At the same time the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change (the panel that advises the UN negotiations on the scientific side of things), Pachuari, has said: "They'll have to be binding, and there will have to be some provisions for penalties for those who don't comply with the targets, because we've seen that with the Kyoto Protocol [of 1997]. A lot of parties are way behind even the commitments that they accepted [as part of the Kyoto Protocol]. So we really can't allow that to continue in the future, and this agreement will have to be binding in every sense of the term."

So do you see the problem?

An agreement that is only politically binding will never actually be binding; in the years of negotiations, the reason why 14 years on we only have a framework for international action is because the process relies too heavily on a political process to resolves a scientific situation-yes all the science and solutions may require very politically thorny and important issues, such as donations of money from one country to another to help them adapt- but the point is that the negative side of politics is the ONLY reason why we are in the situation we are in now, who's to say that will ever stop if we don't put our foot down now?

To illustrate my point, there was massive contention recently within the European Union because Gordon Brown said the EU should donate the 50 billion Euros they finally agreed on, as soon as possible, whereas other heads of state in the EU argued against this because they felt too exposed by outing all their cards on the table at once. Brown, to his credit argued it would increase the likelihood of a big donation from countries like the US and Australia if they felt they weren't the only ones who might give. As you can imagine, if everyone plays their cards close to their chest and refuses to disclose their figures for the fund, it's all about who'll jump first? And will everyone else follow? Unfortunately political manoeuvring dictates the progress of these talks.

Apparantly a senior government source said: "The key question has always been: will you or won't you get numbers? Just because you're not getting the legal bit doesn't mean you won't get numbers. And we are hopeful of getting meaningful numbers." BUT, even if you have numbers and responsibilities down on paper, as has been shown by the failure of the Kyoto protocol to enlist any real action on targets for emission reductions, it just won't happen.

Why? Because not only are there no legal ramifications for not doing what they've said they will; there are no political ones either. The general public and the media are barely interested in the fact that the UK will not meet it's LEGALLY BINDING European Union renewable energy targets for 2020! How can it be 'politically binding' when there is no public outcry or inbuilt 'convention' which would mean the embarrassment would be enough for them to act?

Politically binding is mere greenwash. The problem is such that there are NO conventions in place to cause an outcry in political circles, and public concensus on this issue is so non-existent as to prove no risk at all so it's a mere blip on their reputation-radar.

So what can you do?

Write to Ed Miliband, write to your local MP, write to your MEP, and insist they call for Ed Miliband and the Dutch Government who will lead the talks in Copenhagen to demand more from the countries involved, and to expose the true meaning of a politically binding deal-don't let them off the hook. (You could even call them up!)

For more info and blog posts on the UN Climate Negotiations go to www.izzykb.wordpress.com

Posted by Isabel ( 12:00 AM )
Link to this post Comments[1]

Thursday Oct 29, 2009

wow

The 350 international day of action

Posted by Isabel ( 12:00 AM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Monday Oct 19, 2009

shoulda woulda coulda change your mind

So, you've all heard of 10:10 by now I'm sure (if not scroll down to an earlier post on it), I won't go into it. BUT I do have exciting news! Simon Hughes, the Energy and Climate Change Spokesperson for the Lib Dems has tabled a motion in Parliament so that MPs have to vote on whether or not the House of Commons and the whole of government should join the 10:10 campaign. This would commit the government to cutting their own emissions by 10% next year.  This is huge.

Last week I went to a talk by Zac Goldsmith, the young Tory MP for Kew and editor of the Ecologist magazine for 10 years; at the end I asked him if he thought that a Tory Government in May would commit the UK to a target of 10% by 2010? He pretty much said no, which is a shame, but honestly I think he was just trying to be realistic. Can you imagine how we would go from a constant increase in emissions in the UK, to not only plateauing steadily, but then turning the trajectory round so that we cut our CO2 output by 10% in a year?! I really really want to see us do it, so, everyone can and should email, or even better hand write a letter to their MP asking them to vote in favour of the motion next wednesday. Especially if your MP is not Lib Dem.

Use this link and it's done in 2 minutes-although I would advise personalising their letter template, it's quite bolshy!

10:10 in Parliament

Posted by Isabel ( 12:00 AM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Thursday Oct 15, 2009

Power Shift!

Heyy, so today is Blog Action Day, so I’m going to blog about my amazing weekend at Power Shift last weekend.

On the friday evening I coached it from Bristol down to London, and ran all the way (I was very late) to the Institute of Education in the middle of London. As soon as I got there I was kitted out with a reflective vest and told to register people…..but there was no one arriving….my heart sank as I started to contemplate what would happen if the projected hundreds of young people didn’t become a reality sometime soon. Over the last year I have watched a large number of my friends being subsumed trying to organise what ultimately promised to be -and was- the biggest environmental youth summit the UK had ever seen.

Half an hour later the numbers were rolling in and the wristbands out so all was ok. The first plenary was nearly full so speakers like the  hip hop teacher Ian Solomon-Kawell, Emily Cummins only 23 and a successful inventor already and Emma from UKYCC were met with lots of interested faces. As soon as that was over I rushed off to meet my friend who was coming from Wales on the train. On the saturday we got up bright and early to get there for 9.30-probably overshot that by about half an hour-but we arrived in time to catch Jason Isaacs up on the stage talking about the power of stories. He should know, he’s a well known actor (Malfoy’s Dad in Harry Potter to name one). He was an amazing speaker, he begun by saying he has a fat brother, who insists that “the jury’s out” on the fact that eating less will make you thinner, and inevitably happier in his case, because, in Jason’s words, “he’s not big-boned and jolly he’s fat and miserable.” Where is this going I hear you saying, but his analogy on climate change and fat brothers is steadfast-no one wants to change if you tell them what they’re already doing is wrong, in fact telling someone not to do something is exactly why they do do it. Same with alcoholics same with drug addicts, why is it any different for us as carbon addicts he asked?

Then came the mainstay of the weekend, and that was learning the Marshall Gantz technique of telling your story to campaign on an issue effectively. Marshall Gantz is one of creators of the incredibly successful Obama campaign for the last election that won him his presidency. Obviously Obama himself is a very successful campaigner and orator, but look more closely and you’ll find that one of his most effective tools for moving the masses is his ability to tell a personal story. His Story of me.

So our mission for the weekend was to master 3 things:

1. The Story of me

2. The Story of us

3. And the story of now.

Combined in one fluent speech these three mechanisms are the perfect way to engage with your audience on your campaign/topic of choice. Not many people respond to being talked at with science, not many respond to scaremongering and political promises, what we do respond to is stories. Tell your tale of who or what inspired you to take action, what was the lightbulb moment, or why are you standing here today? Who’s influenced the way you think now? This 2  minute story of you contextualises why you do what you do, it connects your audience to you in a way they wont even know. Then you tell the story of us, of the collective, of the movement you’re a part of and the movement they could be a part of, and the us that you’ll collectively form when more people get on board. What is it that you stand for and that you can achieve together? Give people a sense of belonging, and then take them with you to your story of now, why is now the moment? Why you, why us, why here, why now? There has to be an uplifting vision of what you can achieve in the current climate that inspires people into action. And that’s what Power Shift was all about.

On the saturday night my friend Rob from Wales spoke about his green building aspirations and the reality of working in the normal construction industry as a brikkie, with lots of jokes and yummy pictures he got a big round of applause, not least because he’s a rare example of a green collar job. The best thing was, although he couldnt stay for sunday and monday, he was really inspired by the day he spent at Power Shift. Meeting all the lovely like-minded people, and developing his story. His realisation that no, it wasn’t just for hippies and moralistic campaigners, it was for him too, and that guy over there, and him and her and her too. I really think that the environmental movement of young ‘uns in the UK has taken a major leap forward this week, thanks to Power Shift.

And lastly, they spent some of the weekend practicing, with the help if Madonna’s choreographer, a flashmob dance to be performed outside the Houses of Parliament….see what you think HERE!

Posted by Isabel ( 9:20 PM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Thursday Oct 08, 2009

Diluted Democracy??

The amazing President of the Maldives has now not only committed his sinking country of the Maldives to going zero carbon by 2050, but has announced his cabinet will be meeting underwater!

They say: "It is to send a message to the world. The intention is to draw the attention of the world leaders to the issue of global warming and highlight how serious are the threats faced by Maldives as a result. If we can stop climate change, the lowest-lying nation on earth will be saved."

I think they've managed it.

If ever there was a way to campaign effectively it'd be this! People in power, affected by the problem they are trying to affect themselves, doing something crazy. Apparently, the photo above is of them doing a test dive, but their scuba instructor pronounced the Education Minister "unfit to take the dive". oh dear.

This is only a one off, for the meeting the documents will be sheathed in water-proof plates pinned to the table, but as the lowest-lying country in the world, the Maldives has the most to lose-fastest. Apparently some "officials"-god knows who they may be-have said this'll be a one off, because not only is it impractical, but they fear it would dilute democracy, they may have a point, but I think the Presidents one is bigger.

Do you think Brown might like the idea? I think he'd be pronounced 'unfit to dive', but it would certainly make for an interesting letter to the PM......

Posted by Isabel ( 12:00 AM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Monday Oct 05, 2009

What are you doing with your October?

Apologies for the lack of reading matter, Im coming to the end of my first (there are 2 weeks of it here!) Freshers week in Bristol Uni.

So, what does your October hold in store for you?

Do you think you're ready to take some action?

This coming weekend, from the 9th to the 12th of October, will be the biggest environmental youth summit the UK has EVER seen! The UK Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC) have bust a gut to bring you the biggest, most inspiring and best speakers from across the UK. Here they will educate you about the problem, empower you to want to get involved and take action (in whatever form suits you best) and you will meet and greet so many people you'll have a ready formed network of people to go campaigning with! And once they've got you all riled up, dance group 'Stomp' (who are amazing) will be helping create a march type action with you all, to go round the streets London, its going to be amazing I wish I could be there! On the friday and saturday I'm going to be speaking about my involvement in campaigns over the last year, and also, how I am already affected by climate change in the UK. Have a look at the impressive programme here.

The National Express are offering anyone travelling to Powershift with them, a massive 50% off and a discount card for the rest of the year, don't book until after you've got your PSH ticket cos then they'll give you a discount code.

So, even if you live far away you can get there cheaply AND there's a large space near to the conference centre you can sleep in, they're calling it a crashpad (!) which you can sleep in for 3 nights for only £10 (in the middle of London). Tickets for Powershift cost £30, unless you come from one of their hotspots, in which case you get it half price. Have a look at their website to buy tickets and find out more details. Be there!

THEN, as if that wasnt enough for the lowly month of October, 350.org are organising a global day of action. On the 24th over 1000 actions ALL over the world, including in Greenland, will take place to mark the significance of the number 350 in the upcoming UN Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen. We really need that number to be the one that all the countries in the world commit too, to be able to ensure the survival of all countries and all peoples. No doubt there's already an action planned near you that you could join, check out this map to have a look; or, you could organise your own! This is where you can get inspiration and help with it, and then you register your action here. Simple as that. And if you do, you know you'll have helped the world just a little bit, in only a few hours of your day.

I also have one last suggestion of a really worthwile thing I need your help with, but you're going to need to check out my blog otherwise this'll get a bit lengthy! It's exciting I promise.....

Posted by Isabel ( 11:29 AM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Friday Sep 18, 2009

What are your priorities?

Tell Ed, our climate change and energy minister, what should be top of his to do list for tackling climate change: here.

Posted by Isabel ( 4:45 PM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Thursday Sep 10, 2009

lobby lobby lobby

So I thought it time to elaborate on the political side of my introduction.

I want to be an environmental lawyer, and also an effective campaigner, there's no point wasting my time being ineffective is there?! So, I'm afraid politics is the key to that. In my gap year I decided I'd rather learn about the ins and outs of our political system first hand rather from a book- which I'm far less likely to remember!

I spent 2 weeks in my MP's Parliamentary office, which was amazing, so interesting. And then 2 months working for senior Lib Dem MP Simon Hughes, who just so happens to be the shadow minister for energy and climate change! With these experiences under my belt, I thought I should collate the knowledge I gleaned in that time, into one big handy toolkit on how EFFECTIVELY lobby your MP.

Now I'm not going to put the whole thing here because it's a bit long! But you can cast a a glance over it on my blog, or email at wizzabel-AT-hotmail-DOT-com and ask for me the lovely PDF version which you can have and then forward as much as you like.

Hope you like it, and as always send me suggestions or nuggets of info that you have found work.

Posted by Isabel ( 9:54 AM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Thursday Sep 03, 2009

10:10 have you heard?

Yesterday was the launch of a brand spanking new campaign my friend has bust a gut to create!

10:10 by the Age of Stupid crew, is a campaign for individuals (that mean's you and your family and friends), businesses (take it to your boss, nag them til they sign up) and organisations (ditto the last one). You sign up to reducing your carbon emissions by 10% by 2010, because that's the committment and action everyone wants to see from Governments across the world, and in particular, our one. 10% by 2010 gives us a fair chance of averting catastrophic climate change because it means we are pumping less CO2 into the air as immediately as possible, which will help us stay below the critical 2 degrees celcius that we need for survival.

Even the 10,000 NHS employees have signed up-that's a kick in the teeth for the Government if ever there was one!

You can sign up here.

In the meantime, have a look at the launch at the Tate Modern on Tuesday evening.....in none other than the old power station and air hanger.

Posted by Isabel ( 11:00 AM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Friday Aug 28, 2009

Making Welsh Campaign History!

Just to give you a flavour of the more activisty side of campaigning I thought I'd write about my experience at the Welsh Climate Camp a few weeks ago. We were there not only to highlight the problems of continued fossil fuel extraction next to the open cast coal mine called Ffos y Ffran, we were there to join forces with the local anti-mine campaign called Residents Against Ffos y Ffran.

When I arrived through one of the two gates that led onto the common land that had been swooped and taken over by the time I arrived on thursday afternoon. The local police with their van outside the gate were very chatty, saying "It's a beautiful day love where's your bikini?! get it out!" I replied with "Give me a chance I've only just arrived" and they said have a lovely day! All very pleasant. The taxi driver who dropped me off was very interested in why I was in Merthyr, and when I explained he totally understood, even though he didn't totally oppose the mine, he was open minded enough to accept my arguments and realise that he might be being fed botched info from Miller Argent, the mining company. He was covered in tattoes, with a paunch, you're average nice cabbie really, and he told me that he just loved trees! Imagine a small 60 year old guy with a strong South Walian (Wales) accent saying "I tell you what it is, I JUST LOVE TREES! I'd do anything so save 'em." Tree huggers exist all over : D

So, Climate Camp Wales went a lot better than expected, I estimate at it's best there were about 300 people there! That's really amazing for a first time, and I heard there was about 60 in Scotland, so I think that shows that the issue of coal and Ffos y Ffran, both within Wales and Merthyr Tydfil (where the mine and camp is) is a  BIG one.

Personally I didn't get to many workshops between one reason and another, but I did learn a lot from the guys at the legal tent, and I did learn a lot more about the mine itself. For instance, did you know the Miller Argent-the company mining at Ffos y Ffran ('Argent' meaning money in French oddly enough!) is invested in by the BT pensions fund-which was voted the greenest pensions fund available by some ethical green investments company. They were also in the top 3 pensions funds lined up for an award for socially responsible investing, awarded by Rathbone 'Green' Bank. On the BT pensions fund website it says:

"Social, ethical, environmental and governance issues are key areas of corporate and policy engagement for BTPS and they are present in all of EOS' engagement analysis, which is itself based on the Hermes Principles. Principles 9 and 10 recognise the short-termism in companies' externalisation of costs and appeal for companies to work together towards a level playing field anticipating much of the current debate on universal ownership."

I just highlighted the 'short-termism' but because that's one major reason for why we have to stop Ffos-y-Ffran from continuing; the short-termism of using up all our coal now while it's still so cheap, is showing a distinct lack of foresight in the face of a changing climate! They can't talk about long term thinking as they continue to pur money into projects like open cast coal mining, and investing in BP, Shell and EON! Really green guys, well done.

One of the most interesting workshops I did get to was a Q&A session will Jill Evans, a Welsh MEP with Plaid Cymru, on lobbying within the EU. She unearthed some interesting facts for me, and also demystified the world of lobbying a little. I asked "so what eactly do they do to lobby you?! Do they take you out for dinner, buy you flowers ?" She said it can be any of those, but they key to any of their tactics is face to face contact; not any letter/postcard/email/message can be anywhere near as effective as someone in front of you saying this, this is why I care SO much about this and so should you. Something to remember I think. I have to say, when we were Poznan I was thinking if only I could have a chat with the delegates, show them how much I care, and how much this is shredding us on the inside, then we could persuade them of our arguments. Except no one believed me that that would work!

Now for the figures:

There are 15,000 lobbyists in Brussels -which is where the European Union operates from, and 2,000 lobbying organisations. That's 2000 organisations specifically created to LOBBY! She also said at one conference she went to recently there were about  full time chemical industry lobbyists and 1 part time lobbier for green issues! Considering that the EU is one of the most influential alliance of countries in the world, and negotiates in the UNFCCC as a block, this does seem like a glaring oversight on our part. Anyone fancy being a green lobbyist in the EU meetings and conferences for the next few months or so?

We can also create positive incentives to change from our lobbying, instead of saying we'll take you and your dispicable actions to the nearest newspaper, offer them some positive press, and if you can, VOTES! The usual tactic of lobbyists is to threaten bad PR if they don't do what they're asking. So think positive and maybe we'll get somewhere, plus, a vision of positive changes for a better future are far more appealing and incentive-full than that stick we keep beating everyone with. 

It was great to see the peaks of marquees and tents just under the mine, with colourful banners and signs, banners at the gates reading "Clean coal dirty joke", in Welsh and English, wind turbines and solar panels, toilet blocks, a bathing sight, a colourful and welcoming welcome tent beside the main gate, geodomes housing lots of people, a bar in the evenings, a kitchen store in the form of a yurt and a solar cinema tent which fed you fresh Welshcakes and children and dogs playing in the middle. I don't think Merthyr has seen anything like it to date!

Get ready London, climate camp is migrating your way, see here for details on this weeks UK climate camp.

Posted by Isabel ( 6:26 PM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Sunday Aug 09, 2009

A big hello from Isabel

Hi! I'm Isabel, I'm 19 and from Wales. I'm just finishing my gap year between finishing school and starting at Bristol University. On this blog I'm going to show you what I'm doing about climate change and how I campaign on it.

The environment wasn't always my passion, and I used to want to be a fashion stylist, it seemed to be what I was best at, where my natural talent lay. Then I got interested and more and more curious about ethical living; tracking down where my clothes and toothpaste had come from, who had made it and for how much. Once I'd started I couldn't stop, that led me to the environment. Initially I campaigned on sustainable development in Wales, through the Welsh Youth Forum on Sustainable Development (WYFSD website) and in my huge secondary school. We did presentations, started a green group, I tried to toughen our schools environmental policy, make them less oil dependant and more efficient. It was tough, especially at the same time as doing my A levels, but you when you feel strongly about something you always find time.

I went to my first youth conference near Amsterdam in 2007, and then became a British Council Climate Advocate for Wales. In September 08 I took a risk and applied to be part of the UK Youth Delegation to the UN Climate Negotiations in Poland. I was a bit hesitant, thinking the write up for applicants sounded a bit heavy going and out of my depth-I didn't think I was that hardcore!

Anyway, I applied successfully and the next thing I knew I was raising a grand to get there, and on a train to Poland with 15 people I barely knew. Meeting over 500 young people all with the same values and goals in life was inspirational, and to hear their stories was amazing. Ever since those hellish two weeks in Poznan, Poland (see my blog for the details.) I have tried to continue the work we started as an international youth movement, doing talks about my experience, inspiring others to show the Government at home what needs to be done on our behalf, joining Climate Rushes, going to conferences, speaking at them, questioning them, living with lots of activists and joining campaigns like Remember Saro-Wiwa and Climate Camp. While I was in London  I did 2 internships for Lib Dem MP's, to be able to greater understand the structure that underpins our society so I can campaign as effectively as possible for the things I feel strongly about, so expect some political sides to my arguments.

In short, I'm a youth campaigner who tries to amplify the voice of our generation in anyway possible, because it's our future they're messing with-lets take it back!

Make every day count

Isabel

 

Posted by Isabel ( 11:11 AM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Tuesday Aug 04, 2009

UKYouth Voice conference 2009

Well it all started on Wednesday morning 7.30am I actually woke up before my alarm..must have been all the excitement of the conference, do you think? On the long journey from the North East down to Avon Tyrell.  Was feeling good about the week that followed as well as a bit nervous as it was the first UKYV conference I was part of.  On the whole the journey down went quite quick no mishaps, no getting on the wrong trains, all good.
 
So Wednesday evening catch up with the UKYV girls and guys and put some of the finishing touches to the conference for all our lovely delegates.
 
Thursday was all go....Printing info and questionnaires for 'Movers & Shapers' and putting together the Youth Achievement Award Movers & Shapers presentation together. Making sure I had the right information about Movers & Shapers as I introduce the whole Movers & Shapers section just before I delivered our own YAA presentation on results so far.  Going over of 'Education, Education...Inspiration' workshop make sure everything was set for the weekend.
 
The whole conference and year has been an experience and huge learning curve. Running the workshop was even more experience in itself.  It had a lot to cover from YAA to Dance, Volunteering to CV's. There was a wide variety of things to talk about as well as a wide variety of delegates and so each time we run the workshop there was something differently and those running the workshop with me and myself; adapted it accordingly.  The workshop groups were split into groups of animals Ducks, Sheep, Elephants and Lions. I was leader of the Ducks and basically each day I would meet with them and let them know where they were going for the day and it was put on display where each group where going at what time for everyone to see.  It worked well as we then had a mixture of people in the workshop.
 
Obviously though not all topics of the workshop in the case of our workshop; that I know of, was to everyones taste so we had a plan that we were able to adapt each time to each groups needs and interests.

The disco on the Saturday night end with a faulty fire alarm going off! So everything that could happen did.

On the whole I think the conference went really well and really enjoyed working with everyone and look forward to doing my second year and hopefully an even better conference next summer and I will miss the everyone who has left this year loads, but hope to keep intouch with them all.

I think I'm still recovering from the whole week, was really exhausting but loads of FUN.
 
So heres to UKYV conference 2010!

Posted by Moira ( 2:53 PM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Friday Jul 10, 2009

YAA certificate presentation

Hey people,

Just thought I would share that I got presented my Youth Achievement Award yesterday by the Regional Director and Regional Trustee of Barnardos NE yesterday :D Very exciting, oh and my certificate looks snazy lol. No really I had a good day yesterday.

Now all need to do is to get everyone else that is doing there's completing there booklets ad hey presto they will get a shiny certificate too   Try and get that sorted over the summer holidays...oh and its not long to the UKYouth conference going to be a cool weekend, can't wait.  Also the other week I went to have a 1 to 1 meeting with the chair of the Derwentside goveners board and my knowledge of the YAA may come in handy there also will have to wait and see what comes of that.

I will see if i can get the photo attached to this from yesterday as well

Here it is!

Posted by Moira ( 1:09 PM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

Tuesday Jun 09, 2009

I got my Platinum Youth Achievement Award :)

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share with you my fantastic news....well its had me on a high since I found out ha!

I have had my Platinum Youth Achievement Award passed today at a high standard apparently. Only got moderated today so wont get the certificate for a while. But I'm still on a high oh all the hard work paid off. Honestly if you get the chance to do it through your volunteering role or even through your youth club Do it. (ha see what I did there?) It will be fun and hard work and fun and well now I feel fab that I've passed  So it will all be worth it in the end take from someone who knows.

Now I'm deciding what to do with it...even thinking about going and doing a Youth Work Course hmmm we'll see.  I think Barnardos have done so well putting up with me while I've been doing it and I'm so glad I didn't give it up now.

Now need to concentrate on the Summer and the UK Youth Voice  'The Big Youth Issue 09' Conference can't wait now. Should be really good hope I can pull off leading my workshop with my group..I'll be talking about YAA so the fact I've just passed will come in handy I think

Hope people's exams are going well   so.......Until next time bye

 

Posted by Moira ( 6:39 PM )
Link to this post Comments[0]