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Thursday Oct 29, 2009

wow

The 350 international day of action

Posted by Isabel ( 12:00 AM )
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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 )
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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 )
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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 )
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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 )
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