Citizens' Climate Lobby UK

Lobbying for a carbon fee and dividend

News

Virtual mass lobby – The Time is Now

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Last year we took part in this, organised by The Climate Coalition. Let’s do it again…online!

theclimatecoalition.org/thetimeisnow

The Time Is Now: the biggest ever mass lobby for climate, nature and people. 12,000 people from all walks of life travelled to Westminster in 2019 to talk to their MPs about how the UK needs to tackle climate change and nature’s decline.

On 30 June we are coming together again, this time for for a virtual lobby, inviting you, and thousands of others to ask MPs to put people, climate and nature at the heart of our nation’s recovery.

The UK is at a turning point. As we build back from the current health crisis, we have the opportunity to rebuild a resilient economy that benefits everyone in society and tackle climate change and nature’s decline, creating jobs and protecting the most vulnerable in the UK and around the world. Or we can let the moment for change pass us by, go back to old ways and wait for new crises to hit.

Using our voices to call for action is more important than ever. Have a virtual cup of tea with your MP on Tuesday 30 June because #TheTimeIsNow to put a healthy, greener, fairer future at the heart of plans to rebuild from the Coronavirus crisis.

Be part of history. Sign up to be part of the first ever virtual lobby for climate, nature and people.

June national meeting: Ed Hopkins, Dark Green PR

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Ed Hopkins, from Dark Green PR, joins our June national online meeting.

He asks: what is the CCL/climate income story and to whom do we tell it?

Getting our message right is vital, especially for a policy-orientated organisation such as ours. How do we talk to them and what do we say?

And who/where do we tell it? Traditional media – as well as social media – still as an important role to play in supporting our lobbying efforts.

Ed says, “Being dark green means a holistic approach to combatting the climate emergency. We have an ethical responsibility to drive systemic change. This means the food we choose, the way we travel, the energy we use, the clothes we wear, and the money we invest all need to improve.”

While at Greenhouse PR, Ed led the media campaign for The Climate Coalition’s ‘The Time Is Now’ campaign, the largest ever mass lobby of parliament.

He has since, as of April this year, set up his own PR agency, Dark Green PR. Dark Green’s goal is to deliver genuine impact for brands working to improve the world around us and protect the planet’s delicate climate. From sustainable food, to IoT technology, to energy efficiency, to sustainable investing, to minimising waste, Dark Green PR is working with companies on a green mission.

Ed has over seven years’ experience working on high-profile accounts for a leading PR and communications agency (Brands2Life), and for a specialist sustainability-focussed agency (Greenhouse PR). Ed worked on many accounts, including Triodos Bank, Good Energy, Clim8 Invest, Yelo, Climate-KIC, Carbon Tracker, Unfriend Coal, and the UK Student Climate Network.

Meeting details

Tuesday 16th June
7.30pm introduction for new members
8pm for the talk with Ed

How to join

We use Zoom, which you can join either through a browser or via the Zoom app.

Please email with the name you will use on Zoom. The password and weblink to the meeting will be emailed in reply.

If using the Zoom app, please download the latest and most secure version.

What lessons can we learn from salamanders, nuns and scientists?

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Victoria Gill, BBC journalist and TED speaker, took us through the conservation of the achoque, a type of axolotl or salamander, unique to Lake Patzcuaro, Mexico, in the May monthly meeting.

The lake is clogged with pollution and the achoque is not doing well, however, the Sisters of the Immaculate Health, a local order of nuns, have conserved the amphibian and shared their secrets with local scientists. The scheme is considered one of the best conservation projects in the world.

What lessons can we lobbyists learn from this collaboration between faith and science?

Watch the video (available until 15 June 2020) or listen to the talk and discussion here.

Watch Victoria’s original TED talk, here:

May meeting with Victoria Gill

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axolotlBack in March (pre-CV), BBC journalist, Victoria Gill, gave a fascinating and uplifting TED talk.

The subject was the potential extinction of the Mexican axolotl, a type of salamander.

To save the axolotl, the scientists had to work with a local order of nuns, a lesson on the role of humility and lack of hubris.

Victoria will join us at our monthly May meeting to talk about how these two disparate groups were brought together – and how being able to do this is essential in making any positive change.

Meeting
Tuesday 19th May
Time: 7.30 intro for new members
8pm for Victoria’s talk

We have changed the way to join our monthly meetings. Please email Louisa with the name you will use on Zoom and she will email you the password and weblink to the meeting. This is to ensure the safety and enjoyment for you and all our genuine participants.

If you are using the Zoom app, please download the latest and most secure version.

Victoria with the Sisters of the Immaculate Health

Feeling hopeless? Remember your MP

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Already the UK Government is trying to save jobs and extending benefits to ensure non-keyworkers stay where they need to be during the Coronavirus crisis – at home.

But what if you feel you are falling through the cracks? Or that you don’t feel the Government is doing enough for our health and health service?

Citizens’ Climate Lobby is first and foremost a democratically empowering organisation and urge you to talk to your MP.

If you don’t feel your individual situation is being addressed, then email your MP and ask them to pass it onto the relevant government ministry. They can’t know everyone’s plight – help them walk in your shoes.

And don’t forget to thank them for their service in these difficult times, even if it is just to acknowledge that the situation is ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ – that will go along way towards a productive conversation.

Join the forum conversation (website members only – please do join if you haven’t already done so): https://citizensclimatelobby.uk/groups/all-members/forum/topic/ccl-strategy-during-the-coronavirus-lockdown/

Further reading: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/mar/23/uk-musicians-lose-139m-earnings-coronavirus

Hope for the Future online, Tues 17th

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Tuesday 17th March: The speaker for March online monthly meeting is Sarah Robinson from Hope for the Future, an organisation which specialises in training people to work with their MPs on climate change.

Suitable for beginners to the experienced, Sarah will focus on the current political landscape. In particular, she will show how we can talk with Conservative MPs as, for the first time in ten years, they have a majority government and the mandate to bring down UK greenhouse gas emissions.

As usual, 7.30-8pm will be an introduction to CCL UK and Climate Income. Sarah will follow at 8pm.

To join the meeting, click on this link* at the time of the meeting, either 7.30pm or 8pm.

https://zoom.us/j/466140846

*Please note: if you haven’t used Zoom before on this device, clicking the link will automatically download the Zoom app or plugin.

Campaigns – take your pick

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There are many democractic actions you could take to tackle climate change (CCL believes that democracy is the only way to combat climate change ie the way to achieve consensus on the fairest and most efficient way our society can help reduce global emissions).

And taking part in democracy means building a relationship with your MP.

Here’s what you can do:-

1. If you haven’t done so already, write to your MP about climate income.

2. Then meet or, if that’s not possible, write to them about the proposed rise in fuel duty. Although making fossil fuels more expensive is necessary, charging more at the pump, directly to the consumer (a downstream charge), will penalise too many people, especially those with poor public transport (such as rural areas). This will turn the UK off any price rise in fossil fuels. And we need a price rise, because it is the most effective way to bring down greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change. The way to raise the cost of fossil fuels – and, crucially, to win over the people – is to make most of the population better off by charging the companies that import or extract fossil fuels (an upstream charge) and – the important bit – returning the revenue back to the people ie a climate income.

3. Join our task force on COP26 – the annual UN convention on climate change taking place in November in Glasgow – email Louisa.

4. If you are a member of a political party, write and ask them to put forward climate income as a motion on the agenda of the 2020 party political conference, to be adopted as a policy. We are investigating the process of doing this for each party – if you know more, please get in touch with Louisa. So far we know the Lib Dem Greens and Welsh Greens are pushing for it. The Green Party already has climate income (aka carbon fee and dividend) but it is at risk of being reduced in effect or unadopted.

5. Take a local action – give a talk or take a stand at a local event, organise an event, and/or write to your local media, talk about it on social media on discussion forums, talk to your friends, family and colleagues, etc. Contact Gina for tips,resources and help

6. Talk to a charity, NGO, company, organisation at a national or regional level or a celebrity or expert about climate income, or write to the national media as a letter to editor or pitch a piece of editorial.

Image: how much the world has warmed in heat stripes.

Putting the Lobbying into Citizens’ Climate Lobby

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CCL UK volunteer Peter reports from the CCL EU February lobbying days:

Lobbying. That’s for the professionals in suits, right? Regular citizens write letters and perhaps, if they are lucky, meet their MP?

After two days of lobbying Members of the European Parliament (MEP) in Brussels I can now say: Not quite so. Lobbying MEPs as a volunteer is possible and a natural thing to do. Whilst it is intimidating and exhausting, it is also a great experience, involves close team work, makes a real difference, and is appreciated by MEPs. I found it very satisfying and empowering.

In line with the European Citizens’ Initiative on Climate Income, our group of volunteers from Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) across Europe met in Brussels from 18th to 20th February to talk about the Carbon Fee & Dividend (climate income) policy to MEPs from a range of parties and countries.

How does lobbying in parliament work?

Training day

Preparation

There is a lot of preparation to do. Logistics, of course, but more importantly scheduling the meetings. We first identified the MEPs we wanted to meet with and requested a meeting by email. “Great, what time would suit you?” – this is of course not the reply we got. (Would you commit 30 min of your time based on one email request?) We thus followed up with phone calls and sent more material. This way, step by step, we filled up our days with meetings.

Training & background information

Want to convince your friend of your favourite destination for the next joint holiday? This works well if you know them, their taste, and their financial constraints – and if you trust each other. On training day, we learned more about how the EU works and the interplay of institutions. We also practised how to have open-ended discussions based on trust. In addition, volunteers across Europe and among ourselves gathered information about the MEPs from their parliamentary website, news websites, and social media. (Thanks for all the remote support!)

CCL volunteers with MEP Jens Geier (second left), Peter first left

Meeting MEPS and their assistants

Security, accreditation – and you’re in parliament! It is a truly inspiring building, buzzing with people from all over the continent. Meetings took place in many parts of the building; in the café, in MEPs offices, and in larger meeting rooms. We met MEPs and their assistants, sometimes the assistants and advisors only. Advisor sounds like second choice? Because there are so many topics MEPs need to be informed upon, advisors play a key role and talking to them is as valuable as talking to the representatives themselves. While naturally all fired up to talk about our favourite policy, the most important part of the meeting was to listen and to clarify. We would like our concerns to be heard, and so would the representatives. As a consequence of this, we learned a lot about the economic and political constraints they have to balance. Between meetings, we debriefed and reflected asking ourselves: How can we work better as a team? How do explain the dividend component better? How to make best use of our individual skills and strengths?

Inside the EP chamber!

The social and geeky side of lobbying

All the pent-up excitement and experiences were shared over dinner. And what is more fun than geeking out about the border carbon adjustment over appetizers? (OK, this might be subjective.)

Following up and planning the next event

Next up: Consolidating notes, sending follow-up material, and strategising about when and where to meet all the people we were recommended to talk to. Maybe with help of CCL volunteers who have never lobbied before?

Lobbying, this is what professionals in suits do. But it is also what volunteer citizens do. Lobbying by itself is not underhand or unwelcome, it is a key component of the democratic process; for CCL it is one lever to build political will for an impactful climate solution.