CLIMATE COALITION MAY ELECTION CAMPAIGN GOES LIVE – YOUR COUNTY NEEDS YOU!

MAY DAY MAY DAY – CLIMATE EMERGENCY!

MAY DAY DAY DAY – CLIMATE EMERGENCY – ACT NOW!

 

The Derbyshire Climate Coalition campaign to get ALL county council election candidates to sign up to the COALITION’S pledge to act NOW to drastically cut emissions is live.

You can automatically find and email the candidates for your ward by by using this link;

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/ask-your-county-council-election-candidates-to-sign-the-climate-pledge

A toolkit of how to engage and influence your own local candidates to sign the pledge and start taking action on climate change is available through this link;

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1bE7Y4d75qwtsBRopUJ_QHpRWCKxJ_oWa

The toolkit contains;

A Google spreadsheet containing name, party, ward and, where known, email address  of every candidate .  For those candidates without emails, canvassing leaflets coming through your letter box will usually show candidate’s email addresses.  Alternatively you can visit the Derbyshire County Council website to find candidates’s addresses and simply post a letter to them.  See:

https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/council/elections/candidates/county-council-election-candidates.aspx

 

A draft email to send to candidates in your area for you to personalise asking them to sign the climate action pledge.

Links to the Friends of the Earth guidance on how to get the best out of meeting  or conversation with your candidate.

And lots more useful stuff to help you.

Government’s Climate Change Committee say council actions critical to combatting climate change

In December 2021, the government’s Committee on Climate Change(CCC) published their latest report to government, Local Government and the Sixth Carbon Budget’ (https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/local-authorities-and-the-sixth-carbon-budget/).  The report makes crystal clear to  government and local authorities that local authority action is critical to cutting emissions;

‘their leadership role in partnerships and with the public places them at the heart of the climate conversation and in developing and replicating local solutions’.

The report evidences how local authorities like Derbyshire County Council and  the district councils collectively have power or influence over roughly one third of all  UK climate changing greenhouse gas emissions through planning decisions, building control, building design codes, highways decisions and waste and recycling policies.  Moreover the report makes clear that local authorities already have the powers to make change happen.

In the  report,   the CCC make 10 key recommendations to local authorities (See Box 2 page11).  Probably the most important of them is this;

Communicate and engage with local communities, businesses and partners on Net Zero so that a mandate for action is maintained. Support community action with citizens, schools, businesses and other groups. Assess the skills needed locally to deliver the transition, developing green and low-carbon jobs and supporting a resilient recovery. 

So the CCC is saying councils must consult with their residents and work with them to understand their views on climate change, secure  their support and engage and support them to take action individually  and collectively on climate change.

The Derbyshire county and some district elections will be held on 6th May. 2021  We need to be sure that the candidates we elect are going to take action NOW to protect us all.  The Derbyshire Climate Coalition is campaigning asking all election candidates to sign up to the following climate action pledge;

If elected, I pledge to ensure that our council works with the community to rapidly implement a Climate Action Plan which strives to cut carbon emissions drastically by 2030, and that the climate and ecological emergency is a central consideration in all council actions.’

We urge you to contact  ALL the candidates standing for election in your ward and ask them what they will do to address the Climate and Ecological emergency if elected and ask them to sign the pledge.  You can find out how your own council’s performance on this critical issue compares against the average council by going to this website; https://policy.friendsoftheearth.uk/sites/files/policy/documents/2019-09/League_table_England_Wales.pdf

Or go to this page and  enter your postcode for a detailed assessment of how your council is rated;

https://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate-friendly-communities