Derby Campaign against Climate Change activities and events

[dcgadmin]

The Derby Cycling Group have received the following message from Peter Robinson of the Derby Campaign against Climate Change:

Dear Friends

December 5th demonstration and coach tickets.

Saturday 5th December will see the biggest UK demonstration on climate so far with greater commitment than ever before from a wide range of NGOs, brought together by the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition. The main event, called “The Wave” will leave Grosvenor Square at about 1.00 pm to surround parliament for the ‘wave’ event at about 3.00 pm.
We still have a few coach tickets left and these can be obtained from Sound Bites (on the Morledge). If you have any queries or wish to reserve seats phone Martin on 01332 558638 or email mpseart@tiscali.co.uk

On the day in London!!!!

The intention is to get to London in time for some people to join the ecumenical service with Archbishop Rowan Williams and Vincent Nichols at Westminster Central Hall at 11am.

The coaches will dropping people off at Speakers Corner, Hyde Park, where there is an Emergency Climate Rally, organised by the National Campaign against Climate Change.

Speakers include Michael Meacher MP, Simon Hughes MP, John McDonnell MP, Caroline Lucas MEP, Maria Sauveron (Bolivian ambassador), John Stewart (HACAN – anti Heathrow 3rd runway), Chris Baugh (Public and Commercial Services Union) and Sasha Pratt (UK Youth Climate Coalition).

The rally is calling for a Declaration of a Climate Emergency, accompanied by the following demands:

10% cuts by end 2010
A million green jobs by end 2010
Ban domestic flights
55 mph speed limit – scrap the roads program
End Agrofuel use

The Climate Emergency Rally will precede “The Wave” and rally-goers will feed into it as it leaves Grosvenor Square.

Wear Blue!!!

Stop Climate Chaos, the coalition responsible for organising the Wave, have asked us to wear blue if possible on the march, blue representing the colour of the wave. There will be a mass blue wave outside the Houses of Parliament at 3pm.

WE STILL NEED MONEY!!

We decided to lower the coach ticket prices (£6 and £3), partly because of the very generous donations that been received. But, as we are putting on a third coach, these prices won’t cover the costs. Instead of raising prices again we are asking people to make donations on the coach, or pay more when buying the tickets.
For those of you who cannot come please consider giving us a donation; leave it at Sound Bites or send a cheque to Derby Campaign against Climate Change, c/o Keith Burchell, 33 Cobden Street, Derby DE22 3GX. Thanks to those of you who have already made donations.
Please give generously because it is very clear that we will have to re-group and organise post Copenhagen and we will need money for this; we don’t want to burden activists by having them pay off coach company debts.

Public Meeting in Derby after Copenhagen

We are planning a public meeting on Tuesday the 19 January at 7pm at the Council House to discuss the situation after Copenhagen.. Note that Lizzie Gawen is heading the UK Youth Climate Coalition and will be present in Copenhagen throughout the UN talks. Three others and one banner are going across for the demonstrations over the weekend of the 12th.
So the meeting will include a report back from those of us who are going across to Copenhagen.
We will also be having a discussions about continuing our climate coalition which was formed around the Copenhagen talks.

Ning network

A reminder that the NING network is a very good way for people to share ideas and event and have discussions; so please join in by clicking on http://derbyclimatechangecampaign.ning.com/ You will see we have tried to broaden the network out to all campaigners against climate change in Derby, and beyond. This is the place to put up announcements about other climate change related activities. It includes a wonderful video with somebody from Bolivia who is coming to the London demonstration and a debate about the role of life styles and climate change.

All the best
Peter Robinson
Chairperson Derby Campaign against Climate Change

[dcgadmin]

Keeping up to date

There is so much happening on the Climate Campaigning front at the moment that it almost impossible to keep abreast, let alone tell you what we know is happening. Furthermore I am off to Copenhagen this evening, along Adrian and Martin from Derby, and there are already two much younger people from our city there, Vicky and Lizzie. Both of them are running blogs and the best way to access them is to go onto our network site http://derbyclimatechangecampaign.ning.com/ . You will also find several links to interviews we done on Radio Derby. For a very sober assessment read the view of the world's leading climate change expert James Hansen
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/02/copenhagen-climate-change-james-hansen

The march in London

Despite some problems with transport and timings the march in London went very well. The turn-out was enormous and from Derby was good, the coaches were full and we covered our costs. Thank you to everybody who donated. For some pictures and video links go to the aforementioned networking site. Chris Mallet, a reporter from the Telegraph, accompanied us and his account of the march, plus interviews, can be seen at http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Families-join-climate-change-march/article-1580019-detail/article.html

Candlelight vigil on December 12 at 5:00pm

Here is note from Rosy Townsend.

I'm organising a candlelight vigil in Derby, for a Real Deal in Copenhagen.
It's part of the international day of action on climate change. Can you come?

In Derby City centre, by the Osnabruck tree, (Behind QUAD) near J1 bus stop., where Albert St and Corporation St meet at the island.
Please bring a candle in a jar. Texts will be read. We are hoping that photos taken will be shown in Copenhagen.

Bring banners and placards if you want.... and friends!!
Events like ours are happening simultaneously in every corner of the world - there's one in Osnabruck at the same time!

The message is clear: The World Wants A Real Deal: a treaty strong enough to tackle dangerous climate change.

Please pass the message on to your contacts.

You can check out the event and RSVP here:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/real_deal_rsvp/?id=142880&cts=1260393203&m=521

http://www.avaaz.org/real_deal_map

Do hope you can come!

Rosy

Major Rally in Nottingham

At 12 noon this Saturday 12 December there is an open air solidarity Climate rally organised by a Nottingham-Copenhagen coalition at the Council House, Market Square

This will be followed by a public meeting at New Mechanics at 1:30pm, called 'Business as Usual?',. Speakers include Alan Simpson MP: Nottingham South, Derek Wall: Green Party and Martin Empson: CaCC – Trade Union Group.

Working with others

One of the best things about organising for the Wave was that it provided an opportunity for us to involve all sorts of groups and organisations, in various ways. For example we made connections with the students at the College, some of whom can on the coach and also with some members of the Muslim community and a couple of us spoke to the Derby Muslim Forum and we hope to organise a big meeting at the Pakistani Community centre, amongst other things.

The next steering group meeting is, as always, open to all and is Wednesday the 6 January at 5pm at the Council House. We be having discussions about continuing our climate coalition which was formed around the Copenhagen talks.

Public Meeting in Derby after Copenhagen

We are planning a public meeting on Tuesday the 19 January at 7pm at the Council House to discuss the situation after Copenhagen.. Note that Lizzie Gawen, who is heading the UK Youth Climate Coalition and will be present in Copenhagen throughout the UN talks, will be reporting back. Three others and one banner are going across for the demonstrations over the weekend of the 12th.

Ning network

Please don’t forget our Ning site. That is really by far the best place to read news, to put up announcement and to have debates; so please join in by clicking on http://derbyclimatechangecampaign.ning.com/ You will see we have tried to broaden the network out to all campaigners against climate change in Derby, and beyond. This is the place to put up announcements about other climate change related activities.

All the best
Peter Robinson
01332 600612
07876595993

[dcgadmin]

A further communication from Peter Robinson is below

Dear Friends

Sorry not to have contacted everybody for some time. Things have been very busy on the Climate Change front (and I am not talking about the snow).

The march in London was, in terms of turn out, a great success. More than 50,000 people went on what was the largest march ever in this country on this issue. Three full coaches went from Derby and Matlock. Thanks to all you who came, and all of you who made donations.

Another 6 people from the area went to the Copenhagen for the talks and the demonstration. Lizzie Gawen a student at the university of Derby took a group 20 young people to the conference. In our view the breakdown of the talks in Copenhagen was disaster and it is becoming more and more clear that we cannot leave things to the politicians.

Public meeting

Please come to our public meeting 7:00pm Tuesday 19th January in the Council House. We will showing a DVD and accompanying by reports from Lizzie Gawen and Martin Sear (who went on the demonstration of 100,000 people). See the attached flier.

Derby Climate Coalition

On Wednesday 6th January we held steering group meeting at which there were 14 people from a variety of organisations including members of Transition Town Derby, the UK Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC), and from several churches. At that meeting Derby Campaign Against Climate Change proposed that a 'Derby Climate Coalition' is formed to continue the coordination and work done by organisations in Derby in the run-up to Copenhagen. This was agreed unanimously.

Our mission statement is:

The Derby Climate Change Coalition is a campaigning group that brings together a wide range of organisations and individuals, who support and want to take part in activities that inform, influence and raise awareness about the effects of global warming. It believes that it is only through the efforts and actions of the largest numbers of people will governments take the measures needed to address climate change.

Elections and the steering group

It was agreed that the following positions would be elected: chair, secretary, treasurer and 2 spokespeople at the meeting on the 19th. The elections will take place on the meeting on 19th. The steering group is open to all but we would like those people who want to play an active part to let us know – email me if you cannot come to the meeting.

The steering group will normally meet about once a month and the next meeting is on booked for Tuesday 2nd Feb at 5.00pm in the Council House (meeting room 2).

Involvement in discussions and background papers.

I have attached two background papers, one an article from Johann Hari which appeared in the Independent and the other a report by Jonathan Neale. They make good reading.

Remember that the NING network is a very good way for people to share ideas and event and have discussions; so please join in by clicking on http://derbyclimatechangecampaign.ning.com/ You will see we have tried to broaden the network out to all campaigners against climate change in Derby, and beyond. This is the place to put up announcements about other climate change related activities.

The National Campaign against Climate Change runs a discussion forum and there are several items there which will relate to what after Copenhagen see http://portal.campaigncc.org/.

and then, for example,
http://portal.campaigncc.org/content/co ... ie-quietly

and

http://portal.campaigncc.org/content/wh ... copenhagen

Stop Press

Today’s Telegraph has got a major piece on the Council and climate change proposal from the council. See http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Wind-change-blowing-cut-carbon-emissions/article-1701058-detail/article.html#StartComments. It would help greatly if people could write letters and comments online; already the cranks have started firing their shots. Let us know if and when you have done so.

All the best
Peter Robinson
Chairperson Derby Campaign against Climate Change
01332 600612
07876595993

[dcgadmin]

Dear Friends

Just a short email with a few items. Despite the debacle around the UN talks in Copenhagen things are happening.

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The Fabian Society is having a meeting on Climate Change- what after Copenhagen? and Derby Campaign against Climate Change will be supplying two speakers, both of whom actually went to Copenhagen. Please come along if you can. This meeting is this Friday at 7.30pm at Derby Labour Club on Charnwood Street.

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Planning permission has been granted for the Council to build Longbridge Weir Hydro Plant on the river Derwent. This will be able to supply all the electricity for the Council House and also enable the council to sell renewable electricity.

Which is good news. Watch this space.

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This article by Fred Pearce goes a long way to addressing the recent climate change sceptic’s sound bite propaganda. It’s about time the real weight of the science surfaced above the lies and half lies. [url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/01/climate-emails-sceptics
[/url]
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If you are a trade unionist and are interested in working around the unions, especially around green jobs, please contact Martin Sear 01332 558638 or email mpsear@tiscali.co.uk

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The City Council undertook a consultation of a representative sample of Derby residents to ascertain the views on climate change, and to find out what actions Derby people were prepared take to combat the problem. 1000 Derby residents were selected at random to take part in telephone interviews

conducted by Marketing Innovation Ltd. A16 point questionnaire was used to determine what the respondents knew or believed about climate change, and to find out what actions they would take to tackle the problem. The survey was completed in three weeks in Oct 20. It makes interesting reading see:
http://cmis.derby.gov.uk/CMISWebPublic/Binary.ashx?Document=15042

Please have a look and join our discussion form on this by going to our Ning site: http://derbyclimatechangecampaign.ning.com/forum/topics/derby-city-councils-survey-of

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Sustrans are organising a cycle jumble event at the Friends Meeting House (St Helen’s Street, Derby – next to Radio Derby) this Thursday 4th Feb from 8pm to 10pm. Take along your spare bike bits (saddles, wheels, frames) to sell or swap – or just go to buy.

All the best
Peter Robinson
Chair of Derby Climate Change Coalition
01332 600612
07876595993

[dcgadmin]

Latest from Peter Robinson - 10th March 2010:

Dear Friends

As always we need to keep reminding people about the threat of Climate Change. It is really important that we keep the arguments going, and due to the collapse the Copenhagen talks and the rise of the cynics and sceptics, things are fairly hard. Just one note about the so-called climate sceptics. ‘They describe themselves as sceptics but this is wrong, as they will believe any rubbish that suits their cause’.

Anyway there a lots of things that can be done and the Derby Climate Coalition emphasises the importance doing things together. Our strongest weapon is us, not only in Derby, but us throughout the UK and indeed linking with people in other countries. Enough of the big talk. Here are some practical things.

Meeting on climate questions with the Derby North Parliamentary candidates

First we are organising a meeting around the elections where all the candidates from Derby North (Lucy Care - Liberal Democrat, Stephen Mold - Conservative Party, and Chris Williamson - Labour Party) have all agreed to come and talk and be questioned around the issue of climate change. This is your opportunity to find out what your general election candidates are saying. Come and collect posters and other publicity material.

The meeting is

7.00 PM ON FRIDAY 26TH MARCH, IN THE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH, DUCKWORTH SQUARE OFF VICTORIA ST, DERBY

Note that there is parking nearby, but it you will have to pay up to 8pm.

Trade Union Conference

The Third Trade Union Conference organised by the Campaign against Climate Change Trade Union Group is taking place this Saturday, the 13th, in London. See the attached for further details. This an important conference and Martin Sear is attending on behalf of the Climate Coalition. However we are offering to pay the travel costs to any trade unionist who wants to go down. This is because we are trying to do more systematic work around trade unions in Derby, especially around the million green jobs theme. If you are a trade unionist and are interested in attending, or being involved, please contact Martin Sear 01332 558638 or email mpsear@tiscali.co.uk

General Election and South Derbyshire.

The Stop Climate Chaos Coalition is running their ‘Ask the climate question’ campaign in the 50 most marginal constituencies and South Derbyshire is one of them. Stop Climate Chaos have asked us if could do some work around the constituency. Oxfam will also be helping and we can pay some telephone and transport and printing expenses. (There was a general hustings in Melbourne on the 25th of Feb and about 100 people attended; hustings are meeting where the parliamentary candidates are challenged over their views, including those on climate change). The idea is have a planning meeting, distribute posters and possibly help organise another hustings. Do you live in the South Derbyshire constituency? Would you be prepared to help? If so please contact me asap.

Other news and announcements

Lots of people ask us to make announcements and advertise their events. There is a lot going on, one way or another. Please have a look at our Ning site:http://derbyclimatechangecampaign.ning.com/ and post any events there or join in the discussion forums.

All the best
Peter Robinson
Derby Climate Coalition
01332 600612
07876595993

[dcgadmin]

Further communication from Peter Robinson:

Dear Friends

General Election.

Thank you to all of you came to our meeting with the parliamentary candidates from Derby North.

There is a danger that the biggest question of all, the climate question, will be forgotten during the General Election. While it is true that as individuals we can do a bit ourselves, the much greater need is for forcing action locally, nationally, and internationally. So please ask the Climate Question whenever you can. See the attached poster, and we have a range of other printed materials for the election. Email me if you want some, or come down and collect materials from the stall we are organising on Saturday May the 1st at the Market Place, from 10 am to 11 am.

MAY DAY march and a million green jobs.

The Derby Trades Council and local trade unionists are once again having a Mayday march this coming Saturday. It is assembling at 10.30 am and the marches finishes at the Silk Mill. We will be distributing a leaflet linking the need to invest in green technologies with the demand for a million green jobs, we have a brilliant pamphlet as well, and we will be joining in the march, and there is also a meeting afterwards. It is very important that the link is made between trade unionists and the green movement. So please come and help in whatever way you can.

Post election vigil.

On Saturday the 15th of May in London there is an all night post election vigil, the aim of which is to remind the new parliament that climate question is still with us. Well we are having our own candlelight vigil on May the 15th, from 9.30 pm to 10 pm and will use this as an opportunity to get through to the media. Join us on the Council House steps.

Next steering group.

The next meeting of the Derby Climate Change Coalition is on Tuesday 4th May at 5.00 at the Council House. All are welcome

All the best

Peter Robinson
Derby Climate Coalition
01332 600612
07876595993