In the run-up to COP26, we've seen floods, sewage emptied onto 17 Dorset beaches last week, John Kerry calling the event "the last, best hope for the world" and the pain and despair of young people voiced by Lauren MacDonald, Scottish climate activist and a member of the Stop Cambo campaign at a recent TED Countdown panel.
For hope and regeneration to win through, we need to keep up the pressure. For pain and despair to prevail, no action is needed.
In this issue: 66 things we can do around COP26 to build hope and regeneration.
For hope and regeneration to win through, we need to keep up the pressure. For pain and despair to prevail, no action is needed.
In this issue: 66 things we can do around COP26 to build hope and regeneration.
Job #1 - Communicate and act. Please....
- Send this newsletter to someone who doesn't receive it. (Use this link: dorsetcan.org/cop26)
- Sign any of the petitions you support (below)
- Join or attend any of the actions/events listed below
- Share our posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
- If you haven't, join DorsetCAN as a member to make our voice stronger. Then ask someone else to join
- Ask a local business to join DorsetCAN
How can I make sense of COP26?
Read:
- Is the UK net zero plan good enough for COP26? - (New Scientist via Planet Shaftesbury - 5 min read)
- Five things to watch for at COP26 - (Climate Outreach website - 3 min read)
- "It's anarchic" - Ed Miliband on the reality of climate talks like COP26 - (New Scientist - 5 min read)
- Devon Wildlife Trust's six COP26 goals - Devon Wildlife Trust - 5 min read)
- The Green Party's COP26 Hub details its climate campaigns on community, economy & justice (website - 10+ min read)
- Small Countries, Big Vision (COP26 Interview with Nicola Sturgeon) - (Outrage+Optimism - 15 min listen, start at 22:00)
How can I take part in/follow COP26?
Check:
- The COP26 Green Zone Programme of Public Events - attend in person or online - (website, 12-day programme)
- Round-up of public engagement events at COP26 - (Climate Outreach website - 5 min read)
- The Climate Coalition's Daily COP26 email, with updates on events and actions you can take - (email - daily)
- The Word Forest's live feed from COP26 during the conference - (sign-up for their blog, daily updates)
- Climate Fringe TV: key live-streamed events from Glasgow every day - (website)
- Any of Stop Ecocide International's programme of streamed talks at COP26 - (online events)
How can I be heard at COP26?
Sign:
- Positive Money's petition for the UK government to fully fund the green transition (Positive Money - 5 min read/sign)
- Word Forest Organisation's petition for a science-led, Weekly Climate Address. (Word Forest - 2 min read/sign)
- The Zero Campaign (backing the Climate & Ecological Emergency Bill). (Zero Hour - 2 min read/sign)
- The Avaaz COP26 petition to end all funding for new fossil fuel projects, now - (Avaaz - 1 min read/sign)
- #TheTimeIsNow petition for a cleaner, greener, fairer future (Petition - 2 min read/sign)
- Greenpeace's petition for no new North Sea oil or gas (Greenpeace - 1 min read/sign)
- The World Climate (Virtual) March - (website, 5 min read, then upload video)
- The global Race to Zero (if you're a business) - (website, 5-min read, then apply)
- The COP26 Coalition and take part in many online events 7-10 November (COP26 Coalition - 15 min read/register)
I didn't expect that...
Read:
- The ancient stepwells of India - one key to addressing drought in the subcontinent (BBC - 10 min read)
- Female elephants have evolved to become tuskless as a result of ivory poaching - (New Scientist - 5 min read)
- To save the climate, we have to reimagine capitalism (TED Countdown - 8 min watch)
- Decarbonizing fossil fuels: Remarkable meeting between Shell's CEO + 2 other climate activists - (video - 1 hr view)
- The inspirational 5 Years Living Off Grid Building A Sustainable Smallholding - (YouTube video - 25 min view)
- Futures We Want - 6 visions from around the world of a zero-carbon world in 2050 - (website, 6 x 10 min read/view)
- Faces of the Energy Transition, inspiring talks from individuals in UK renewable energy - (10 videos - each 2 min watch)
What can I do about COP26 locally?
Take part in:
- Dorset Wildlife Trust talk: in the climate crisis, nature could be our greatest ally: 28 October - (Zoom talk - 1 hour)
- Clang for Climate (6pm, 30 October) - (Clang for Climate website - 2 min read, then clang)
- COPnes26 - 2 weeks of events in Totnes in response to the Climate Crisis (COPnes website - 10 min read then participate)
- The first-ever Carbon Literacy Action Day, online, 1 November - (Website - 1-day training)
- The 29 Oct. launch of ZeroCarbon Dorset's preliminary vision for a zero-carbon county in 2030 (online - 2hrs)
- Beaminster Area ECO Group's 4 Nov meeting to agree a message to COP26 - (Contact Michael Dower, 01308 863515)
- Dorset Global Day for Climate Justice - Weymouth, 6 November Meet at noon - (Facebook, afternoon action)
- What Does Climate Change Mean for BCP? 6th November 1 – 3 pm - (Panel discussion, Bournemouth University - 2 hrs)
- Churches Together Ecology Group COP26 Day Of Action & Conversations, Dorchester 6 Nov. Noon - (Live meeting)
- SUBU Green Day highlights climate change actions for Bournemouth University students, 10 Nov. 10am-3pm - (event)
- DorsetCAN meeting: Restoring Nature's Networks (speakers: Natural England & FWAG) 10 Nov. 7:30pm (Zoom link - 90 mins)
- Pilot Climate Cafés in Bridport, at Soulshine Café, South Street, 2-4pm, 18 Nov and 9 Dec - (Café meetings - 2 hrs)
- Planet Shaftesbury's walks, talks and meetings around COP26 - (website, 5-min read, then participate)
- COP26 Coalition - Dorset Hub regularly for local events/actions - (Facebook)
- West Country Bylines' countdown to COP26 - (Website - regular updates)
- for your local Extinction Rebellion Group and take action - (website, register, then action)
- The Dorset Green Living Project to understand and tackle climate change in your community - (website, commitment)
- How to engage about COP26 with people who are not climate activists - (Climate Outreach video - 1 hour watch)
- Wimborne Community Theatre's inspiring River Allen events this last fortnight - (website - 10 minute read)
Food Stuff
Read:
- Feeding Britain One Farm at a Time: Patrick Holden on farming without nitrogen fertiliser - (website, 10 min read)
- Landworkers’ Alliance (Dorset-based union of growers & foresters) wins Lush Spring Prize (website - 5 min read)
- Farmers can solve the environmental crisis (Dorset farmer Jyoti Fernandes in The Guardian - 5 min read)
- Landworkers’ Alliance report on Agroforestry: mitigate climate breakdown + feed the country - (Report - 40 min read)
- Food & Global Security Network report identifies soil health as a national security risk - (Report - 1 hour read)
- A talk on the Slow Food approach to the climate crisis and the food industry - (YouTube video - 40 min watch)
Local and Global Climate Crisis Updates
See:
- What will climate change look like near me? - (Interactive BBC website)
- Carbonmap's amazing climate maps showing emissions, responsibility, vulnerability globally - (website - 15 min)
- The global movement to restore nature's biodiversity (tree planting) (TED Countdown - 11 min watch)
- Why has it been raining so hard? Climate change causes heavier downpours (Yale Climate Connections - 5 min read)
- Updates on hydrogen, ethanol, ammonia, e-methanol, electric trucks... - (Carbon Commentary news - 20 min read)
- Current global fossil fuel extraction plans are double what we can safely burn - (New Scientist - 5 min read)
What Else Can I Do?
Use:
- The WWF calculator OR the GIKI Zero Carbon Calculator to measure your carbon footprint - ( 10 min questionnaire)
- The Climate Gap report - it identifies 10 key consumer actions - (ethicalconsumer.org summary report - 10 min read)
- The Billion Seed Challenge to plant flower seeds locally - (website, 5 min read, then sowing)
- Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy - (Deep Adaptation website - 25 min read) [*Painful reading*]
- How younger generations can move from climate anxiety towards sustainable change - (RSA website - 10 min read)