Here and Now: climate change campaign progress report

Current status: 4

Progress report: Level 4 Every month our Here & Now campaign team assesses the progress of the campaign so far. We look at our goals for political change, and how the public and the private sector are taking action to make it happen. We give the campaign a rating of 1–5 to summarise progress each month (1 = much more progress needed, 5 = we're making great progress this month).

October 2009

This month we have seen a stirring of support for the Here and Now campaign, with increasing public action having demonstrable impact in the UK. The challenge now is to build enough momentum to force the politicians to agree a fair, ambitious and binding deal at Copenhagen, and we are still a long way from achieving this. In particular, we need to see the EU showing leadership on the world stage – something they woefully failed to do when they met at the end of October. There is everything to play for and we can’t delay: it’s now, or now!

Headlines:

Despite welcome efforts by the UK government, EU heads of state have still failed to agree a strong pre-Copenhagen position, putting their own interests above those of the poorest countries.
The proposal for a new coal-fired power station in Kingsnorth has been scrapped – thanks to your campaigning!
Around 60,000 Here and Now actions have been taken by the public to date, but there’s a massive job still to do to build public awareness.
Many UK politicians now support a fair and safe global deal, and media coverage of the issues is increasing rapidly

What you've been up to

Around 60,000 people have taken action with us so far, and we know there’s more to come – thank you! This flowering of grassroots action across the UK is inspiring, with actions including taking part in the Stand Up activity on 17 October, campaigning at Oxjam events, freshers’ fairs, and much more. Lots of you are busy promoting The Wave – our best opportunity to influence the UN negotiations. But there’s a massive job left to do building awareness, with evidence that only 15% of the UK public consider that poor countries or people in poor countries are the most affected by climate change.

What the politicians are doing

Thanks to your efforts, the UK government has been pushing its European colleagues, and has succeeded in getting innovative climate funding proposals on the agenda. But when European heads of state met last month, they still couldn’t agree. Their estimate of the scale of the need is completely inadequate ($50 billion annually, 30% emissions reduction by 2020, whereas Oxfam estimates a minimum requirement of 40% reductions and $150 billion a year).

But some UK politicians are stepping up to the mark. For example, over half the members of the Welsh Assembly have pledged to reduce emissions and are pushing for a robust deal in Copenhagen

And businesses?

Thanks again to your pressure, the proposed dirty-coal power station at Kingsnorth has been "shelved". Despite E.ON's claim that this was because of market conditions, we have every reason to believe that you made them change their minds.

We’re seeing some great work by companies who do see the need to be progressive and proactive on climate change. The Co-op is providing massive support for The Wave, particularly by providing transport. If you haven’t already booked your ride, please click here and use the code 'Oxfam-thewave'.

And Marks & Spencer are asking visitors to their 'Plan A' website to contribute to a 'Copenhagen patchwork', offering people who might not otherwise get involved in campaigning the chance to take part.

What the papers say

We’ve seen a continued rise in local, regional and national media coverage. Nationally, the newspapers catering for the 'globally aware' public (Guardian, Observer, etc) are carrying stories about the human impact of climate change. Excitingly, we have been seeing innovative ways of generating interest in media coverage, such as using Twitter, using local radio to cover school conferences on climate change, as well as the more traditional hounding of news outlets!

What happens next?

Here and Now The Wave, that’s what! Only by making this massive can we hope to generate the political will required to get a fair, ambitious and binding deal. Without these three elements, we won’t get what poor countries need – and what climate science says is critical.

Go to The Wave! Organise your transport here (thanks Co-op!).

Bring your friends! We are all meeting at 12pm, Grosvenor Square, London. Here are details about the day

Publicise The Wave! Even if you can’t go, or if you can, multiply your effectiveness by promoting it where you can, including your online networks.

If you can do more...

So, it’s all about The Wave! But there are ideas for further action here if you can do more. Write to or email the Prime Minister asking him to do all he can in Europe; contact your MP; write to your local paper… it all has impact!