'Drink and Think' on economic growth at the Torch, Monday

The Torch, Wembley Park

                                      BRENT CAMPAIGN AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
 
                  Join us for our next "Drink and Think" 
             Evening on Monday October 1st, 7.30 - 10.30

These are informal gatherings when we discuss issues of relevance to climate change and the environment. The "Drink" doesn't have to be alcoholic and the "Think" can be on any topic you wish to raise.

The starting topic for this session is "Where do we stand on economic growth". Everyone welcome.

               Function Room, The Torch, Wembley Park, 
          Bridge Road, Wembley (corner with Forty Lane)

Jubilee and Metropolitan Line (Wembley Park) - cross road outside station and turn left to the corner. Or buses 83, 182, 297 to Wembley Park Station or 245 to Brent Town Hall (south bound) or Wembley ASDA (north bound) and proceed to junction with Bridge Road.

Enter via front entrance and bear left past snooker tables or find Function Room entrance round the back of the pub near car park. Traditional pub food menu if you want to eat.

Getting Brent Youth Parliament involved in climate change issue

BCACC supporters - I am in disguise!

 In my role as Chair of Brent Campaign Against Climate Change I went with Jeff Bartley of Brent Council to talk to the Youth Parliament.

Along with the College of North West London we are planning a Conference on Climate Change for 6th formers and college students. The Conference will take place in March 2013 and we  want to get young people involved in the planning.  It is essential that we have their ideas at an early stage so that the Conference is participative and involving and based on young peoples' concerns.

I introduced the idea and Jeff gave a PowerPoint presentation on the plans so far. BYP members expressed support for a debate to be included in the day and like the idea of  hands on experience with green technologies. Younger members aged 11 and 12 had plenty of comments and contributions as well as their older colleagues and some fundamental questions were asked including 'Is the aim to prevent climate change or deal with its impact?' and 'What has careers advice got to do with climate change?' 

We hope to work on a separate event for primary schools to take place in Autumn this year.

Years ago I was involved in the group which set up the Youth Parliament and so it was good to see it in action. The Parliament reflected Brent's diversity but girls predominated today - perhaps because of the football match happening just down the road at the same time!

Stimulating and provocative Green Party speaker at Willesden Green Library

Derek Wall

Economics lecturer, writer and Green party activist, Derek Wall will be at the Willesden Green Library Centre on Monday 20^th February at 7.30pm to talk about his book, the “No-Nonsense Guide to Green Politics” and a book he is currently completing on the history of the commons.

 

This event is the fourth in a series of “Environmental Writers” meetings at the Willesden Green Library Centre, where authors read from their books with environmental themes and discuss them with the audience. The series is organised by the Brent Campaign against Climate Change in liaison with the Brent Library Service.

 

Derek Wall is an economics lecturer and writer. He has been a member of the Green Party since 1980 and was Green Party Principal Speaker from 2006 to 2007. Derek is a founder of the Ecosocialist International and Green Left. He has written a number of books on green politics including the No Nonsense Guide to Green Politics and has a blog at http://another-green-world.blogspot.com/. He works closely with Hugo Blanco - the Peruvian green activist who publishes Luca Indigena (Indigenous fight). Derek is currently researching a book on the environmental history of the commons and is a parish councillor in North Ascot.  He lives in Berkshire and has three sons.

 

Ken Montague, Secretary of the Brent Campaign against Climate Change says, “Derek is a stimulating and provocative speaker who is bound to stir up a debate about politics and the future of our planet. I am especially looking forward to hearing more about his new book, which I’m sure will make us look at British history in a new light.”

 

The discussion will take place at 7.30pm on Monday 20^th February in the Willesden Green Library, 95 High Road, Willesden, NW10 2SF. This is a free event and all are welcome.

 

This meeting is in the tradition of stimulating public meetings at Willesden Green Library which will be demolished under regeneration plans. The rather sketchy proposals for the replacement Willesden Cultural Centre do not appear to include plans for public meeting rooms.

Standing Up for Climate Justice

Several thousand  people did just that today when they marched from Blackfriars Bridge to the Houses of Parliament midway through the Durban Climate Change talks. It was important amidst all the devastation of cuts, unemployment and the euro-zone crisis to remember the even larger environmental crisis engulfing our planet.

Stand Up for Climate Justice Tomorrow

The Brent contingent going to the Climate Justice march will meet at 10.45am tomorrow at Willesden Green Station.

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Brent lagging behind on sustainable food

Kilburn and Kensal Harvesting Project (Video by Jonathan P Goldberg)

Brent is one of six London boroughs highlighted as "lagging behind disappointingly on action to support healthy and sustainable food" in a new report “Good Food for London” by Sustain and the London Food Link [1]

 

The report shows that although Brent is making progress in some areas such as - collecting food waste, community food growing spaces through the Capital Growth programme, and working towards achieving Fairtrade status, the Borough is sadly falling behind on many other areas - food in schools, “Food for Life”, sustainable fish, animal welfare, and healthy catering. 

 

Viv Stein, spokesperson for Brent Campaign against Climate Change, said:  “Brent’s recent Green Charter espoused the virtues of their sustainable credentials.  This new report shows that when it comes to sustainable food, they are way behind other London Boroughs and must do better.

 

Members of Transition Kensal to Kilburn planting on Kilburn tube station platform earlier this year.

“Community groups such as Transition Kensal to Kilburn have led the way in local food growing, and have shown that it can be grown virtually anywhere – there is even an allotment on Kilburn tube station!  Community-led fruit harvesting projects have also had a bumper year.  Whilst welcoming the Council’s forthcoming allotment and food growing strategy, when it comes to getting healthy, local, affordable and sustainable food into our schools and hospitals, Brent has a lot of catching up to do.”

 

Reference

[1] http://www.sustainweb.org/londonfoodlink/good_food_for_london/

Eight more Boroughs out of the total of 33 were praised for "making excellent progress on key food issues" - Camden, Croydon, Enfield, Greenwich, Merton, Sutton, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest - achieving progress on all or most of the key food activities surveyed. Meanwhile, six Boroughs were highlighted as "lagging behind disappointingly on action to support healthy and sustainable food" - Bexley, Brent, Hillingdon, Lewisham, Newham and Westminster.

Climate change havoc must be addressed urgently

With the economic crisis wreaking havoc on people's lives  it is hard to maintain a focus on an even greater threat:  climate change.  I think the economic crisis is like the aftermath of an earthquake with everyone concentrating on getting people out of the wreckage and saving lives. Meanwhile on the horizon a huge tsunami, representing climate change, is inexorably heading towards us, and will sweep away our feeble efforts...

On Friday the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a report stating that heavier rainfall, fiercer storms and intensifying droughts will have a devastating effect in coming decades.  The Guardian reported Connie Hedegaard, Europe's climate chief, as saying, 'Last week, the serious warning from the International Energy Agency. Today this IPCC report...With all the the knowledge and rational argument in favour of urgent climate action, it is frustrating to see that some governments do not show the political will to act. In light of the even more compelling facts, the question has to be put to those governments in favour of postponing decisions: for how long can you defend your inaction?'

Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute at the LSE said, 'The report shows that if we do not stop the current steep rise atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases, we will see much more warming and dramatic changes in extreme weather that are likely to overwhelm any attempt human populations might make to adapt to their impacts.'

A recent meeting Food, Floods and Climate Change held at Willesden Green Library was very timely in dealing wiuth these questions.  It was addressed by Cllr. Jonathan Essex (Green Party) and Barry Gardiner MP, Ed Miliband's Special Envoy on Climate Change.  Full videos of the meeting can be seen HERE

Extracts are below:

Introduction and Cllr Jonathan Essex (Green Party)

Barry Gardiner MP (Ed Miliband's special envoy on Climate Change)

Barry Gardiner MP to speak out against the threat of climate change at Chalkhill meeting

Brent North MP Barry Gardiner is one of the speakers at a public meeting on climate change on Thursday 10th November at Chalkhill Community  Centre in Wembley. The meeting, “Food, Floods and Climate Change:  Pakistan, Africa, Britain” is organised by Brent Campaign Against Climate Change and starts at 7.30pm.

The full list of speakers is: Barry Gardiner MP, Cllr Jonathan Essex: Green Party and Glen Hart: Rail, Maritime and Transport union .

Ken Montague, Secretary of the Brent Campaign against Climate Change says,

The return of devastating floods to the Sindh province of Pakistan may be further evidence that man-made climate change is already a  life-threatening reality to millions of people around the world. The  terrible drought in East Africa, floods in Thailand, the drought that  has killed huge tracts of Amazonian rain forest, are the kind of extreme weather events that scientists predicted would occur with global warming. Although the poor in developing countries are bearing the main costs, droughts and floods in countries like Russia and Australia are pushing up food prices for us in Britain.

“This meeting will discuss the extent of the problem, what action Governments should take at the forthcoming climate talks in Durban, and what we can do to press for climate justice and future food security for ourselves and our children.”

Jonathan Essex says,

It is not the financial crisis that is the issue most visibly affecting millions of the most vulnerable across the world - but food and oil price hikes and floods - already a result of the clash of climate change with business as usual.

A global agreement and action on this issue is not a luxury item but a basic need for many - vital for our wellbeing and that of future generations.'

Don't doubt that together when we stand up for justice it makes it difference - we can act ourselves to live within our planet's limits and raise our voices to start making a diference now. '

This is one of a series of public meetings organised by the Brent Campaign against Climate Change. The free event will take place at 7.30pm on Thursday 10th November 2011 at Chalkhill Community Centre, 113
Chalkhill Road, Wembley, HA9 9FX, across the road from Wembley Park tube station. All are welcome.

Food, Floods and Climate Change - Public Meeting

Click on Image to enlarge

 

The challenge of climate change with China Miéville

China Miéville, award-winning fantasy fiction writer and author of the young adults' novel, “Un Lun Dun” will be appearing at the Willesden Green Library Centre on Monday 17^th October at 7.30pm to talk about creative fiction writing and the challenge of climate change.

In the light of recent reports on the rapid thawing of polar ice-caps, China will discuss whether fiction writers ought to amend their creative output to address climate change, the most serious long-term issue facing the world today.

The author is three-time winner of the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award (Perdido Street Station, Iron Council and The City & The City) and has also won the British Fantasy Award twice (Perdido Street Station and The Scar). The City & The City, an existential thriller, was published in 2009 to dazzling critical acclaim and drew comparison with the works of Kafka and Orwell (The Times) and Phillip K. Dick (The Guardian). The City & The City recently won the British Science Fiction Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award and was also short listed for the Nebula and Hugo prizes.  His fifth novel, Un Lun Dun, won the 2008 Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book. He has also published extensively on international law.

Ken Montague, Secretary of the Brent Campaign against Climate Change says, “China really is one of the most exciting young writers in Britain today and as one of the originators of ‘weird fiction’ will bring a fresh and challenging perspective to the discussion of climate change and how we should respond to it.”

This event is the third in a series of “Environmental Writers” meetings at the Willesden Green Library Centre, where authors read from their books with environmental themes and discuss them with the audience. The series is organised by the Brent Campaign against Climate Change in liaison with the Brent Library Service.

The reading and discussion will take place at 7.30pm on Monday 17^th October 2011 at the Willesden Green Library Centre, 95 High Road, Willesden, NW10 2SF. This is a free event and all are welcome.

If global warming was a bank, governments would already have saved it

Jonathan Neale's Willesden Green Library talk on Monday evening stimulated a good discussion there, and afterwards in the hospitable Rising Sun pub in Harlesden Road.

Neale suggested that those problems around climate change that could be solved through capitalism had been. But that capitalism with its emphasis on competition and reliance on neo-liberalism could not tackle the fundamental issues which required government action at a global level. He likened the situation to that of the Second World War when government intervention was required for the war effort. He said that now the need was for government action to save lives, not destroy them. This required cooperation - not competition.

He rejected notions of a monolithic, 'evil' capitalism, but instead argued that it was a complex system with different interests playing out against each other. Coal-based economies such as China, United States, India and South Africa were blocking the international level of cooperation needed. However the New York Times was in the forefront of reporting on climate change and had linked it to food shortages and uprisings.

Without the necessary cooperation conflict that we are already experiencing over competition for water, rising food prices (and subsequent food riots), and huge population movements would worsen.

Neale argued that the environmental movement was big enough to save whales but not big enough to save the world from climate change. He said that the working class were big enough to take the issue on but that the economic situation regarding employment and cuts undermined its capacity to do so.

However, the current political dominance of ideas supporting a smaller state, lower taxation, reduced public sector and privatisation were being challenged because the argument for market solutions had been undermined by the financial crisis and the exposure of the role of banks. The banks themselves had screamed for government action rather than settle for a market solution. He repeated the slogan 'if global warming was a bank governments would already have saved it'.

He ended on an optimistic note saying that the dominant idea that we couldn't change anything had been challenged by the uprisings in Egypt, Yemen and other countries. People internationally were generalising from that and had been inspired by it, affecting for example teachers in Wisconsin who, barred from striking over restrictive union laws, had all called in sick for the day and occupied state buildings, quickly followed by their students.

Neale called for campaigners on climate change to build a mass movement with trade unionists and the wider community with the demand for a million new jobs at the centre of its demands.

Videos of Neale's talk are available on Brent Greens Blog HERE

Many thanks to the Brent Campaign Against Climate Change for organising this talk and Willesden Green library for hosting it.

Stop Global Warming - Change the World

Sunset over Fryent Country Park, Kingsbury

Jonathan Neale, novelist, playwright, historian and political activist, lead-author of the Million Climate Jobs report, will be introducing his book, Stop Global Warming – Change the World at Willesden Green Library on Monday June 6th at 7.30pm

Here are some comments from Jonathan Neale as a taster for what should be a stimulating discussion:

The threat from climate change is so large that a big programme of public works and government investment is needed. But this comes up against the ideology of neoliberalism – the idea that private is good and public is bad.

Government investment and regulation to fight climate change would challenge this ideology. It means that many governments try to take action through market instruments, such as carbon trading, instead.

If people saw that governments could intervene in the market to save the planet, they would start asking questions. Why can’t governments do the same in the health service? Business doesn’t want people asking those questions.

Climate change is a global problem and needs a global solution. But governments and corporations work on the basis of competition not co-operation. Dealing with climate change means dealing with that.

Stopping climate change is no small task. But action by ordinary people has led to huge changes in the past – from ending colonialism and slavery to developing the welfare state in Britain.
To stop climate change we’re told ordinary people will have to sacrifice. But the key is to shift to using different resources, not less. If we think that we can’t change how we do things then we’ll conclude that we have to sacrifice.

The real problem is that people don’t feel they can change how things are done. The best response I think is to look at the Second World War. All major countries shifted what their economies did because of the war effort.

Now we have to change the economy in the same way – but to save as many lives as possible rather than to kill as many people as possible.

It shows what is possible if the political will is there. What we have now is a lack of political will.
Governments will not take the measures needed to stop climate change unless we build a mass movement that forces them to. This is not just about the environmental movement.

It’s a matter of building all the movements for a better world, including the anti-war movement and the anti-globalisation movement.

We face a choice. We can rely on the rich and powerful to solve the problem from the top. Or we can look to the mass of ordinary people across the planet to force change and run society in a different way.

Victory on Climate Targets?

The Campaign Against Climate Change writes:

The Observer this morning has reported that the combined pressure of the Green Movement has borne fruit and the Government has now accepted the recommendations of the Committee on Climate Change. Yippee!

The demo, advertised for THIS Monday 16th, at 8.00am at Lib Dem HQ, at 4 Cowley Street, Westminster – map here.  (with a move on to Downing Street for 8.45am) will still go ahead. But it will now take the form of a reminder to the Lib Dems and to the government, that despite this victory for the greener forces within the government we are still courting climate disaster until we see a real quantum leap in the scale of our response to the climate crisis.
This is because – in particular:

1) The Committee on Climate Change recommends an increase in the use of biofuels which will do more harm than good.

2) The Committee’s recommendations do not take into account the effective outsourcing of a large proportion of UK emissions to countries like China to feed our increased demand for consumer goods.

3) In the light of the latest science, the targets enshrined in the Climate Act are inadequate. This is what those at the sharp end of scientific research into climate change are saying, like Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Centre who says we need something more like 10% cuts a year, or James Hansen who heads the climate research effort at NASA who says that 2 degrees of warming is too dangerous.

We’ll take this message to the Lib Dems and to Downing Street.

How the story has unfolded - up to the victory that became clear last night

On Monday May 9th The Guardian broke the story that the chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change warned that a key cabinet decision on whether or not to stick to the UK's climate change targets was imminent, describing it as "the key test of the government's green credentials".

Later that day, Friends of the Earth called for Chris Huhne, the minister for Energy and Climate Change to resign if his fellow ministers renege on targets. Soon, George Monbiot had penned an article about it and the Guardian printed a follow-up story, claiming that Vince Cable had clashed with Huhne, arguing that an aggressive level of cuts would be "would be detrimental to UK", arguing instead for a weaker target. This led to public outcry, with the heads of 15 environmental NGOs writing an open letter to the Prime Minister, as well as the leader of the opposition and former Energy and Climate Change minister Ed Miliband writing his own letter.

Any more updates will be on www.campaigncc.org, and of course on Twitter @campaigncc

Defend the Planet Against Government Hypocrisy - before breakfast!

The Lib Dems look as if they are going to renege on yet another promise - is it double figures yet? Environmental organisations have called an emergency demonstration for Monday - a good one for the early risers amongst you:

EMERGENCY DEMONSTRATION

8.00 am at Lib Dem HQ, at 4 Cowley Street, Westminster Demand the Lib Dems stand up for their environmental principles!  Or are they just poodles to the Tory right? 
8.45 am  Move on to Downing StreetDemand that Cameron stick by all he argued for when he supported the Climate Act. Or was that all just green posturing? Is this the most green-backtracking government ever?

The Campaign Against Climate Change say:

This looks like crunch time for this government, and for the country on whether we will have any meaningful targets on emission cuts, or whether they will be watered down in the interests of the business lobby and short term economic interest every time…

The crucial decision will be taken at a meeting on Monday… hence the timing of this demo

Never mind that the targets - even before they are watered down - are not stringent enough in the light of the latest science, anyway. Never mind that the UK’s whole carbon-cutting strategy will rapidly unravel once regular budgets for cutting emissions like this are not maintained. Never mind that delaying emissions cuts risks putting a fatal amount of carbon in the atmosphere before we ever get to making those cuts anyway. Never mind that the fate of billions hangs on us actually getting to grips with the climate crisis and making it our number one priority. Never mind that we will never be able to influence other countries effectively if here at home we are seen to put our own economic welfare before the global environment  we share with the rest of the world….

…still it looks like short sighted, short term, economic considerations are threatening to take us down the path to misery and suffering on a colossal, unimaginable, scale…

See:
www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/may/09/climate-defining-green-moment-cameron
www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/09/friends-earth-ipcc-proposals-policywww.monbiot.com/2011/05/09/shaking-the-tree/
www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/may/09/vince-cable-chris-huhne-carbon-emissionswww.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13343055

Green Fun and Games in Willesden Next Saturday

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Brent Friends of the Earth are announcing the line-up of stalls and a programme of activities for their first ever "Green Fair" on Saturday, 21st May 2011 in Willesden.  This free community event will take place outside the Willesden Green Library Centre, 95 High Road, Willesden, NW10 2SF from 10am - 5pm.

Stalls include free bike-fixing, children’s activities (I will doing parachute games) for Brent School Without Walls), vegetarian food, a bicycle powered smoothie-maker, advice on food waste from “Love Food Hate Waste” and on home energy-efficiency, Brent Council’s environmental projects, local environmental campaigns including Brent Friends of the Earth and Brent Campaign against Climate Change, a furniture re-use charity, and a car club.

A programme of platform activities, compered by Magician Ian Saville, includes demonstrations on gardening and fruit-picking, a “Green Question Time” with local MP Sarah Teather, plus a “Making Willesden Greener” debate with local ward councillors.

Steffi Gray, Community Liaison Officer for Brent Friends of the Earth says,

Our Green Fair will bring together local groups, businesses and individuals with an active interest in the environment, and show Brent residents that there are plenty of options for a low-carbon lifestyle in their area.  We have over twenty stalls, activities for children, a series of short talks and demonstrations throughout the day, plus a platform discussion with local Councillors and a “Green Question Time” with our local MP.  We hope it will encourage people of all ages to go greener.

The Green Fair is open to all.  It is funded by the Brent Ward Working scheme.  See www.brentfoe.com for more details.

The Future Under Carbon-rationing as Climate Change Hits Crisis Point

Author Saci Lloyd will visit the Willesden Green Library Centre on Saturday 9^th April  to read from her acclaimed teenage novels “The Carbon Diaries 2015” and “The Carbon Diaries 2017”. Following the readings there will be discussion with a teenage audience about the prospect of carbon rationing in the UK and feelings about the threat of Climate Change.

This event is the first in a series of “Green Writers” at the Willesden Green Library Centre, where authors will read from their books about an environmental aspect and discuss them with the audience. The series is organised by the Brent Campaign against Climate Change in liaison with the Willesden Green Library.

Saci Lloyd's first novel “The Carbon Diaries 2015” was shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards in 2008.  Its heroine is Laura Brown, a teenager who struggles to cope with her family, dreams of a breakthrough with her punk band and fancies the boy next door. When on 1^st January 2015, the UK is the first nation to introduce carbon dioxide rationing, Laura chronicles the events of  this drastic bid to combat climate change and illustrates how carbon rationing is threatening to turn her family, her local environment and the whole country out of control.

In the sequel “The Carbon Diaries 2017” Laura tours Europe with her punk band and becomes involved with an increasingly dramatic sequence of climate change-related events that include drought in Europe and Africa, a tidal-wave of desperate immigrants, a water war in the Middle East and clashes between Londoners and the army in the town centre.

Ken Montague, Secretary of the Brent Campaign against Climate Change says, “After the failure of the Copenhagen Climate Summit and the limited outcome of the recent climate talks it is easy to forget that if we don’t act now climate change will be a far worse threat to our future than the economic crisis. It will be the generation of Laura Brown's children who will see the fight over natural resources. ”

The reading and discussion is from 2- 4pm on Saturday, 9^th April 2011 at the Willesden Green Library Centre, 95 High Road, Willesden, NW10 2SF. All are welcome. Please bring your copy of the “Carbon Diaries” along if you would like it to be signed by the author.

Sign the Petition for One Million Climate Jobs

 The national petition for "One Million Climate Jobs" has now been launched ahead of Saturday's TUC demonstration.

The petition is endorsed by John McDonnell MP, Caroline Lucas MP, Linda Riordan MP, Kelvin Hopkins MP and Sally Hunt, General Secretary UCU.

We aim to increase the pressure on the government to solve the economic and environmental crises through the urgent creation of One Million Climate Jobs.

Please sign the petition and encourage your friends, colleagues, fellow trade unionists and other campaigners to add their name. There is a PDF version available for download from the site which you can use on transport to the demonstration on Saturday.

This is what the petition says:

We the undersigned call on the Government to give urgent and serious consideration to the recommendations of the One Million Climate Jobs report including:

1. We face a global climate crisis. If we do not halt the increase in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 the “prospects for the people on the planet are looking pretty bleak” (The Secretary of State for the Environment, reported 24.11.10)
2. Britain faces a global economic crisis, with rising youth unemployment and the predicted loss of over a million jobs due to austerity measures.
3. We need the Government to take urgent steps to address both these crises through the creation of a million climate jobs aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing energy efficiency, developing renewable and environmentally friendly sources of energy, and training workers in the “green skills” necessary for a sustainable low carbon economy.
4. Given the urgency and enormity of this task, we want the Government to employ staff directly in secure jobs, to do the necessary work through a National Climate Service.
5. We call for an immediate, fully government-funded programme to promote energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy in existing and new buildings.
6. We call for Government funding for free or low fare public transport services and the expansion and integration of public transport networks to reduce the use of private cars; for major investment in extending the rail network and introducing faster and more efficient trains; and the phasing-out of domestic airline flights as soon as practicable
7. We call for direct intervention by the proposed Climate Service to create new industries, and convert existing and declining industries, to conduct the research, development, manufacture and installation of alternative technologies for generating electricity from renewable sources.
8. We call on the Government to finance free programmes of “Green Skills” training through Further Education.
9. Such proposals can be met at a net cost well within the scale of recent Government spending on the financial sector and would be far less costly than the possible alternative – catastrophic climate change.
10. By adopting such a programme Britain would set a standard for the rest of the world, especially the developed world responsible for the crisis, in taking the decisive action necessary to limit global warming and ensure that future generations are left an inhabitable planet.

You can sign the petition HERE

Trade Unions and Climate Change Meeting Tomorrow

REMINDER...

TRADE UNIONISTS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

Thursday 10 February 7.30pm, Willesden Green Library Centre, 95 High Road, NW10 2SF

1. THE FIGHT FOR CLIMATE JOBS - Chris Baugh (PCS) Nick Grant (NUT)
2. THE FIGHT FOR GREEN WORKPLACES - Sarah Pearce (TUC Green Workplaces Project)

Chair: Pete Firmin (CWU, President Brent TUC)

Trade Unions and Climate Change Meeting on Thursday

Trade Unionists in the Fight against Climate Change

An evening conference for north London trade unionists and climate activists organised by BRENT TRADE UNION COUNCIL and BRENT CAMPAIGN AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE. Supported by BRENT UNISON.

Thursday 10 February 7.30pm, Willesden Green Library Centre, 95 High Road, NW10 2SF 

Nearest tube: Willesden Green, Jubilee line. Buses: 52, 98, 260, 266, 302, 460 Free parking behind the library centre, disabled access to all parts.

Agenda

Keynote address John Stewart (Campaign against Climate Change) Session 1 – The fight for climate jobs Speakers: Chris Baugh (Assistant General Secretary PCS) Nick Grant (National Executive NUT) Session 2 – The fight for green workplaces Speaker: Sarah Pearce (TUC Greenworkplaces Project Leader) Chair: Pete Firmin (CWU, President Brent Trades Union Council)

Time for questions and discussion after each session. All welcome.

Further information: go to contact@brentcacc.com.

Get REAL about climate change!

Tuesday 23 November 7.30pm

Willesden Green Library Centre 95 High Road NW10 2SF

(nearest tube, Willesden Green)

Speakers:

Jonathan Neale, Campaign against Climate Change, author One Million Climate Jobs Now!

Derek Wall, Green Party, author No Nonsense Guide to Green Politics

Nick Grant, National Executive, National Union of Teachers (pc)

Ann Hunter, Brent Lib-Dem Councillor