Scroll down to find useful resources for anyone wanting to campaign on environmental issues: useful links; on writing to and meeting with councillors and MPs; and on the climate crisis. The best place to see our current campaigns is in News.
We have demonstrated on climate together, and individually many of us join in active campaigns such as XR, and contact our councillors and MPs about climate and other green issues such as trees and conservation, Heathrow expansion, air pollution...
Locally we supported the TOPO campaign to conserve at least part of the listed buildings for community use, and in 2019 organised an open letter to Cllr Hilary Gander in support of her proposal of a Climate Emergency Declaration in Kingston.
Useful links
- Engage with our Council: find out what’s planned for your neighbourhood or on issues that concern you and respond at Let's Talk - if you don’t the others will have their way!
- Find contact details for your councillors, MPs, MEPs, and LA members at WriteToThem.com Rather than repeating our advice on writing every month, we have saved it here on the TTK website.
- TheyWorkForYou shows what MPs have been speaking and voting on recently, with a page on the website devoted to recent votes and parliamentary business on the environment)
- Info on Citizens’ Assemblies: Participo offers info on the research on and practice of innovative citizen participation – useful and interesting for anyone interested or involved in planning Citizens’ Assemblies.
Writing to MPS and councillors – general advice
- Be polite and use evidence where possible
- Use your own words – politicians respond better to personal communications than to standard letters, post-cards or petitions, and will usually assume that yours is the tip of an iceberg, that there are many other voters who agree with you.
- Ask a question or two that they will be obliged to answer and perhaps to research (e g, by contacting the relevant government Minister or Council officer).
- Thank them when they do something good!
- Type in your postcode on https://www.writetothem.com/ to find contact details for your ward councillors, your London Assembly members, your MP, and your MEPs.
Meeting your MP in person - how to have a good constructive conversation
- Research: www.theyworkforyou.com, social media, Google. Their interests, their attitude to climate change etc
- Prepare. Be direct. Hold them to account – agree actions.
- Don’t get angry. Don’t over-react. Don’t fall in love!
- Ask a question. Make it personal. Have a printed briefing to leave behind.
- Thank them! They’re human beings.
The climate crisis - find out more to help you campaign, and or take personal action...
- 9 things you can do about climate change from Imperial College’s Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment
- Climate science center
- Reports on climate change from the New Economics Foundation
- Global heating in graphic form
- What is climate change? The BBC’s really simple guide
- BBC’s Climate news https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56837908
- What is net zero? Plus other climate jargon explained by Positive News. Ever wondered what COP stands for but not dared to ask? Help is at hand.
- Environment Now – the facts: the Earth is changing faster than at any point in human memory as a result of human-caused global heating and The Guardian is tracking the changes via the vital signs.
- What to do? Possible suggests five key areas where we can all take action to tackle the climate crisis.
- Recommended by The Climate Coalition: The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, “a non-profit organisation that supports informed debate on energy and climate change issues in the UK.” and Carbon Brief “ UK-based website covering the latest developments in climate science, climate policy and energy policy. We specialise in clear, data-driven articles and graphics to help improve the understanding of climate change...”
- CarbonCopy's brilliantly designed map showing us the level of climate ambition from councils across the country - from places that have not yet declared a climate emergency to places targeting net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.
- Fossil Free News: There’s so much happening in the climate movement — it can be hard to keep up. Get highlights from campaigns everywhere working for a #FossilFree world, delivered twice a month.
- Off-set your carbon footprint...It is estimated that an average UK household emits around four tonnes of CO₂ each year. Even if you’ve pared your carbon footprint down to the minimum, there will still be carbon dioxide emissions associated with your everyday life. The World Land Trust Carbon Balanced calculators enable you to calculate how much – and then offset it with a donation towards tree-planting and conservation projects around the world. If that’s not your thing, there are other ways to offset – tell us your favourites.
- What is COP26, How does it work, Why is it important? A short explanatory video on YouTube
- Climate Outreach’s How to have a climate change conversation – Talking climate.
- Environment Now – the facts: The Earth is changing faster than at any point in human memory as a result of human-caused global heating and The Guardian is tracking the changes via the vital signs, from carbon dioxide levels to Arctic sea ice, taken from data sources including Nasa, the US National Snow and Ice Data Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
- Want to take action on climate change, but don’t know where to start? Possible has divided their campaigns across five key areas where we can all take action to tackle the climate crisis. Click the buttons on Possible’s website to find out what you can do right now to help.