I would like to declare a Climate Emergency

I have decided to declare a Climate Emergency and join the growing movement worldwide to try to effect change by individual action and public activism.   Why?

We have reached a crisis point.  There are now more than 405 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere - the last time anything like this was recorded the earth was an uninhabitable boiler house.  The years 2015 to 2018 were the warmest on record. Arctic and Antarctic ice is retreating at unprecedented rates, releasing yet more methane into the atmosphere.  60% of the species on earth have disappeared since I was born.

The weather is terrifying. Let's just look at some of the recent events - the last 12 months.

*  In 2018 Some 35 million people were hit by floods.

*  Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael were just two of 14 "billion dollar disasters" in 2018 in the US.

*  Super Typhoon Mangkhut affected 2.4 million people in and killed 134, mainly in the Philippines.

*  More than 1,600 deaths were linked to heat waves and wildfires in Europe, Japan, Australia and US. In Britain the moors burned.

* In Australia temperatures almost reached 50 degrees C and broke all records for a heatwave, with nighttime temperatures consistently above 30 degrees. 

*  Kerala in India suffered the heaviest rainfall and worst flooding in nearly a century

*  Japan was flooded in August 2018 with over 200 people dead.  Link here

*  In March 2019 Afghanistan has been inundated.  Major cities flooded and 8 provinces affected.  Link here

*  In the same month Iran  has suffered some of the worst flooding it has ever seen –  Link here 

*  In March 2019 Tropical Cyclone Idai caused devastating floods and major loss of life in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. “It may turn out to be one of the deadliest weather-related disasters to hit the southern hemisphere," said WMO Secretary General Petteri Taalas.

*  Australia has just been hit by flash floods and two major typhoons.  Link here 

So this is my declaration and my pledge:

I Kathleen Jones, author and environmentalist, declare a Climate and Ecological Emergency

I  pledge to work with and support my community and local government in tackling this Emergency, and I would beg others to do the same.

These are our  (the Climate Emergency Declarers') intentions:

1. I  will tell the Truth

Governments, and their public broadcasters and cultural agencies, must tell the truth about the Climate and Ecological Emergency, reverse inconsistent policies and communicate the urgency for far-reaching systemic change.

I  will communicate with citizens and support them to discover the truth about the Emergency and the changes that are needed.

2. I  will take Action

Governments must enact legally binding policy measures to reduce emissions to net zero by 2025 and to reduce consumption levels.

I  pledge to work towards reducing our emissions to net zero* by 2025.

I  will challenge policies and actions of local and national governments and their agencies, where we interact with them, that do not help to reduce emissions or consumption levels.

I will actively work to imagine and model ways that my practice can regenerate the planet’s resources.

3. I am committed to Justice

The emergency has arisen from deeply systemic injustices. Arts and Culture can imagine and forge shifts in the ways we relate to one another and the world, in our values and behaviours.

I  will do what is possible to enable dialogue and expression amidst our communities about how the Emergency will affect them and the changes that are needed.

I  will support demands for more democracy within our civic institutions and government.

I  believe that all truth-telling, action and democratic work must be underpinned by a commitment to justice based on intersectional principles*, led by and for marginalised people.

*Net zero means that on balance one's activities are zero emissions, taking into account all possible Greenhouse Gas emissions and actions taken to mitigate or offset those emissions.

*Awareness of how systems of power combine to multiply the impacts on those who are most marginalised in society.

If you would like to take part in this movement, please click this link.