Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!

Governments are pledging to avert a climate crisis while their economies bankroll and intensify it.

Production of coal, oil, and gas must fall right now to keep global heating under 1.5C. Yet a new UN backed report shows how governments across the world are planning to increase production, while giving much more Covid-recovery money to fossil fuels than clean energy.

And it’s not just public money that is fuelling the climate crisis. A startling new report by the Rainforest Action Network shows how 35 top private banks have invested an eye-watering $2.7 trillion in fossil fuels since the Paris agreement was adopted five years ago. And those investments are increasing year on year.

XR rebels may be interested in this research by Climate Outreach. The research included a survey of over 10,000 British adults, as well as 12 focus groups and 35 in-depth interviews. Seeing we are trying to engage people in climate change locally- this research may prompt us to examine our approach to different social groupings.

In relation to interest and engagement with climate change they found 7 distinct groups of people. Here are the different groups ,a brief description and what percentage they make of the population. More on the website link below.

1.Progressive Activists comprise of 13% of the population. They are described as Opinionated, confident, outward looking and restless for change, Progressive Activists are very engaged across a wide range of issues, with climate change central among them.

Ecocide is the name for the mass damage and destruction of our ecosystems. Right now it is legally permitted and has created the climate and ecological emergency we find ourselves in.

UK barrister Polly Higgins (1968-2019) spent the last 10 years of her life working towards creating a legal duty of care for the Earth. At present the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) lists 4 crimes: Genocide, Crimes against Humanity, War Crimes and Crimes of Aggression. Polly's vision was that a fifth crime could be added: Ecocide. This would make those individuals responsible for funding, permitting or causing severe environmental harm liable to criminal prosecution.

The Political arm of XRWD have had a number of recent meeting with other local organisations in the area on the theme of collaboration. This was on the back of a recognition that many local groups exist that hold similar aims and principles to those of XR and from time to time we need to share ideas and plans. The Warwickshire Climate Alliance (WCA) was conceived as an umbrella organisation in a similar approach to the Climate Coalition (formed for the purpose of the "Time is Now" mass lobby) in order to co-ordinate promotion of the Warwick DC referendum on the council tax. More recently XR member David Mond kindly developed the WCA web-site as a means of promoting an Art Competition for pupils from local schools to enter on the subject of climate change.

Biodiversity is not ‘cute’

This week, the UN Secretary General made a moving speech that detailed the hell we’re heading for (transcript; video summary).

‘Humanity is waging war on nature,’ he said, ‘This is suicidal.’

Indeed, with a shiny new contract awarded to drill the world’s largest oasis, ‘global soils’ in serious peril from agricultural harassment, once-in-a-lifetime superfloods becoming a regular thing, and new links between air pollution and Alzheimer’s, things are looking bleak.​ Not to mention multiple governments sidelining our species’ survival as they launch their Covid-19 recovery plans.

Following hot on the heels of the national Climate Assembly UK that we reported on in the last newsletter, Warwick District Council has this month started the three months of work for our own People's Inquiry. The Inquiry is to take place with a group of thirty local people who will work together over ten sessions to consider how to address the issues of climate change in Warwick District. This is much like a Citizen's Assembly; one of XR's demands of central government is to establish a Citizen's Assembly on Climate and Ecological Justice. The invitation to take part in the WDC Inquiry was sent to 5000 local residents.

A new team is doing some exciting work to shake up XR’s systems and grow our collective strength. It’s called the Systems Realignment project.

You’re warmly invited to get involved through a new ‘story-catching’ tool called SenseMaker - sign up here and read on to learn more!

It’s been said that XR is in an awkward teenage phase, trying to figure out who we are and what we want to do with our life, as a movement. This project hopes to transition us into early adulthood: we are seeking mentorship and learning from experience.

This new team includes people from within XR and outside eyes, chosen for their specific experience in looking at the big picture (video intros here).

There really aren't words to adequately describe this act by HS2.

The desecration of memorials of children who have died fighting illness and disability in a hospice.

ACTION - If you feel moved to do so, please send a polite message to the HS2 Minister - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

And please help spread the word by retweeting - here.

Here is a link to share on Facebook.https://www.facebook.com/ChrisGPackham/photos/a.1191263457556029/4058245837524429/

We had been hoping to carry out an action in front of the Shire Hall in Warwick on 14th November but due to the lock down in place, this has been cancelled.

However we would still like to ask the County Council 'What is your plan?' We are aware that WCC members are dragging their feet since announcing a Climate Emergency in July 2019 and may need a little encouragement.

So how can XRWD do this now?

One of our brave members had been planning to dress up as the Warwickshire Bear for the Shire Hall action. Instead, and to maintain an element of creativity, we are asking you as individuals or families to take photos of your favourite bear being affected by climate change events such as flooding ( eg drowning in the Leam), heatwaves, biodiversity loss, no honey for the bears to eat!

What would you like to send to the Council?

Email your photos to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 14th December. They will form a larger collage to send to Councillors, MPs and other groups with a press release in January. The bear photos can also be sent to the art competition for schools by going onto the Warwickshire Climate Alliance website. Drawings and pictures are also very welcome.

As rebels will probably remember, back in summer 2019 the UK Parliament (specifically, six Select Committees of the House of Commons) called for a citizens' assembly to discuss how the UK can reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Assembly members were carefully selected to give a representative sample of the UK population, they came from different walks of life and from all over the country.

Participants met in Birmingham from January to March this year and then online following the coronavirus outbreak. They were given a detailed briefing about climate change to inform their discussions and their findings were put into a report which was presented to the six select committees in September. The next stage is for the committees to work on implementing the recommendations. The Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Committee launched an inquiry on the findings and debated it in the Commons in September.