Climate Camp – Day Three

Posted on by Kay in News

More press today with Notts TV paying a visit and doing some interview. Watch HERE from about 1.5mins in to the program.
Also in the Nottingham Post, with a slightly misleading/misrepresented main quote which is slightly more ambitious than we had plans for!

We had some great feedback from rush hour traffic and also some time for some crafts.

Slightly quieter on the riverside today, but still meeting lots of people and having great conversations.

Climate Camp – Day Two

Posted on by Kay in News

Warm sun and cold wind and we’re in to the second day. Fabulous conversations with people cycling and walking along the river. Talking about climate concerns they have and telling them about our three demands to the County Council.

The day started with some yoga and klezmer music. Rebel cafe supplying hot drink and some blue guitar later in the afternoon.

All this entertainment may seem like we are having a festival, but it is really good to keep the energy and positivity up because of all the serious discussions we had today with people of all ages. The climate crisis will affect every single one of us and it already is impacting many parts of the world in a devastating way. It is clear that many people already know this and feel this quite deeply.

The photo frames definitely express how a lot of people feel. 

We challenge Nottingham City Councillors to listen and take action.

Climate Camp – Day One

Posted on by Kay in News

What a fantastic day!
Camp set up, spirits are high after a landmark not guilty verdict for XR Activists vs Shell

We have made our base outside County Hall, along the river with the intention to both make our presence known to the County Council to deliver our three demands.  We want to talk to the public and invite any prospective county councillors to stop by too.

There was live music, samba drums and lots of conversations between rebels that have not seen much of each other over the last year or if they have only inside a zoom square!

We had coverage in the local press from a headline spot on East Midlands Today and articles in the Nottingham Post and the West Bridgford Wire

We demand the County Council take action!

Posted on by Kay in News

Demand 1 : Tell the Truth! – Declare a Climate Emergency

The County Elections are on Thu May 6th. It’s time that Nottingham County Council stood up to their responsibilities and declared a Climate Emergency.  If candidates come knocking on your door asking for your vote, make sure you talk about your concerns about the climate and ecological crisis and how the scientific truth should be built into all decision making.

Demand 2 : Act Now

No More Fossil Fuels
The County Council Pension Fund still has investments in the Fossil Fuel Industry and XR Nottingham have consistently campaigned for this money to be redirected. Read more about our DivestNotts Campaign

No More Incinerators
The Council MUST NOT give permission for the Ratcliffe-on-Soar waste incinerator. Incinerators burn mixed waste including plastics made from fossil fuels and then call it “Green Energy”. They are as polluting as coal and have no place in a world trying to reduce carbon emissions. Read more about our ‘‘Burnout’ incinerator Campaign

Demand 3 : Go Beyond Politics

Notts County Council MUST join the other 31 Local Authorities to support the CEE Bill. Local MP Nadia Whittome was co-sponsor of the proposed Bill, which if passed will put in to law ambitious conservation and protection of nature; make the government keep their promises and targets on climate change; and set up legally binding Citizens Assemblies to democratically tackle climate change. This takes power away from self-serving lobbyists and MPs who act in their own interests before the next election.  More info on our CEE Bill Campaign page.

Notts Pension Fund : Engagement vs Divestment

Posted on by Jack in News

At the March 11th Notts County Council Pension Fund Committee meeting, Independent advisor to the committee William Bourne made a number of statements regarding the climate targets of oil and gas companies, as well as on divestment and engagement.

Today DivestNotts sent a letter to committee explaining how the fossil fuel companies are failing to even set targets that will reduce emissions at the rate needed to have a good chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees

  • Shell’s expected reduction in oil and gas production is less than half that needed as defined by the UN Environment Programme
  • BP has stated that its absolute emissions from its marketed products are set to rise to 2030!

and of the three largest US companies:

  • Chevron does not have a net zero target, and plans to expand oil and gas production to 2025.
  • ExxonMobil does not have a net zero target, and does not have Scope 3 emissions targets.
  • ConocoPhillips has a ‘net zero’ target, but this relates only to operational emissions and does not include marketed products

See the full response to the committee here.

The scientific consensus is that warming above 1.5°C will lead to runaway, irreversible climate change with catastrophic impacts (IPCC, 2018)

This is why we call for the County Council to DIVEST NOW

HSBC and Barclays are climate criminals

Posted on by Kay in News, Uncategorized

It’s a climate crime scene!!
Funding fossil fuels has been HSBC’s dirty little secret.

Strip away the slick greenwashing and you find that they are the second biggest funders of fossil fuel companies in Europe.

They are bankrolling the climate crisis and they have been pulling the wool over their customers’ eyes for years.

HSBC has invested over £65billion in the destruction of our climate and the pollution of our ecosystems since the 2015 Paris Agreement was signed.

This agreement by world leaders working together to supposedly create measures to limit global warming is being totally ignored by the financial institutions that fund this ecocide!

It’s time to make a change – move your money to more ethical banks.

Check out https://switchit.money/ for ideas.

Photo Credit (four photos above) Diana Schmies

Barclays are the BIGGEST funder of the climate crisis
With around £91billion invested in tar sands, fracked oil and gas, coal power and fossil fuels overall since the Paris agreement.

In fact Barclays funding of the world’s top 30 coal mining companies and coal power companies is increasing!

Read more in this detailed report called ‘Banking on Climate Chaos‘ by The Rainforest Alliance Network 

April 1st was Global Money Rebellion day – with actions around the world. Look for the #MoneyRebellion on social media for more.

There is also a video of actions throughout the day (skip to part featuring Beeston)  

Millions of £££ lost from Notts Pension Fund

Posted on by Kay in News, Uncategorized

Dirty pensions: £10 billion still invested in fossil fuels by local government pension funds.

UK Divest Report 23rd Feb 2021 READ MORE

The report’s headline conclusion that £81 million has been lost by Notts Pension Fund was reported by the Financial Times in November last year.
We brought this headline to the attention of the Pension Fund and its officers have disputed the data. We do not have the resources to form our own conclusions as to the exact losses – but they are clearly significant!

We have produced our own briefing, collated from publicly available data,  on the stock market performance of the fossil fuel industry over the past 5-10 years, from which is absolutely clear that the this sector has underperformed badly.  Indeed, according to S & P 500 data, the Ex-Energy Index has annualised returns of 12.66%, whereas the Energy (fossil fuels) Sector has annualised return of -4.86%. Please contact   email hidden; JavaScript is required for a copy of the briefing.

Pension Fund is risking climate breakdown to chase financial gain

Posted on by Kay in News, Uncategorized

Nottinghamshire Local Government Pension Fund is risking climate breakdown to chase financial gain.

The Pension Fund Committee, made up of councillors from the County Council, take advice from their regional fund LGPS Central. The ‘LGPS Climate Risk Analysis Report’ was presented at the meeting and officer Tasmin Rabbits said…

“Broadly, the report is supportive of the Fund’s current investment strategy, in that it demonstrates that a 2°C scenario is of benefit to the pension fund financially, which means that the Fund’s financial interests are aligned with global environmental interests.”

 

The chair of the committee Councillor Eric Kerry then said that it was  “pleasing to find we are doing well in reaction to climate risk and we always look to do more”

The Divestment group of Extinction Rebellion Nottingham would like to tackle some glaring issues with this position and point to XR’s first demand is “Tell the Truth”. Before this can can happen the people holding the power have to understand the truth.

2°C is not something anyone sensible would be aiming for.

1.5°C is extremely dangerous for humans and all other living systems, but 2°C is catastrophic. The difference of half a degree is huge

The 2018 update to the United Nations IPPC report states the urgency of staying below 1.5°C

2°C is likely to cause …

  • 22% of the world’s cities will become unbearable to live in
  • Temperature increases will not be uniform around the world – in many areas of the world extreme temperatures will become more common.
  • Up to 79 million people will be at risk of flooding.
  • Thawing permafrost, leading to the release of the potent greenhouse methane, increasing global heating even faster.  
  • Fires and floods will become ever more frequent. 
  • Food production will be disrupted on a major scale. 
  • Near total loss of the world’s coral destroying the world’s richest marine habitat.

The pandemic is something very tangible for us right now and Covid-19 brings both danger and restrictions to our lives. The destruction and on-going pressures to the ecosystem are causing habitat loss and are now widely accepted to be the underlying cause of the emergence of Covid-19.

In 2015, with the Paris Climate Agreement, nations around the world set themselves the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C (preferably 1.5°C) compared to pre-industrial levels.
 

flooding in bangladesh
fire in Siberia
arctic ice melting

Carbon Budget

The atmosphere can absorb no more than 420 gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2 if we are to try to stay below the 1.5°C threshold. Since around 42 Gt of CO2 is emitted globally every year, this entire budget will be used up within this decade, unless we act rapidly and decisively. 

Currently the world is on track for 3-4°C of heating without bold and systemic world-wide change to tackle the problem. 

Call to action

It is naïve of the Pension Committee to embrace a target of 2°C of global heating and it appears this decision was based merely on potential financial gains.

It is negligent and immoral to condemn future generations to a miserable and impoverished existence by not following the science. 

We have to meet our energy needs without burning fuels and many experts have shown that this is feasible.

Investments in sustainable funds are now recognised as more secure with higher future returns than fossil fuel investments.

Once again…. Extinction Rebellion Nottingham calls on the Pension Fund Committee to DIVEST from FOSSIL FUEL investments in the most speedily way possible.

Find out more about the XR Nottingham Divestment group.