FINAL WARNING TO HUMANITY: United Nations Conference Live Link 20.3.23 1300 GMT TODAY
Soo Chapman
Sent: 20 March 2023 10:12
To: Soo Chapma
Subject: United Nations Conference Live Link 20.3.23 1300 GMT TODAY
Dear representatives,
Please see below the live link to watch the United Nations Press Conference today at 1300 GMT, to launch the Synthesis Report of the Sixth Assessment Report.
https://www.ipcc.ch/2023/03/18/live-stream-of-ipcc-press-conference-ar6-synthesis-report/
IPCC assessments provide governments, at all levels, with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies. IPCC assessments are a key input into the international negotiations to tackle climate change. IPCC reports are drafted and reviewed in several stages, thus guaranteeing objectivity and transparency.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will hold a hybrid press conference to present the Summary for Policymakers of Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report, subject to approval by the Panel. The press conference is scheduled to start at 13.00 GMT on Monday, 20 March 2023.
It will follow the closure of the 58th Session of the IPCC that began on 13 March. The meeting is considering the Synthesis Report to the Sixth Assessment Report (Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report). The Synthesis Report – the final installment of IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report – integrates and summarizes the findings of the six reports released by IPCC during the current cycle which began in 2015. This includes three Special Reports and the three IPCC Working Group contributions to the Sixth Assessment Report.
I encourage you all to watch the conference today, which has also been publicized on BBC News today.
Thank you Susan for your email below. I do hope each representative/organisation responds to your email and the message gets through. There’s plenty of fantastic information below for everyone to get their teeth into!
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Zoe Tees
From: Soo Chapman
Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2023 6:26 PM
To: tobias.e...@parliament.uk
Cc: BEIScorre...@beis.gov.uk on behalf of BEIS Correspondence Team;
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee;
corresp...@levellingup.gov.uk;
kuens...@bbc.co.uk;
BBC;
bbcbre...@bbc.co.uk;
p...@dorset.pnn.police.uk;
1...@dorset.pnn.police.uk;
Rishi Sunak;
Leader's Office;
lea...@labour.org.uk;
Caroline Lucas MP;
grant.s...@parliament.uk;
michael...@parliament.uk;
dominic...@parliament.uk;
hu...@parliament.uk;
SM-Defra-Helpline, Defra (MCU)
Subject: HMG accountability & complicity with extinction: ICC cite Article 30.2(b) of the Rome Statute. Crimes of "oblique intent"
Dear DEFRA EU Fisheries Team,
copying in representatives, the police (who continue to fail to protect us as our only home incinerates) and others.
Given the tardiness of HMG's response I request intervention from the Environmentally Literate Anti-Terrorism Team please.
Who will be up-to-date with the Anthropocene (and will have seen Seaspiracy and other informative films).
It is fairly obvious from the court case at Poole Magistrates Court last Friday that the police ARE ENVIRONMENTALLY ILLITERATE.
This is down to Governance which fails us all. Only 5% of our MPs and peers bothered with Sir Patrick Vallance's Climate Presentation last year.
Disgraceful.
Climate guru Dr Matt Montgomery also had a similar shameful response from BCP councillors. Apparently Cllrs were also happy to stay environmentally illiterate.
This is really not good enough as humanity continues to Grenfell its only home.
Scientists trying to warn the public of the greatest threat ever to their well-being (ie the collapse of the living world on which we all depend for every breath we take) should not be arrested for peaceful activities which seek to enlighten the ignorant and save billions of lives.
Please protect Life on Earth with a robust Public Protection Programme to Salvage and Survive what we can while we can and certainly before the tipping points we are fast approaching (as seen in the Climate Reality Presentation at Southbourne Forum recently) from which there will be NO RECOVERY.
Dunkirk leadership is overdue.
You/We must all confront deadly extinction energies. Some deadly industries have lied to humanity and mis-sold their fuel for fifty years plus. We are all owed reparation for their crimes against humanity as the living world is compromised.
Such industries and their enablers must be brought to justice without delay. As must all groups complicit in the annihilation of everything we love (including the judiciary and law enforcement)
Where is the overdue environmental literacy we need for leadership as ALL SYSTEMS FAIL?
I'd like my decades of tax contributions back please! You are murdering the natural world and failing us all.
I am really pleased to hear that you are consulting on measures to stop industrial sandeel fishing in English waters and want to submit an individual response to your consultation in support of the proposal for a ban.
I support DEFRA's Option 1 – Full Closure of English Waters within the North Sea - but believe that this should be extended to all English waters. A full closure would demonstrate that the UK Government is taking a stand for our internationally important seabirds and ensure the benefits of a closure can be fully delivered and safeguarded for the future.
Bringing in this ban is important because:
Seabirds are facing huge pressures from all angles, including climate change, unsustainable fishing and an unprecedented outbreak of avian flu, with major new offshore energy developments planned that will have additional impacts. We need to do all we can right now to protect them.
- Sandeels are a critical source of food for marine wildlife and many seabirds, including some of the UK's most loved birds like puffins and kittiwakes which are globally threatened with extinction.
- Sandeels are under immense pressure. Whilst climate change is the predominant reason for this, overfishing on an industrial scale is making matters far worse. Luckily, this is a solvable pressure we can urgently act on.
- Seabirds that depend on sandeels to feed themselves and their chicks are struggling to find enough of this small oily fish to survive. A ban on sandeel fishing in UK seas would throw them a lifeline and help boost resilience in the face of mounting threats. Stopping industrial trawling for sandeel in English waters is a crucial step towards achieving this.
- This ban would have minimal impact on the UK fishing fleet and commercially targeted fish, who also feed on sandeels, could even benefit from a boost in their numbers.
The UK is privileged to be home to globally important populations of seabirds, but they are in trouble and face a cocktail of threats to their survival. We need to step up to our special responsibility to protect our incredible seabirds and take ambitious measures to protect them.
Approving this ban would be the single greatest action you can take right now to help our most threatened seabird species and is a vital step in securing a UK-wide ban. It would help the UK meet national and international commitments to protect our seas and would be a hugely welcome and positive step in the Government's nature recovery agenda.
Thank you for taking my consultation response into consideration.
We now need a proper Public Information Programme (as we had with covid) for our well-being and survival. The carbon bombing must stop now.
All Hands on Deck,
Susan Chapman
(usual Dorset Greener Homes address well-known to my representatives)
From: Soo Chapman <sooch...@hotmail.co.uk>
Sent: 18 March 202t) standing up for Life on Earth. Where is my MP/ HMG as the world of Nature is attacked?
Dorset climate activist cleared in court over Sir David Attenborough incident
A climate activist who repeatedly tried to speak to Sir David Attenborough in an upmarket seaside restaurant has been cleared of failing to comply with a dispersal order.
Poole Magistrates’ Court was shown body-worn police camera footage of how Emma Smart, 45, refused to leave the shop under the Catch at the Old Fishmarket restaurant in Weymouth, Dorset, in November last year.
A district judge watched on Friday as the footage showed Miss Smart demanding to speak to the veteran broadcaster, who was eating upstairs with his production team.
After asking the defendant several times to leave and discussing the situation with her, two police officers eventually dragged the unco-operative Miss Smart from the premises with the help of the restaurant owner.
Outside, the footage showed Miss Smart continuing to shout up at the restaurant from the pavement until the officers issued her with a Section 35 dispersal order.
Moments later, the officers arrested the defendant for failing to comply with the order and leave the area.
On Friday, after a one-day trial, Deputy District Judge Clare Boichot found Miss Smart not guilty.
The deputy district judge said that, given what she had seen of how the defendant was acting on the street, “I’m not satisfied this was a reasonable amount of time to comply with the notice”.
She said the whole incident lasted “no more than 18 minutes” and the defendant was given “just seconds” to comply with the notice before she was arrested.
In the footage shown to the court, Miss Smart is heard to shout: “David Attenborough, my name is Emma Smart. I’m a scientist. I’m a biologist.
“Please come and speak with me. Just five minutes.”
She continues: “David, I wrote to you from prison. There are 35 climate activists in prison right now. Please stand up for us. Please support us.”
Sir
David was eating upstairs in the restaurant with his production team with the incident took place.Credit: PA Images
As she continues to shout up at the building, the defendant says: “I’ve looked up to you and listened to you my entire life.
“Please listen to me now.”
And she says: “Our nature is in crisis. We are in danger of losing everything. They are coming to arrest me. You can stop that.”
Giving evidence, Miss Smart said: “It was an opportunity I was unlikely to ever get again and I took that opportunity to go and speak to him.”
She told the court that if the production team had told her Sir David did not want to talk, she would have left.
Miss Smart said: “I don’t harass elderly people.”
She added: “I have never displayed any violence or non-peaceful behaviour in my actions as an environmental campaigner or biologist or scientist ever.”
Miss Smart said the police response to her actions in the shop and on the pavement was “disproportionate” and violated her right to protest.
She said the restaurant owner told her the broadcaster did not even know she was there.
Miss Smart, from Weymouth, was refused permission to call Sir David as a witness at a previous hearing.
She was jailed for four months in November 2021 after an Insulate Britain climate protest.
Louisa Hillwood, spokeswoman for Animal Rebellion, the protest group which has supported Miss Smart, said: “We are delighted to see the judiciary side with ordinary people taking a stand against the cost-of-living, climate, and ecological crises.
“Emma Smart bravely took action last November when she attempted to speak to Sir David Attenborough at the Catch and raise the conversation on the need for a plant-based food system.
“We will continue to have this incredibly important conversation about the need to completely rethink the way we produce food, in a way that benefits us all.”
Dear Tobias Ellwood,
Sadly I see no response from you despite my extreme patience as the crises hitting us all escalate. Although the Beeb have also failed to help educate for environmental literacy too (despite their brief to do so).
There's still nothing on your website about the loss of the living planet.
Where is your plan/HMG's plan to defend humanity from this Global Incineration Event as we run out of time?
#Fridays4 Future deserve a response from those with our money. Civilisation will collapse unless we stop the carbon bombing.
Please respond by return with your plan for our well-being and protection.
Many thanks,
Susan Chapman -usual warm address at a Dorset retrofit. Dorset Greener Homes.
From: Soo Chapman <sooch...@hotmail.co.uk>
Sent: 17 March 2023 08:01
To: tobias.ellwood.mp@parli>
Subject: CODE RED for humanity. How to murder a civilisation; the BBC and multiple leadership failures
Dear Tobias Ellwood MP,
This very long post from Jonathan Fuller (of the Climate Genocide Act Now group) deserves an answer from representatives please, without delay. Existential emergencies are not being tackled here; please note the action being taken by Bangladesh below.
Many concerned citizens are copied in; some involved with education, some with planet-friendly businesses and solutions.
We should be on red alert. Climate feedbacks must be avoided. An excellent Climate Reality speaker last Friday showed Southbourne Forum how near we are to scary tipping points.
At BCP's Scrutiny Panel 1.3.23 BCP's climate guru, Dr Montgomery, copied in, warns of a desperate four degrees of overheating.
Totally insane. Totally unnecessary. We need to wake up.
Today's Guardian: Fresh water demand will outstrip supply by 40% at end of decade.
All Hands on Deck.
Jon notes;
mass killing,
deceptions over the carbon budget,
unfairness of trials,
failure to alert the young,
failure to act on the robust science,
the question of "growth",
of funding
and in fact of multiple deadly leadership failures.
Below that is some older correspondence.
I'd like a respectful, protective response by return please. So far, so dreadful. Sorry to say those forwarded by you from various departments over the years have been completely out of touch with the realities of life on our failing planet.
Our annihilation is unnecessary.
Yours sincerely,
Susan Chapman - of Dorset Greener Homes, usual address. Visits welcome by arrangement.
Jon Fuller writes to the BBC:
The recent furore over BBC, Lineker and Attenborough's 6th Wild Isles documentary provided an ideal opportunity to send the annual update to every member of the BBC Board and Executive Committee.
This strand of work is undertaken by 'BBC Tell The Truth'. The letters will go to senior staff, copied to the main climate journalists and to the NUJ.
This is a long read so you may prefer a pdf. I get assistance with bulk jobs so the letters will be printed over the next couple of days and will be in the post on Monday. But copies will be sent today by email direct to Tim Davie and a couple of others for whom I have email addresses.
----------------------
Tim Davie
Director-General
BBC Broadcasting House
Portland Place
London
W1A 1AA
Dear Tim,
HEADING: The BBC’s lack of impartiality on climate science – refusing to hear all sides.
This letter contains crucial news stories the BBC is missing and also notes important legal implications for BBC staff. The contents have been drawn to the attention of the NUJ.
HEADING: Background
We have communicated previously in connection with representations and protests by Extinction Rebellion (XR) and other groups. I was a member of the XR delegation to the BBC in July 2019.
I provide daily reports on right-wing press output to representatives of the main groups within the ‘Radical Climate Movement’ (XR, JSO, IB, AR, SFH, etc.). I monitor BBC, ITV and Channel 4 news output relating to the climate and ecological emergency. I help to organise a number of demonstrations at the premises of media outlets and my work has been reported by the Byline Times.
In light of your recent claims in connection with BBC impartiality and the furore over the 6th episode of Attenborough’s ‘Wild Isles’, I felt I must update you on where the BBC is with regard to reporting on climate breakdown. While there has been significant improvement since 2018, there remains a strong right-wing bias on the coverage of climate science and associated news. Because I monitor the right-wing press daily, I can see when right-wing/anti-science bias shows its face.
I am sure all BBC Board and Executive Committee members are sufficiently well informed to know that most people on the hard-right of politics (e.g. Trump and Farage) choose climate denialism and many on the centre-right of politics want the most distressing and embarrassing climate news stories suppressed. The left tends to hold strong opinions on social justice and inequality, and so is more inclined to demand the horrific truths be told (but there are some exceptions).
I will add that I do occasionally stand up for BBC staff. For example, vigorously challenging the press over attacks on the family of Justin Rowlatt.
HEADING: The Radical Climate Movement demands that the BBC ‘Stop The Lies’ and ‘Tell The Truth’
While the BBC has made generally good progress on BBC Radio 4, alerting people to the gravity of the threat from climate breakdown, there have been some astonishing anti-science remarks made by Nick Robinson on the Today programme. The BBC’s ‘Disinformation Specialists’ and complaints team have been notified, but the BBC remains content to allow disinformation on this one programme. There have been some excellent programmes on Radio 4, but most other radio stations and TV remain weak, particularly regional news. There are some generally bright spots on TV, like Countryfile, BBC Weather World and the coverage of climate breakdown in the Horn of Africa. It is also pleasing to see ‘Climate Change’ has been placed prominently on the website.
In light of the fact that over a billion people will likely be forced from their homes by 2050 and the very real risk billions could be killed by 2100, it should be obvious that a reputable public sector broadcaster would feature regular climate news on every news bulletin and produce a weekly prime time TV programme on the lines of BBC ‘Weather World’, ‘Climate Check’ or Sky’s ‘The Daily Climate Show’ (the early 2021 version). JSO notes that if you can find time for sport, you can find time for an existential threat.
The fact that the BBC has consistently refused this request proves the BBC intends to continue to suppress the most alarming news and slow progress on decarbonising the economy – which is part of the right-wing political agenda.
HEADING: Core Demands
1. The climate feedbacks
The BBC has no right to withhold from the public the evidence that shows the various climate feedbacks have emerged at such force that humanity may lose the ability to counteract them using carbon removal techniques and technologies. The young in particular deserve to know why Chatham House warned of a plausible worst case scenario of 7C of global heating by 2100, and why Prof Sir David King and Prof Jim Hansen warn we have already put too much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere and must immediately begin carbon removal at vast scale.
Here’s the Chatham House report: -
Here’s Prof Sir David King (Climate Crisis Advisory Group): -
Here’s Prof Jim Hansen on 10C of heating: -
The radical climate movement makes this demand because the science proves that emergency efforts are needed immediately to decarbonise. The facts are clear – 2050 is far too late. The BBC has no right to suppress that.
2. Misleading audiences on the science
The BBC News Channel/BBC 2 News have twice misled the public by allowing scientists to express the view that as soon as we reach Net-Zero, global heating will stop. The BBC should allow scientists who disagree with that to explain why the feedbacks (e.g. increase in forest fires, retreating sea ice, etc.) and the destruction of carbon sinks strongly indicates that global heating will continue even after we hit Net-Zero.
Those opposing scientific views should be explained by the BBC, with regular updates on a weekly TV climate programme.
3. The Jet Stream/agricultural production
The BBC has been too cautious when explaining the evidence that the Jet Stream is being destabilised by heating in the Arctic. Sky TV News reports this as fact.
The BBC should explain what appears to be happening and, because the consequences are extreme, it needs to warn people what the consequences will be for agriculture, heating our homes and wildlife. People need to know of this risk and others; such as the warning from the NAO that Southern England will run out of water in the 2040s. People need to hear AND understand these facts so they can prepare. Being prepared is a national security issue – and the BBC has an absolute obligation not to undermine our national security.
4. Mass killing has begun
For many years this group has repeatedly called upon the BBC to Tell The Truth about the number of people being killed by climate breakdown. Because people on the right-wing of politics find the facts embarrassing and a threat to their lifestyles, they want to censor the fact that the WHO, GHF and others warn hundreds of thousands of people are being killed every year - mainly by the increased spread of disease in our 1.2C hotter world. DARA International has reported to the UN that 400,000 people are killed every year. The increased spread of disease after the floods in Pakistan and now the floods in Malawi and Mozambique, indicate the figure may be higher.
The majority of victims are infants under the age of 1 year and are typically killed slowly, over several days.
The BBC has no right to cover up that level of harm being inflicted on the poorest people on the planet.
5. The UK has no carbon budget left
The UK has 0.85% of the global population but we are responsible for 4.52% of historical emissions. Time and again speakers are allowed on BBC news who pretend the UK has a carbon budget when, in fact, we don’t. We have already overdrawn it, scrounging off the backs of the Global South and the young. The BBC should regularly allow speakers on programmes who are willing to explain this fact.
6. Withholding crucial information from the young
I have repeatedly asked, but the BBC has repeatedly refused this request; I will nevertheless appeal again for you to set a target to ensure all young people know (by the age of 18) that COP21 is predicated on the notion that they are lined up to pay the largest debt in history to pay for carbon removal. COP21 stipulates that the 1.5C target can be exceeded, but the young must attempt to stabilise heating at the 1.5C threshold by paying a vast bill for carbon removal. Because carbon removal techniques are so expensive, government ministers have refused to pay the debt now and are determined the debt must be paid throughout the second half of this century – from 2050 onwards. There is a classic left-wing/right-wing divide on this issue. The right-wing, which dominates BBC News output, remains determined the young must not understand what is being done to them.
7. Hard questions to the Climate Movement - Soft questions to the Polluters
Members of the radical climate movement expect to have tough questions put to them, but the BBC still refuses to put appropriately strong questions to those business figures who want to expand polluting industries. The UN, WHO and many other bodies make it clear that hundreds of thousands of the world’s poorest people are now being killed every year by climate breakdown (see above). The scale of suffering to come is unprecedented in history.
The climate movement demands that, if a polluter, for example a Heathrow Executive or government minister, wants to increase greenhouse gas emissions, they should be asked appropriate questions. For example: -
• Why killing 400,000 people a year isn’t enough for them?
• Why are they willing to kill even more?
• What gives them the right to risk billions of lives?
• Why won’t they pay for carbon removal today (e.g. DAC with CCS technology)?
• Doesn’t expanding aviation deter all people from making modest lifestyle changes (any sacrifice I make will be futile)?
8. Comments about JSO by BBC presenters
Several presenters have expressed their personal anger at the actions of JSO. I can only call upon you to ask presenters to be impartial and put both sides of this to audiences (extreme suffering/mass death V disruption caused by protest) or have a JSO representative present to explain the actions.
I will also point out that there are several news stories the BBC is missing that are being picked up elsewhere (for example, ITV London News does much better than BBC London News).
Examples of the news stories are: -
• The number of political prisoners who have been/are being held in custody. Where people are imprisoned due to opposition to government policy that poses a serious threat to their lives, they are rightly referred to as ‘political prisoners’.
• The scale of restrictions being placed upon peaceful protest and loss of rights to the whole of society.
• The refusal to allow fair trials (Judge Silas Reid and others refusing to allow climate protesters to explain why they took their action).
• Juries have an absolute right to acquit but this is being removed from them.
• Article 13 of ECHR provides for an ‘effective remedy’ but UK citizens are denied this. ECHR was brought into UK law by HRA 1998, but human rights arguments relating to climate breakdown have been consistently rejected by proceedings in the civil courts. Consequently UK citizens don’t have Article 13 rights and are therefore justified in taking acts of self-defence by way of climate protest.
9. Growth
It was difficult to recall any occasion on a news bulletin when a journalist challenged a politician or business figure on the desire to secure constant economic growth – until yesterday. I was pleased to see Antonia Jennings allowed 30 seconds on the News Channel to challenge the notion of ‘growth’; but it is a mantra that consistently goes unchallenged. There are instances when it has been questioned in programmes on Radio 4, but BBC News allows an assumption that growth on a finite planet is feasible. That is not backed up by the science.
Of course, it is possible to grow certain sectors (e.g. health case, social care, education, etc.) but growth that is dependant on fossil fuels, other finite resources and the destruction of nature is impossible. There is a huge part of the economy that is already unsustainable and will soon reach hard limits. The public deserve to know that many promises on growth are dishonest. They also deserve to know more about the alternatives that exist (e.g. ‘Doughnut Economics’, ‘The Wellbeing Economy Alliance’, etc.).
By dodging this issue the BBC displays bias towards the wealthy and right-wing.
GDP growth in the UK closely matches the growth of the population, but vast wealth is being transferred from the mass of people to the wealthiest in society. This is a key issue for the climate movement because the wealthy use their gains to fund highly destructive lifestyles and distort politics. Conversely the poorest sections of society are left with less power. The poorest struggle to meet the most basic needs, rendering them more liable to political manipulation and denying them the range of choices that often carry lower ecological impacts.
The BBC should question the harm caused by extreme wealth, looking at those nations that use a range of methods in the attempt to tackle this and the BBC must stop denying a platform to those who propose solutions.
10. Green Party/Eco representation on ‘Question Time’ and other current affairs programmes
The UK’s ‘first past the post’ voting system disadvantages smaller parties and denies millions of people the right to vote for what would be their first preference. In light of your statement that all voices must be heard, and given the size of support for the Green Party and public support for stronger environmental policies, I can only repeat the demand for the Green Party and eco-NGO speakers to be allowed fair representation on programmes like Question Time, Politics Live, etc. Opinion polling consistently shows the majority of people want faster action on climate breakdown, but expressions of that view are restricted by the BBC.
A key example was on the mini-documentary by Justin Rowlatt ‘Can the UK afford Net-Zero’. Nigel Farage was allowed time to argue against and delay Net-Zero, but the voices that align with the science, and want to go faster, are silenced.
In addition to Greens, the BBC should allow occasional appearances by speakers from Greenpeace, FoE, the Wellbeing Economy Alliance and many others committed to preserving all life.
The UN Secretary General rightly warns the world we face a ‘direct existential threat’ from climate breakdown, the Environment Agency warns the young to ‘adapt or die’; yet voices are regularly excluded from BBC programmes on the greatest threat our nation has ever faced. You must surely know your stance cannot be justified - it is undemocratic. Worse still, reducing access by eco/Green voices threatens worsening climate breakdown, risks our food security and poses a range of other security threats.
11. Disclosing the funding behind think-tanks
I must repeat again the demand that all those who appear as specialists on BBC programmes must briefly explain how they are funded. It is vital to democracy that groups like ‘Policy Exchange’ explain how they are funded so audiences know why they say what they say. If a body that is funded by fossil fuel interests calls XR ‘terrorists’, your listeners expect the BBC to Tell The Truth.
HEADING: LEGAL IMPLICATIONS FOR BBC STAFF: This is genocide and a crime against humanity
The BBC Board and Executive Committee needs to meet and record their response to this development. I have informed the NUJ of this request.
Many speakers for the Radical Climate Movement accuse politicians, business figures and our economic system of being ‘genocidal’ and often use the expression ‘crimes against humanity’ to describe mass loss of life and unprecedented suffering associated with climate breakdown.
That has now been proven in law. You need to consider your response to that and the implications for BBC staff. Please note: -
• In 2019 the group ‘Climate Genocide Act Now’ asked the police to mount a criminal investigation into the activities of senior politicians that were causing extreme suffering and death as a result of the polices that drive climate breakdown. That case was later referred the International criminal Court (ICC).
• In 2021 the Prime Minister of Barbados referred to ‘climate genocide’.
• In 2021 the group ‘All Rise’ submitted a case to the ICC in connection with the activities of President Bolsonaro of Brazil.
• In 2022 the Prime Minister of Samoa raised the prospect of using international criminal law to stop politicians in high emitting nations from killing the poor.
• In 2022, the campaign groups ‘UK Youth Climate Coalition’ and ‘Students for Climate Solutions’ submitted a dossier of evidence to the ICC seeking the prosecution of Board members of BP Plc.
• It has now become apparent that the Chief Prosecutor at the ICC has indicated that cases can be heard relating to mass killings caused by climate breakdown.
The cases referred to the ICC cite Article 30.2(b) of the Rome statute; a section that deals with crimes of ‘oblique intent’. If a politician supports/maintains polluting activities, they know this will contribute to the annihilation of several low lying islands states (genocide), render much of the planet uninhabitable and destroy vast swathes of agriculture (crimes against humanity). They don’t want to kill millions of people, but they know they cannot achieve their personal/business/political objectives without causing mass death and suffering.
The two youth campaigns mentioned above are run by volunteers under the age of 30. It is surely entirely foreseeable their age group will suffer so greatly at the hands of polluting interests that they will demand and secure robust justice. The young victims will soon be the police, prosecutors, judges and jailers.
You need to be aware that UK YCC and SCS are cautious about giving interviews. The lawyers who took the case to the ICC fear they could be killed by fossil fuel interests. That shouldn’t stop BBC News from reporting the crucial news that several groups are now seeking criminal prosecutions by the ICC; but it does mean that you may not be able to interview the key players.
The UK YCC case is here: -
The BBC has an absolute duty to warn the British people when our political and business leaders have embarked upon a course that is resulting in genocide. You have no right to hide that from the people.
You also need to consider what the implications are for you and your staff.
You will be aware that 3 journalists involved in inciting the Rwanda genocide were each committed to 35 years imprisonment. In that case, there came a point when the killing had stopped but, in the case of climate breakdown, the suffering and deaths will continue to worsen throughout the whole of this century. It is therefore likely the penalties for the key climate criminals will be severe.
I put it to you that some legal implications for BBC staff are obvious: -
• You must Stop The Lies.
• You must Tell The Truth.
• You must not incite the crime, for example: encouraging high carbon lifestyles, aviation tourism, etc.
However, you must consider what a court would demand in the year 2040 or 2050. You must consider what behaviour and actions would be deemed to have encouraged, facilitated or been complicit in genocide and crimes against humanity.
HEADING: The right-wing campaign to abolish the BBC
I work hard to ensure the radical climate movement knows that the oligarch controlled, right-wing press will demand an end to the BBC if you dare Tell The whole Truth. Nevertheless it is essential to our national security, and you must be willing to face-down the hard-right. I recommend that you make better use of your disinformation specialists, regularly reporting on the inaccuracies and lies that appear in the Telegraph, Mail, Express, Sun, Daily Star and sadly even in The Times. Now that the Times has begun its drift further to the ‘right’, it too is deploying more anti-science, climate delaying misinformation.
You are also welcome to copy this letter to editors of the right-wing press if you would find that helpful.
The work of the BBC Board and Executives has now become a lot harder. The only advice I can offer is to meet the demands of the radical climate movement – Stop The Lies and Tell The Truth.
Yours sincerely,
Jon Fuller
BBC Tell The Truth
BBC Board: - https://www.bbc.com/aboutthebbc/whoweare/bbcboard/
BBC Exec Committee: -
Dear EACOP insurers,
Better schemes are possible on our dying planet. The East Africa Crude pipeline is a bad idea. So were 636 fossil fuellists at COP27.
Moreover, just one spillage could contaminate the water for 40 million people.
While Bangladesh pours trillions into its National Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) it does not suffer like Pakistan!
No more fossil chaos thanks,
Susan Chapman
from a warm retrofit - part of Dorset Greener Homes
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Bangladesh is one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world.
- The country has invested heavily in adaptation measures. As a result, Bangladesh‘s ability to manage disasters, in particular, floods and cyclones, has improved dramatically since 1991.
- The Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) supports millions of Bangladeshis to build resilience to the effects of climate change.
Bangladesh is one of the most climate vulnerable countries in the world. Rising global temperatures are likely to increase the frequency and intensity of cyclones
in the Bay of Bengal as well as monsoon rainfall, resulting in catastrophic floods in the Ganges – Brahmaputra- Meghna Basin. Sea level rise and the consequent coastal flooding and saline intrusion into aquifers constitute serious threats. The challenge of
climate change – worsened /aggravated by the country‘s high population density – is significant in view of the likely impact on people‘s livelihoods. It also impacts on Bangladesh‘s capacity to improve its medium-term growth performance and thereby lift some
55 million people out of poverty.
Over the last three decades, the country has invested heavily in adaptation measures. As a result, Bangladesh‘s ability to manage disasters, in particular, floods and cyclones, has improved dramatically since 1991. With a view to building a medium- to long-term
program for enhancing resilience to climate shocks and facilitating low carbon and sustainable growth, Bangladesh launched its first Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan at the UK-Bangladesh Climate Change Conference in London in September, 2008. This was
later updated in 2009. In the wake of the London conference, a multi-donor trust fund for climate change was proposed as a modality for the development partners to support Bangladesh in implementing the Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (CCSAP). Thus,
the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (henceforth referred to as BCCRF), with contribution from bilateral donors was set up in May 2010 following the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding.
About the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF)
BCCRF was established in May 2010 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Bangladesh, development partners and the World Bank. This innovative mechanism is enabling the Government to channel US$ 170 million in grant funds
to millions of Bangladeshis in order to build their resilience to the effects of climate change. The trust fund contribution from the development partners at present stands as Denmark (US$1.2 million), the European Union (US$37 million), Sweden (US$13 million),
and the United Kingdom (US$95 million), Switzerland (US$ 3.4 million), AusAID ( US $ 7 million) and USAID (US $ 13 million). There are no special conditions attached to the disbursement of the fund by the donors or by the World Bank. It is envisaged that 84.6%
of the total activities funded by the BCCRF will be implemented by Government institutions, 10% by NGOs and other civil society organizations under the community-based program and 2% by the Bank to provide analytical work and technical assistance under CCSAP’s
fourth and sixth pillars. The World Bank charges, in total, 3.4% for overall trust fund and project management.
Distinctive role of the Government and the World Bank
BCCRF is managed and implemented by the Government of Bangladesh. A technical assistance portion of the BCCRF is executed by the World Bank with agreement of the Government of Bangladesh. On behalf of the contributing donors, and in consultation with the Government,
the World Bank is, for a limited duration, ensuring due diligence requirements on the BCCRF (including fiduciary management, transparency and accountability) and ensuring projects are implemented with due regard to economy, efficiency and effectiveness.
Objective of the Fund
The objective of the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) is to support the implementation of Bangladesh’s Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (CCSAP). The CCSAP has identified six main pillars:
(i) Food security, social safety and health;
(ii) Comprehensive disaster management;
(iii) Develop climate proof Infrastructure;
(iv) Research and knowledge management;
(v) Mitigation and low carbon development;
(vi) Capacity building.
How is BCCRF governed?
BCCRF has a two tier governance system: A Governing Council (it can be linked to an excerpt on the functions of the GC copied from the implementation manual) which provides overall strategic direction and guidance to BCCRF and ensures its alignment with the
CCSAP. The Management Committee (with a click will open to a page on the dynamics of the MC copied from the Implementation manual) is responsible for the work programme, ensuring that the BCCRF is implemented in line with the agreed implementation manual and
consider grant requests submitted by various line ministries and other eligible institutions. Both the Governing Council and the Management Committee are chaired by the Government and includes representatives from line ministries, Development Partners and
Civil Society.
As a start, the World Bank has been providing support to the day-to-day operations of the BCCRF. However, this responsibility is gradually going to transition to a Secretariat that will be established at the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The Bank team
will work closely with the Ministry of Environment and Forests to build the capacity of the Secretariat. The Secretariat will be responsible for providing support to the Governing Council and Management Committee, provide advocacy, communication and coordination
support to all agencies implementing activities funded by BCCRF.
*****************************************************************************************
Renewables, batteries, conservation of resources etc are a better plan before humanity triggers climate collapse
21 insurers are ruling out EACOP.
Stranded assets must be avoided.
Please reassure me you will act in time before global harvests are lost!
Thankyou,
Susan Chapman
Lawyers for 1.5˚C – Humanity’s Lifeline
More than 250 legal professionals, from junior lawyers to King’s Counsel, senior partners and Professors of Law have written an open letter warning that:
· Breach of the 1.5˚C Paris threshold threatens mass loss of life and the end of the rule of law.
· Companies which provide misleading information about the climate crisis or their own contribution to it may also face criminal prosecution.
· The Government’s failure to align policies to 1.5˚C may give climate protestors a good legal defence to criminal charges.
They also highlight the role of the City of London (and City lawyers) in supporting 15% of global carbon
emissions.
Open letter (as originally signed)
Open letter (updated with additional signatures)
Letter to signatories from Just Stop Oil
City law firms accused of greenwashing (The Times, 15 September 2022)
Climate crisis ‘threatens rule of law and civilisation’, lawyers warn, in call to end fossil fuel links (The Independent)
Commercial lawyers complicit in climate crisis by defending fossil fuel clients, KCs warn (Morning Star)
ise on climate risks (Legal Futures)
Lawyers expose clients to ‘substantial legal risk’ by failing to consider climate targets (Ends Report)
UK lawyers warn unchecked climate change threatens ‘end to rule of law’ (Business Green)
Top City firms must do more to avoid climate ‘catastrophe’ (Legal Cheek)
Lawyers urged to warn clients when deals could undermine climate change targets (The Global Legal Post)
Lawyers should have to warn clients about environmental damage, say campaigners (Law Society
Gazette)
Climate campaigners call for lawyers to warn clients of environmental risks (Irish Legal News)
Developments in climate change for lawyers (Law Society Gazette)
Margherita Cornaglia, a junior barrister and one of the drafters of the letter, said:
“The legal profession is awakening to the impact that the climate and ecological crisis has and will continue to have on the application and development of legal principle. Junior lawyers and lawyers joining the profession are increasingly knowledgeable about climate law and litigation, increasingly concerned and increasingly motivated to be part of the solution, not the problem. The tides are changing.”
Jonathan Goldsmith, Law Society Council member for EU & international, chair of the Law Society’s Policy & Regulatory Affairs Committee and a member of its board, said:
“The drafters of the letter are right to point out that the consequences risk the rule of law itself, which is what we all serve.”
Marc Willers KC, one of the signatories to the letter, said:
“The rule of law should be the bedrock of our societies. As the evidence mounts that human-made climate change poses an extreme threat to society, nothing is more vital than that the legal profession keeps pace. If we legitimise actions which we know to be inconsistent with what the science demands (i.e. limiting warming to 1.5˚C), we risk undermining all that the profession stands for.”
ttorney-at-Law, Melinda Janki, who is leading litigation challenging ExxonMobil’s deep water drilling offshore Guyana, said:
“We are already seeing the devastation of a 1.2˚C increase in temperature. 1.5˚C is an ecocidal prospect. All States, but especially the big historic polluters like the USA, UK, and EU, have a duty to stop fossil fuels as fast as possible and prevent further harm to the peoples and other living beings on this earth. We have no other home.”
Dr. Kinnari Bhatt, Solicitor, Director & Academic said:
The foundation of international law is the no–harm principle, ie the principle that it is unlawful for one country to permit activities which cause serious harm to the territory of another state. With tens of millions of people now suffering from extreme flooding in Pakistan, attributable to the climate crisis, and famines, also resulting from climate change, threatening the Horn of Africa and Afghanistan (not to mention the floods, wildfires and drought we’ve experienced this summer in the UK) there is no question that maintaining the 1.5˚C Paris limit is critical to preserving the whole, interconnected system of the rule of law.”
Tim Crosland, a former Government lawyer, and Director of Plan B.Earth, said:
“The rule of law is being corrupted. There’s no accountability for those exposing the public to extreme risks by knowingly breaching the 1.5˚C climate change limit – humanity’s lifeline – while those taking peaceful and proportionate action to prevent the ultimate crime against humanity are persecuted and threatened with 10 years’ imprisonment. It’s time to take a stand.”
Historical perspectives
Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King, 1963
Why Adolf Hitler Spared the Judges: Judicial Opposition Against the Nazi State, Hans Petter Graver, 2018
From: Soo Chapman <sooch...@hotmail.co.uk>
Sent: 26 December 2022 14:10
To: tobias.e...@paco.undy.mp@parliament.uparliament.uk>; The Conservative Party <bull...@mail.conservatives.com>; kuens...@bbc.co.uk <kuens...@bbc.co.uk>; therese....@parlio.co.uk>
Subject: Cost of climate stupidity crisis.... (dying home planet and HMG gross disrespect for inhabitants)
Dear Representatives,
Should I thank you for this GROSSLY DISPESPECTFUL message below as you ignore the massacre of life on our only home?
North America and Canada. Deaths, livelihoods, frozen iguanas falling from trees.
Meandering jet stream and DON'T MENTION THE CLIMATE & ECOLOGICAL CRISES by the politics of Broadmoor Let Loose.
I really do need to hear from you about the decarbonisation at speed and scale Protect and Survive Programme for us all.
Escalating atmospheric carbon is incinerating us all.
I CANNOT SEE YOUR WELL-BEING PLAN ANYWHERE.
Many thanks,
Susan Chapman (taxpayer, protesting against funding genocide)
HIS MAJESTY's DISRESPECTFUL GOVERNMENT says; PLEASE DO NOT REPLY we really can't cope with the stark truth of the carbon cyclone bombing
"Don't mention the war on nature Mr Fawlty"
💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀
This is an automated message for members of the public - please do not reply.
Dear Reader
Thank you for your email to HM Treasury.
We want to let you know that if you have sent in a policy suggestion, comment, budget or spending review representation then we are really grateful that you’ve taken the time to write to us and can assure you these have been received and will be reviewed.
For further information relating to Treasury policies, what to do if you think you are a victim of fraud or where to go if you have a query relating to policies that sit outside of HM Treasury please visit the GOV.UK website, which is updated regularly. A cost of living support page which outlines all of the help available to people can be found here: www.gov.uk/costoflivingsupport
From: Soo Chapman <sooch...@hotmail.co.uk>
Sent: 25 December 2022 08:59
To: tobias.ellwoodgov.uk>;
Subject: Wobbling jet-stream. Wobbling SILENT representatives End hateful extinction corruption
Dear Representatives,
STILL nothing visible about How to Protect Ourselves as climate breaks down and
as our world smashes to pieces,
Merry Christmas to those who care,
Susan Chapman
Jon on Facebook:
I will again point out that it's what the media won't say that is more damaging than the lies.
Last night the broadcasters had a lot to say about the record breaking cold temperatures in North America, noting the unprecedented speed of change. Today the right-wing press all report on the news too. But none of the media explained that this is evidence that climate breakdown is causing the jet stream to wobble and, worse, these temperature extremes will become more common and more severe. By failing to explain this to the people the media prevents us from adapting to the appalling hardship ahead.
This item in Newsweek does say something about it. The Telegraph item (see picture) is typical of the UK media today.
🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍🌍
Louise Boyles' Climate News;
The year draws to a close on a note of optimism. Earlier this week in the city of Montreal, countries reached a historic agreement to protect the world's wildlife and wild places.
The pact, made at the United Nations biodiversity summit Cop15, pledged to protect 30 per cent of land and oceans by 2030. There were also 2030 targets to half global food waste, reduce pesticide use, and halt habitat loss. The deal included a financial package of $200billion a year to safeguard biodiversity with funding coming from public and private sources.
Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, warned that there was not a minute to waste in getting to work on plans.
“We need to change the relationship between people and nature. And if we are honest, time is not on our side. We’ve backed nature into a corner and it’s time to ease the pressure," she said. "We also know it is a remarkable thing and nature is very forgiving. If we give it half a chance, it will bounce back."
While it receives fewer headlines than the crisis of global climate change, nature is collapsing at catastrophic levels. Up to a million species are threatened by extinction in the coming decades largely due to human activities like forest clearance, agriculture, industry expansion and pollution.
But while the so-called "Global Biodiversity Framework" was recognized as an important step, a number of leading conservation groups raised concerns about its shortfalls.
“The tripling of international finance for developing countries, conservation targets to halt species extinction, and the rights of indigenous peoples being placed front and centre are crucial cornerstones of the deal," said Mike Barrett, Executive Director of Science and Conservation at WWF UK.
“But the science is clear. We cannot save nature without tackling the underlying drivers of biodiversity loss, and on that front Montreal has left the job half done, with a vague and unambitious target to reduce our global consumption footprint."
From: Soo Chapman <sooch...@hotmail.co.uk>
Sent: 23 December 2022 09:42
To: tobias.ellwoodment.uk <marktive Party <bull...@mail.conservatives.com>
Subject: Decades of Deception
Dear Representatives,
Genocide is taking place.
Please tell us your plan to protect us.
I look forward to your decarbonising actions. And information everywhere for all of us.
Many thanks,
Susan Chapman
(usual address; our lovely warm, solarised, minimal carbon retrofit)
20.12.22 Guardian:
The same racketeering legislation used to bring down mob bosses, motorcycle gangs, football executives and international fraudsters is to be tested against oil and coal companies who are accused of conspiring to deceive the public over the climate crisis.
In an ambitious move, an attempt will be made to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for “decades of deception” in a lawsuit being brought by communities in Puerto Rico that were devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
“Puerto Rico is one of the most affected places by climate change in the world. It is so precariously positioned – they get hit on all fronts with hurricanes, storm surge, heat, coral bleaching – it’s the perfect place for this climate litigation,” said Melissa Sims, senior counsel for the plaintiffs’ law firm Milberg.
The 1970 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) Act was originally intended to combat criminal enterprises like the mafia, but has since been used in civil courts to litigate harms caused by opioids, vehicle emissions and even e-cigarettes as organised crime cases.
Now, the first-ever climate change Rico case alleges that international oil and coal companies, their trade associations, and a network of paid thinktanks, scientists and other operatives conspired to deceive the public – specifically residents of Puerto Rico – about the direct link between their greenhouse gas-emitting products and climate change.
This fossil fuel enterprise, which remains operational according to the lawsuit, resulted in multitude of damages caused by climate disasters that were foreseen – but hidden – by the defendants in order to maximise profits.
The plaintiffs are 16 municipalities in Puerto Rico – towns and cities that were hit hard by two powerful hurricanes in September 2017, Irma and Maria – which led to thousands of deaths, food shortages, widespread infrastructure damage and the longest blackout in US history.
Sims, the senior counsel, said: “What’s different about this [Rico] case is that we have their enterprise in writing – the decision by rival companies, their front groups, scientists and associations to act together to change public opinion regarding the use of their consumer products by telling people something that they knew was not true.”
From: Soo Chapman <sooch...@hotmail.co.uk>
Sent: 19 December 2022 18:26
To: tobias.e...@parliament.uk <tobias.e...@parliament.uk>; p...@dorset.pnn.police.uk <p...@dorset.pnn.police.uk>; 1...@dorset.pnn.police.uk <1...@dorset.pnn.police.uk>
Cc: dominic...@parliament.uk <dominic...@parliament.uk>; SUNAK, Rishi <rishi.s...@parliament.uk>; angela.r...@parliament.uk <angela.r...@parliament.uk>; public.e...@hmtreasury.gsi.gov.uk <public.e...@hmtreasury.gsi.gov.uk>;
PublicCorrespondence Mailbox <publiccorr...@cabinetoffice.gov.uk>; Public Enquiries (CD) <public.e...@homeoffice.gov.uk>; bbcbre...@bbc.co.uk <bbcbre...@bbc.co.uk>; BBC <b...@bbc.co.uk>; RipOff...@bbc.co.uk <RipOff...@bbc.co.uk>; Breakfast
TV <Breakf...@bbc.co.uk>; The Guardian <in...@email.theguardian.com>; sundaymo...@bbc.co.uk <sundaymo...@bbc.co.uk>; sundaypol...@bbc.co.uk <sundaypol...@bbc.co.uk>; acc.m...@defra.gsi.gov.uk <acc.m...@defra.gsi.gov.uk>; Helpline,
Defra CCU <defra.h...@defra.gsi.gov.uk>; boris.jo...@parliament.uk <boris.jo...@parliament.uk>; grant.s...@parliament.uk <grant.s...@parliament.uk>; mark.ha...@parliament.uk <mark.ha...@parliament.uk>; suella.br...@parliament.uk
<suella.br...@parliament.uk>; JONES, Darren <darren....@parliament.uk>; lisa.n...@parliament.uk <lisa.n...@parliament.uk>; keir.st...@parliament.uk <keir.st...@parliament.uk>; Caroline Lucas MP <ne...@carolinelucas.com>; hu...@parliament.uk
<hu...@parliament.uk>; The Conservative Party <bull...@mail.conservatives.com>
Subject: Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR) but HMG dishonesty. Latest WWF & COP 15 news
🎄
Dear Representatives,
Still NOTHING 💀💀💀 on your websites about HUGE THREATS to our well-being.
Nor how we avoid carbonic overload and death of Mother Nature.
WHERE are the police?
SGR says:
I think the biggest problem is how the climate questions are being framed.
Most discussions are about how can emissions be reduced, with the tacit assumption that our way of life will continue almost unchanged, with rich people suffering no more than minor inconvenience, which leads to
inadequate “solutions” that are reducing emissions at merely a few percent per year.
The questions that I think we should be discussing is how should decent people and a civilised country respond to the realisation that continued CO2 emissions will make the world uninhabitable, and that the current
levels of emissions are causing unacceptable levels of climate deaths, climate refugees and environmental destruction.
I think the answer to the latter questions is:
- complying with our commitments under the Paris Agreement - which means:
- aiming to keep global warming to 1.5°C - which means:
- living within the global carbon budget of 400 billion tonnes CO2 from 2020 - which means:
- living within our share of the global CO2 budget of 50 tonnes CO2 per person, which in the UK runs out in 2 years at current rates (see ref) - which means:
- cuts in UK emissions of over 20% per year - which means:
- stopping fossil fuel use as soon as possible - which means:
- stopping leisure flying immediately, rapidly reducing car mileage (over 20% per year), a massive programme of insulation etc, restructuring food production and distribution, etc and a programme of building renewable
sources of energy, i.e. a massive restructuring of society, and considerable inconvenience to many.
Of course, this is currently not being discussed honestly - I think due to lack of awareness, due to cowardice, and due to many being in a psychological state of denial (including many climate campaigners). But
there are many well-meaning people who do want an explanation of what should be done, and they need a critical mass of people with scientific understanding to give them that explanation, with no censoring. I think SGR has
a role in this, via a group of *explainers* rather than *campaigners*.
Ian
Reference:
https://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/uk-s-share-global-carbon-budget-will-be-used-just-over-3-years
Looking forward to hearing something sensible from representatives and HMG about ALL HANDS ON DECK before triggering complete chaos.
ASAP please.
Thankyou,
Susan Chapman
Soo Chapman
Sent: 20 March 2023 10:49
To: tobias.ellce.org.uk>
Subject: FINAL WARNING TO HUMANITY: United Nations Conference Live Link 20.3.23 1300 GMT TODAY
Soo Chapman
Extinction
Rebellion spray paint the offices of The Sun, Daily Mail and The Telegraph and call out suppression of truth on climate crisis
Sent: 21 March 2023 11:59
To: tobias.e...@parliament.uk <tobias.e...@parliament.uk>
Cc: BEIScorrespondence@
Subject: Heroes dare.....while HMG shockingly fails to ensure environmental literacy FINAL WARNING TO HUMANITY: United Nations Conference Live Link 20.3.23 1300 GMT TODAY
Soo Chapman
Anna
McMorrinYesterday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its most damning report yet. This Government go around the world telling other Governments not to open coalmines, yet that is exactly what this Government are doing. They are also issuing new oil and gas licences, yet not investing in the most efficient and cheapest renewable energy of all, which is onshore wind. Will the Secretary of State at least admit that this Government are not doing anything to commit to ensuring that our next generation has a future linked to the economy, and a more sustainable future at that?
-
Link to this speechIn
context Individually
(Citation: HC Deb, 21 March 2023, c197)
Michael
Gove Secretary of State for Levelling
Up, Housing and Communities, Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
I am very grateful to the hon. Lady, who is a brilliant advocate for the environment. Some of the arguments she has made in this place have weighed with me, and she has helpfully corrected me in the past when I have been in the wrong, but on this occasion I have respectfully to disagree with her. I cannot see how we can have an effective and just transition to a net zero future—not a total zero future, but a net zero future—without oil and gas playing a diminishing but significant and strategic part.
If there are people in this House—and there are on the Front Benches of almost every other party—who believe that we should get rid of oil and gas like that tomorrow or overnight, let them say so. If there are people who think that there should be no further exploration or drilling of our own domestic oil and gas resources, let them go to Aberdeen, Middlesbrough or Grimsby and say so, but I do not think they will receive a warm welcome from the voters there or from the investors. On the point about the coalmine, again I am restricted in what I can say because I have merely followed the advice of the planning inspector. The planning inspector was very clear that both the net zero and downstream emissions as a result of this change would actually contribute to a stronger environmental posture for the UK, not a weaker one.
I want to turn to the area of renewable energy, which Anna McMorrin mentioned. She, like me, is a fan and an advocate of renewables. Let me take her on a journey—a journey to Teesside. I would invite her to join me in visiting Teesport, in the constituency of my hon. Friend Jacob Young. I would like her, and indeed everyone in the House, to join me in seeing what Ben Houchen and the Tees Valley Combined Authority have done there; to see the way in which turbines are assembled there; and to see the way in which the investment secured through the freeport there is providing high-quality, high-paying jobs in green technology, at the cutting-edge of the future, alongside hydrogen work.
I am sure the hon. Lady would want to applaud what Ben Houchen has done, because she is an enlightened and thoughtful Member of this House, but I have to tell her that not every member of the Labour party has been supporting Ben Houchen in bringing high-quality green jobs to working class areas in Teesside. Recently, when the Mayor of Teesside was creating a new development corporation to bring new jobs and new investment into renewables, Middlesbrough Labour councillors voted against it. When the freeport was being debated recently, Labour activists sought to undermine the efforts of Ben Houchen in bringing jobs into that area. The economic policies of those on the Opposition Front Bench that would undermine what is being done.
Teesside has been transformed thanks to Conservative leadership, and in the Budget most recently, Eston—which for 20 years Labour had promised it would invest in, but where it never spent a penny—secured £20 million to see that community at last given the money it needs, so that people’s pride in that place can be supported by central Government. For decades, Teesside was neglected and overlooked by Labour, and it is still being undermined and attacked by Labour, but it depends on Conservatives for its future. That is levelling up in action.
Court case imminent:
Sent: 22 March 2023 17:34
Subject: FINAL WARNING - media corruption being called out! LYING TO THE MASSES
Soo Chapman
Tobias
Ellwood Chair, Defence Committee, Chair,
Defence Committee, Chair, Defence Sub-Committee, Chair, Defence Sub-Committee
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the provision of early years childcare in Bournemouth East constituency.
Sent: 24 March 2023 21:06
To: tobias.
Subject: Michael Gove still not spelling out the deadly dangers of Carbon. Eco-disaster in Tees estuary.
Soo Chapman
Sent: 25 March 2023 19:41
To: tobias.e...@parliament.uk <tobias.e...@parliament.uk>; michael...@parliament.uk <michael
Subject: Wilful Obstruction of Environmental Literacy as the world burns.
Soo Chapman
This is Lawyers are responsible: -
Sent: 26 March 2023 22:45
To: tobias.ellwoo
Subject: Wilful Obstruction of Environmental Literacy & filthy Perenco's muck in Poole Harbour
Soo Chapman
As the IPCC report warns disaster beckons, Tim Root discusses extensive research showing how climate
emergency campaigns could become much more effective
Climate breakdown threatens all humanity in a much more devastating and final manner than any other problem, but a recent IPCC report emphasises that it is not yet being given the overriding priority it needs. Extreme weather events have become more frequent and severe, causing destruction which cost seven times more in 2010-19 than in 1970-79. Even in the very unlikely event that all governments’ climate targets were achieved, a dreadful temperature rise of approximately 1.8°C is estimated, causing even more death and destruction. As many experts have emphasised, every fraction of a degree is significant to prevent increasing devastation. We are approaching various tipping points at which temperature rise would set off Earth system reactions, causing even greater temperature rise. Therefore, we must work out how to gain the economic and political power to cut emissions drastically.
Yet again, governments have shown that they are very unlikely to take sufficient action to slow climate breakdown. When world economic activity climbed back up towards pre-pandemic levels in 2021, government support for fossil fuels rose enormously. This led the director of the International Energy Agency to emphasise the need for “a surge in investment in clean energy”. But governments are allowing the exact opposite. Since 2020, fossil fuel producers have spent $160bn developing new sources of oil and gas, which would lead to additional emissions equivalent to those of the USA over a staggering 24 years.
Some climate successes
These huge setbacks should not cause us to overlook the influence of the climate movement, which has achieved some very significant breakthroughs. For instance, the Biden government’s Inflation Reduction Act will stimulate considerable increased investment in renewable energy. The European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is likely, in a few years’ time, to cut most major global manufacturers’ emissions from goods production and may be copied by other developed nations. The Welsh Government cancelled all its major planned new roads.
Governments seen as incompetent.....
While millions of people are struggling with the cost of living crisis Rishi Sunak has spent thousands of pounds upgrading his local power grid, just so he can heat his swanky new private swimming pool. [1]
The Prime Minister may have sorted out his own energy needs, but what about the rest of us? The national grid desperately needs an upgrade - it’s too old and slow to take the cheap green renewable energy we need to bring our bills down.
So we decided to pay him a visit to highlight his hypocrisy… and demand a national grid upgrade for the rest of us. [2]
PM will pick up cost of upgrade work in North Yorkshire, and no suggestion he received preferential treatment
Rishi Sunak’s new private heated swimming pool uses so much energy that the local electricity network had to be upgraded to meet its power demands, the Guardian has been told.
While many Britons are facing increased electricity bills – and are trying to limit their energy usage – extra equipment was recently installed in a remote part of North Yorkshire to provide extra capacity from the National Grid to the prime minister’s constituency home.
Sent: 29 March 2023 14:48
To: tobias.e...@pa.uk>
Subject: "Blood on their Hands": Wilful Obstruction of Environmental Literacy. Filthy muck and Genocide. as seen on TV!
Soo Chapman
Dear Mr Barclay,
We, the undersigned, write to ask you to work with us, and other NHS professionals, to take decisive action on the environmental and health crisis. As Health Secretary, you have responsibility for the health of the UK population and—as health professionals—it is our duty to speak out when human health and wellbeing is at risk.
Reports by the United Nations, Lancet Countdown and NASA—as well as thousands of scientists, globally—are stressing the need for urgent, additional action to tackle the environmental and health crisis, emphasising that wealthier nations are still not doing enough to prevent its predicted catastrophic consequences. Moreover, independent reports have highlighted a significant gap between the UK Government targets for decarbonisation and what is required to secure a safe and liveable future.
As you will remember, last year is thought to be the hottest the UK has ever experienced, with temperatures life-threateningly high at more than 40°C. Over 3,000 excess deaths were recorded during these heatwave periods and—as NHS staff—we witnessed the effects, first hand. Unfortunately, last summer’s events may now be a ‘new normal’ for those of us working in the NHS. We are the people treating patients with severe dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, pressure sores, smoke inhalation, burns, and sudden cardiac arrests because of intense heat. We are the people who manage the life-threatening asthma attacks in children caused by air pollution spikes near their homes—and who treat their infections picked up from paddling in what used to be safe rivers and seas, but have turned into sewage dumping grounds. We discharge patients in the knowledge that we will likely see them again because of inaction in tackling the dangers that made them ill; fully aware that, next time, they may not survive. We do all of this work in infrastructure wholly unfit for extreme temperatures, putting our own health at risk. For the sake of everyone's health, as a country, we must do more.
Year on year, scientists warn us that we will witness more and more devastation—the likes of which the world has never seen—and the consequences of which are unimaginable. Wildfires, flash floods, climate-related migration, and inequality each bring health consequences. Antimicrobial resistance and further pandemics are looming crises, exacerbated by climate change and biodiversity loss, and researchers are yet to fully understand the long-term effects of widespread plastic pollution and pesticide use. As NHS staff, we are frightened of what we’re faced with in an already suffering health and social care system—but we also have hope because so many of the solutions to the environmental crisis will improve health outcomes and reduce health inequalities.
Our window for action is closing. We have under a decade to make the necessary changes to prevent passing irreversible climate and biodiversity tipping points. We call on you, and your colleagues across the health and social care system, to provide full transparency on the predicted effects of climate change on human health, and to increase the UK’s ambition—in line with the best available science—to give us the highest chance of securing a liveable future.
By supporting new, joined-up and science-led environmental legislation, the UK Government can act in a way that reflects the urgency of this environmental and health crisis. We therefore call on you to support and pass the Climate and Ecology Bill, which can deliver a joined up, science-led action plan—aligning UK policy with its agreed international climate and biodiversity targets—and demonstrate global leadership in tackling the crisis we face by accelerating the transition to a renewable energy system.
Enshrining the Climate and Ecology Bill into law would ensure:
- A joined-up approach to tackling the interconnected climate and nature crises—in order to prevent the increasing impacts of these crises on our mental and physical health.
- That the UK remains within a fair share carbon budget to give us the last, best chance of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. This includes the UK taking responsibility for its emissions from imports, aviation, and shipping—and ensuring an end to the exploration, extraction, export and import of fossil fuels.
- That biodiversity loss is halted and reversed by 2030 (against a 2020 baseline) in line with the Government’s stated ambition—which it championed at the recent UN biodiversity summit, COP15, last December.
Urgent reforms are needed to safeguard our health and wellbeing—and that of our children and future generations. This work cannot be delayed any longer, as every fraction of a degree of global warming costs lives. Would you therefore meet with us to discuss the worsening health risks that the environmental crisis is causing—and to discuss how, as health professionals, we can strengthen your plans to tackle the environmental and health emergency?
Yours sincerely,
Dr Matthew Lee, Sustainability Lead, Doctors’ Association UK
Dr Amy McDonnell, Director, Zero Hour
Dr Ellen Welch, Co-Chair, Doctors' Association UK
Dr Richard Smith, Chair, UK Health Alliance on Climate Change
Professor Mark Hannaford DSC (Hon) FEWM, Founder, World Extreme Medicine
Professor Mike Wang, Chair, Association of Clinical Psychologists UK
Dr Rebecca Chasey, Co-Chair, ACP-UK's Climate Action Network
Dr Gareth Morgan, Co-Chair, ACP-UK's Climate Action Network
Rachel Stancliffe, Founder & Director, Centre for Sustainable Healthcare
Juliet Tizzard, Director of External Affairs, Parkinson's UK
Steve Trent, CEO and Founder, Environmental Justice Foundation
Lucie Russell, CEO, StreetDoctors
Professor Mabs Chowdhury, President, British Association of Dermatologists
Simon Morrison, CEO, British Association of Dermatologists
Sent: 30 March 2023 15:34
To: tobias.e...@parliament.uk <tobias.e...@parliament.uk>; michael...@parliament.tv>; politi...@bbc.co.uk <politi...@bbc.co.uk>
Cc: BEIScorre...@beis.n.mp@parliament.uk <anna.mcm...@parliament.uk>
Subject: STRIKING LACK OF PREPARATION "Blood on their Hands"
Soo Chapman
We've updated the environmental sustainability ratings on our Good Fish Guide in line with the latest scientific advice.
We reviewed 186 environmental ratings for seafood, with 20 seafood ratings moving to the ‘Fish to Avoid’ list and only 15 seafood ratings joining the green-rated, ‘Best Choice’ list with this season's ratings update. Unfortunately, Northeast Atlantic mackerel has moved on to the amber list, having been on the charity’s green list since before 2011.
Populations of mackerel in the past have been large enough to withstand fishing, however, in recent years the population has been in steady decline.
An amber rating means that improvements are needed – in this case, better management to end overfishing of the stock.
Mackerel is caught by various states, including Norway, Iceland, the UK, and the EU. Currently, these countries are not working together to tackle overfishing of the species.
Everyone involved generally agrees that scientific limits should not be exceeded, but they don’t agree on how to divide the catches between themselves. Consequently, quotas have been higher than scientifically recommended limits since 2009, exceeding them by as much as 80% in some years.
In October 2021, the main fishing states again agreed that total mackerel catches in 2022 should not exceed the scientific advice, but not how the catches should be divided. The combined catch limits set by all countries for 2022 exceeded advice by 42%.
During March 2023, countries met to decide how to divide the next set of quotas. Frustratingly, whilst they agreed that, ‘good progress had been made’, they have not yet been able to agree a way forward. Talks are ongoing with the hope of reaching an agreement, but in the meantime this important species continues to be threatened by overfishing.
It’s not just important for fishers. Mackerel is important prey for whales, dolphins, and tuna. Removing too much of this key species could have wider environmental impacts. In a warming climate, our ocean is already facing significant challenges. These kinds of changes to delicate food webs are an unwanted additional pressure.
International cooperation is the only way to fix this problem, and UK governments must lead by example. We need to see countries agree on quotas, and extra management measures being put in place to protect stocks.
Charlotte Coombes, Good Fish Guide Manager
Sent: 09 April 2023 09:16
To: tobias.e...@n.mp@paor a....@parliament.uk <ment.uk>;p...@conservatives.com>
Soo Chapman
Indigenous land defenders in British Columbia continue to be criminalized for protecting the environment. They're intimidated and arrested. Their title rights are ignored.
On March 29, more than a dozen RCMP officers raided Wet’suwet’en territory. They arrested five land defenders who oppose construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline on their territory. The raid took place only nine months after prosecutors in B.C. laid criminal-contempt charges against 19 land defenders who also protested the pipeline project.
We must take action now by calling on the federal and provincial government to end the criminalisation of Wet’suwet’en land defenders.
Sent: 10 April 2023 11:39
To: tobias.ellwood.mp <stephen.b...@parliament.uk>; suella.braverman.mp@parlia leadDefra-Helpline,
Subject: Marine Conservation Society; Hold Back on the Mackerel! Attenborough's repeated warnings for ocean health are NOT BEING HEEDED.
Soo Chapman
The world's top court will for the first time advise on countries' legal obligations to fight climate change, following a UN resolution on Wednesday.
The International Court of Justice will now prepare an advisory opinion that could be cited in climate court cases.
The motion came from Vanuatu, a low-lying Pacific island nation facing peril from rising sea levels.
Vanuatu's Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau called it "a win for climate justice of epic proportions".
The motion, sponsored by more than 130 countries, was greeted with cheers.
The idea for the legal opinion was originally proposed by law students in Fiji four years ago.
It was then taken up by Vanuatu, a country with bitter experience of the impacts of rising temperatures.
Earlier this year it , at an estimated cost in damages of roughly half the country's annual GDP.
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The likes of Kemi Badenoch, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, were keen to tell people this was a massive success, despite the government estimating that it will increase UK gross domestic product by just 0.08% over a decade. That amounts to £1.8bn. Slow hand clap for the government.
It’s since emerged however that even the 0.08% figure is exaggerated. Small print contained in the document published by the Department for International Trade suggests calculations could have been intentionally juiced up to make the deal sound more appealing. Read more about it here, as the government desperately tries to present, against the facts, that Brexit is a success.
A year on since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, we can reveal that the Conservative Party is still receiving large donations from individuals and companies with links to Russia.
Our investigation shows that, since the start of the war in 2022, the Conservatives have accepted at least £243,000 from Russia-associated donors -including at least £61,000 into Tory coffers in 2023 alone.
Here’s what we discovered:
Lubov Chernukhin, a Russian Conservative donor married to Vladimir Putin's former deputy finance minister has continued to donate large sums of money to the party. Since the onset of war, Mrs Chernukhin has handed £175,000 to the Tories. Overall she has donated more than £2m to the Conservative party.
Lubov Chernukhin, a British and Russian citizen, is married to Vladimir Chernukhin, a former deputy finance minister under Vladimir Putin and chairman of Russian state corporation VEB.RF, which has previously been sanctioned by the UK.
Aquind, a British cabling company controlled by Russian oil tycoon Viktor Fedotov, has donated £42,000 to the Conservative party in the past 14 months, including a £10,000 cash donation to Liam Fox MP reported in January this year.
Fedetov’s ties to Russia have been well documented, with reports suggesting he made at least £72m from an offshore financial structure that appears to have funneled money from Russian companies.
Alexander Temerko, a major Tory donor and Aquind director has donated a further £10,000 to the Tories during the same period. Temerko has donated over £700,000 in total.
Good Law Project will continue to investigate who is really donating to MPs and ministers within our democracy and having undue influence over our politics. We will share with you what we find and explore legal challenges we can undertake.
*****************************************************************
Saving Scotland's blue
It’s already a shell of what was.
Scotland’s coastline as many of our grandparents knew it was a veritable cornucopia of brilliant, blue wildlife. A plunge beneath the waves could reveal everything from oyster beds to basking sharks. A short boat trip could receive visits from porpoises with a sea eagle overhead.
Up and down the coast the deluge of life was never-ending.
But today, in comparison, we are left with a very different coastline. A scarred sea floor, animals washing up dead with stomachs full of plastic, fish stocks collapsing, acidification, toxic pollution and seabird numbers crashing.
For so much of Scotland, all that is being left is the ghost town of an empty grey seabed.
Yet somehow, amidst an unbearably bleak backdrop, there is hope for the future.
One area where hope shines brightest is the Arran coast.
Through community action the seabed has been protected from the most damaging fishing practices and is recovering; the seals and seven-armed starfish are able to swim among flame shells, pipefish and octopuses.
Arran’s community came together just in time, and have shown that, with the resources, there’s still time to turn the tide.
So, through your donations, we want to support other communities to take similar action across the nation.
Through your support, we’ll need to build nurseries for marine life and rally local people. We’ll need to put boats on the waves, stand up to destructive fishing and stop plastic pollution.
Saving Scotland’s coastline will take all of that and more, but - if we can get the funding in place and act soon - we can still reverse its nosedive.
That way we can protect what once was - and save countless Scottish animals’ lives.
Sent: 11 April 2023 16:35
To: tobias.ellwo
Cc: BEIScorrespondence@ombership@conservatives.com>
Subject: Please protect those trying to keep Mother Nature breathing.
Soo Chapman
Save Talbot Heath fb page:
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I spoke out against Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Budget of missed opportunities. I urged the Chancellor to end massive oil & gas subsidies and fund a mass home insulation programme; and introduce a wealth tax on the richest 1%, raising up to £70 billion to fund a proper pay rise for public sector workers – but he didn’t make those choices. I’m glad he froze beer duty, which is good news for Brighton’s pubs – now all small businesses should receive green grants or vouchers to cut energy bills for the long-term. But with Brighton & Hove facing an acute housing crisis, comprehensive grant funding to enable councils to build warm, affordable and zero carbon social housing was shamefully absent. On BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions, I argued the Budget showed this is a Government is run by millionaires, for millionaires. |
'Green Day' |
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I criticised the Government’s ‘Green Day’ plan – of which the greenest thing was the recycling of already announced ideas. For all its bluster, the Government laboured and brought forth a mouse – with Ministers gambling on unproven-at-scale technologies like carbon capture and storage, and incredibly slow and costly nuclear white elephants. There was no removal of the onshore wind ban, no mandatory solar panels on new homes, and no properly funded mass insulation programme. This was a criminally wasted opportunity to take real action and address the climate emergency. You can watch me discuss the plans on Sky News. |
Refugee Ban Bill |
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I ripped up a copy of Suella Braverman’s Illegal Migration Bill during a House of Commons debate on the legislation. In the words of British Somali poet Warsan Shire, “no-one puts their children in a boat, unless the water is safer than the land; unless home is the mouth of a shark or the barrel of a gun”. Yet Braverman continues to stir up division and hate, defend the indefensible, break international law and launch a profound attack on asylum, blocking people seeking safety from ever being granted protection or justice. She invited Parliament to rip up international law by supporting her Bill - the only act of a Parliament that has any kind of moral integrity is to rip up her illegal and immoral Bill itself, which has no place on our statute book. Watch my speech in the House of Commons. |
Solar 'Rooftop Revolution' |
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I led a Westminster Hall debate urging the Government to make solar panels mandatory on all suitable new homes. Mandatory rooftop solar is a win-win: lower energy bills, reduced carbon emissions, improved energy security, thousands of new high-skilled jobs, and no cost to the taxpayer. Solar panels are going onto domestic roofs at just half the speed that's needed to meet the Government’s own targets, so it's time to pick up the pace. If we're going to secure a liveable future – with clean, green, abundant & affordable renewables – we need to see a real rooftop revolution. You can watch my debate speech here, and read my article in BusinessGreen. |
Energy Charter Treaty |
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I’ve urged the Government to withdraw from the deeply dangerous Energy Charter Treaty. This treaty is the dirtiest deal you've never heard of – it lets fossil fuel giants sue Governments for adopting climate laws and policies that could threaten their already obscenely high profits. Many other countries have already withdrawn, and the entire EU bloc is also about to pull out – yet in the UK, Ministers are merely “monitoring” the situation. I wrote an article for The Times arguing that the Government must withdraw from this climate-wrecking treaty immediately. |
Sewage on Brighton beach |
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I condemned Ministers’ attempts to end sewage dumping as a pitiful plan from a wet wipe Government. Brighton beach has been one of the worst affected in the whole country – Southern Water discharged sewage 45 times last year, over a total of more than 107 hours. Our rivers and seas aren't just full of plastic wipes, as the Government seems to think – they're full of chemicals, toxic waste and literal shit. The whole system needs an overhaul – that’s why the Green Party would bring profiteering private water firms like Southern Water back into public hands. I tweeted about the story here. |
Poole oil spill |
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Where there's drilling, there's spilling – as shown by the recent devastating spill of 200 barrels of toxic fluid leaking into Poole Harbour, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and marine protection zone. There have been 721 North Sea oil spills in last 3 years alone – yet rather than stop opening new sites, the Government refuses to review the Planning Inspectorate’s decision to allow testing for shale oil drilling in Balcombe – in the middle of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. I’ve urged the Government to tackle oil spills, and review the Balcombe shale oil drilling decision. When climate-wrecking fossil fuels are prioritised above all else, nature pays the price. Watch my question in the House of Commons. |
Mothers hunger strike |
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I stood in solidarity with brave mothers on hunger strike, highlighting extreme food poverty ahead of Mother’s Day. The rate of food poverty in the UK is among the worst in Europe – and as food insecurity worsens due in part to the climate emergency, millions of children around the world are at risk of extreme hunger and malnutrition. Meanwhile, the Government fans the flames of these interlinked crises by cutting the overseas aid budget and handing over billions in public subsidies to fossil fuel companies. We should strive for a world where no child goes hungry, and no mother should have to skip meals to feed her children. |
Renters' rights |
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It was great to meet with representatives from Acorn Brighton, to show support for their Renters Demand Action campaign. British homes are amongst the worst insulated in Europe, and 4.4 million private rented sector households in England have the coldest, leakiest, lowest quality homes, and worst levels of damp. In order to provide renters with need safe, affordable homes, the Government must end no-fault evictions, offer stable long-term tenancies as standard, introduce rent caps to stop spiralling rent prices, and bring forward the Renters Reform Bill to protect tenants and keep them warm. I tweeted about the campaign here. |
Iftar dinner |
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It was so lovely to hear the amazing Ukrainian Voices Choir again at the Dialogue Society’s annual Iftar dinner, and to celebrate all the extraordinary work done by so many community and faith groups in Brighton and Hove. |
Sent: 12 April 2023 11:13
To: tobias.ellwo
Subject: Vanuatu at International Criminal Court. Heroes and zeroes.
Soo Chapman
Sent: 14 April 2023 11:02
To: tobias.ellwood.m <
Subject: Could the Holocene leaders please move aside for the Environmentally Literate
Soo Chapman
|
US banks have oil — and blood — on their hands. It’s been 7 years since the Paris Agreement, and instead of taking meaningful climate action or investing in our future, the world’s biggest banks have done nothing but lie, hide behind loopholes, and gaslight us with paper policies they’re not living up to — all while they’re lining the fossil fuel industry’s pockets with over $5.5 TRILLION. These banks have kept polluting companies like Exxon, Chevron, and Shell in business for decades, at a time when they should be rapidly divesting from the climate chaos Big Oil is directly fueling. Well, we’re not going to let these banks hide behind empty promises — so we’re putting them on blast. Our latest Banking On Climate Chaos report has the receipts of all their nasty financing: Help us call out Bank of America, one of the world’s worst fossil fuel bankers. |
Filthy muck and lies in the UK
Friends of the Earth’s head of policy, Mike Childs, said: “For far too long
transport policy has been dominated by motoring and road building, with its consequential and largely ignored impact on climate change and air pollution.
“Britain’s transport system needs a change of direction with priority given to better public transport and cycling infrastructure instead of more motoring. Billions of pounds are being squandered on more road-building when more pressing needs are vastly underfunded – from rural buses to home insulation.”
Dr Doug Parr, policy director for Greenpeace UK, added: “Any government which, in the middle of a climate emergency, finds itself planning for a major programme of new roads can count itself as a failure.”
The government recently blocked the release of the carbon emission figures behind its transport decarbonisation plan. It blocked academics from seeing the figures, which include data on how much car use would have to be reduced in order to reach net zero commitments.
Campaigners say meeting these legally binding targets will be possible only with a drastic reduction in motor traffic, which could make many new road projects financially unviable.
A DfT spokesperson said: “This is incorrect. We are committed to delivering our net zero ambition and this hasn’t changed since we published our world-leading transport decarbonisation plan. In line with best analytical practice, the department continually reviews its projections and makes changes when appropriate to ensure plans are based on the latest scientific data.”
Filthy global trade
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If the world’s finest scientists announced that our civilisation was in grave danger, and only radical changes made right now could save the day, you’d expect there to be a bit of a fuss.
Yet the new IPCC Report summarising a decade of climate science concluded just that, even after heavy editing by governments safeguarding the oil and meat industries, and it (at best) made news headlines for a day.
Even more amazingly, the governments most culpable for this spiralling disaster have committed to making it worse, greenlighting more fossil fuel extraction and ensuring that the drastic emission cuts that the report urgently calls for are impossible.
Yet again, our governments and media have shown us that they cannot wield their power responsibly. Which leaves us with no choice but to rely on people power
Sent: 17 April 2023 14:36
To: tobias.ellwootee <beiscom@pa
Subject: Constituent request for PLAN for our safety please: Gas-chambered by dirty energy
Soo Chapman
Dear Tobias Ellwood,
Please note what's happening this weekend.
Despite all media and political inertia, citizens are requesting a future.
We look forward to meeting you and your colleagues.
Thanks,
Susan Chapman
A message from XR:
We will say it again, just in case: we have no plans to disrupt the Marathon.
But less about what won’t happen, and more about what will:
- Tens of thousands of people gathering to share their alarm at the Government’s inaction in the face of the escalating climate crisis
- The support and presence of more than 200 organisations including Avaaz, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Patagonia, trade unions, faith groups, parent and community groups
- Marches,
rallies, people’s pickets and 130+ community events to connect, inspire, share, learn and create
- More than 90 speakers and performers, including Chris Packham, Zadie Smith, Ben Okri, Juliet Stevenson, Mike Berners Lee and Brian Eno
The Big One is an opportunity to demand that the Government represents the three
quarters of its citizens who are worried about climate change.
People in power want to stop us. Of course they do. If they were with us, we wouldn’t need to protest.
**************************************************************************
Playing down the crises c/o mainstream media:
But all channels, even "mainstream" ones, have aired arguments that say the high cost of taking action on climate change is a significant obstacle to tackling the problem. This assertion misrepresents the economics of climate change according to Aled Jones, director of the Global Sustainability Institute at Anglia Ruskin University.
"The three most prevalent myths about tackling climate change allege that transitioning to renewable energy jacks up household bills, requires massive amounts of government subsidy and creates mass unemployment. These concerns are all (thankfully) false," he says.
Jones studied instances from the past 30 years when governments succeeded in using public investment and regulation to rapidly deploy renewable energy. He found that cost-benefit analyses tended to impede this process by misconceiving the economy as a static entity which always operates in an optimal way.
"This perspective assumes that policy can do little to disrupt the structure of existing markets. The meteoric rise of entirely new sectors over the last decade, such as the global electric vehicle market and offshore wind, show that policy can in fact drive radical changes," Jones adds.
The changing face of climate scepticism in the media was identified by a study published in 2020. Lead author Stuart Capstick, a research fellow in psychology at the University of Cardiff, explains:
"Outright denial of climate change is becoming rarer, but is simply being replaced by more subtle ways of downplaying the need for urgent and far-reaching action."
"Some of these arguments direct responsibility to others ('what about China?') or stress the supposed downsides of taking action ('why should ordinary people pay?'). At other times, past achievements or future plans may be emphasised when pushing solutions that aren’t likely to make a dent in greenhouse gas emissions ('we have world-beating climate targets'), or it may simply be argued that it is now too late to do anything anyway ('the climate apocalypse is coming')," he says.
*********************************************************************
And if you made it this far, thanks for
reading!Sent: 18 April 2023 10:50
To: tobias.e...@parliament.uk <tobias.e...@parliament.uk>; Morning Live <mornin...@bbc.co.uk>; michael...@parliament.uk <michael...@parliament.uk>; claire.c...@parliament.uk <claire.c...@parliament.uk>; con...@sundaymorninglive.tv <con...@sundaymorninglive.tv>; politi...@bbc.co.uk <politi...@bbc.co.uk>; BAKER, Steve <steve.b...@parliament.uk>; stephen.b...@parliament.uk <stephen.b...@parliament.uk>; suella.br...@parliament.uk <suella.br...@parliament.uk>
Cc: BEIScorre...@beis.gov.uk on behalf of BEIS Correspondence Team <BEIScorre...@beis.gov.uk>; Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee <bei...@parliament.uk>; corresp...@levellingup.gov.uk <corresp...@levellingup.gov.uk>; kuens...@bbc.co.uk <kuens...@bbc.co.uk>; BBC <b...@bbc.co.uk>; bbcbre...@bbc.co.uk <bbcbre...@bbc.co.uk>; p...@dorset.pnn.police.uk <p...@dorset.pnn.police.uk>; 1...@dorset.pnn.police.uk <1...@dorset.pnn.police.uk>; Rishi Sunak <pmpos...@no10.gov.uk>; Leader's Office <lea...@libdems.org.uk>; lea...@labour.org.uk <lea...@labour.org.uk>; SM-Defra-Helpline, Defra (MCU) <defra.h...@defra.gov.uk>; con...@lambethpalace.org.uk <con...@lambethpalace.org.uk>; anna.mcm...@parliament.uk <anna.mcm...@parliament.uk>; membe...@conservatives.com <membe...@conservatives.com>
Subject: Disgusting muck, lies and cover-ups. More filthy global trade.
Soo Chapman
DONNACHADH
MCCARTHY: an environmental auditor, author and columnist, and co-founder of the Climate Media Coalition.
RACHEL
DONALD: a journalist investigating climate corruption and creator of the ‘Planet Critical’ podcast.
DOREEN
CUNNINGHAM: an author who worked at the BBC World service for 20 years. JON
FULLER: a long-time activist for truth-telling in the media about environmental breakdown. LAUTARO
ILLAYUX: Colombian activist involved in youth work with the Colombian Ministry for Culture .
MELINDA
JANKI: Is an international lawyer who has worked in the oil industry. She has filed the biggest climate change case in the world to stop a 5 gigaton carbon bomb offshore Guyana. She has filed another 6 cases and already successfully cut down ExxonMobil’s environmental
permits from 20 years to 5 years. Melinda was awarded the prestigious Commonwealth Lawyers Association /Lexis Nexis Rule of Law Award for her work to uphold the rule of law in the face of the threat from the fossil fuel industry.Our right to have a say on what is built in our local areas is at risk. The Government is changing the rules on how decisions are made on roads, homes, power stations – anything that needs permission to be built.
We have started this petition to make the Government give us a right to have a say on the rules for making decisions on roads, homes, and renewable energy.
Silencing the people’s voice on what happens in their local communities would be disastrous for the places we all live and the unique viewpoints, culture and situations that are found across the whole of the United Kingdom. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill is an unprecedented attack on local democracy which would leave local people powerless as the Government could construct anything on “crown land” without ever consulting local people.
Right now, the “local plan”, created by local councils and in consultation with local residents, is the most important factor in decisions on what is built in a local area. For example, a developer might want to get permission for housing, but it’s going to be hard to get permission if its not in the “local plan”. Without the “local plan” being the most important factor, new coal fields, fracking sites, prisons, detention centres and housing developments that are strongly opposed by those living nearby, could get the green light from the Government in England, and override local plans.
We are Aide, Joshua, Rhianna and Theo, we’re from a student group for action on climate change in Lincolnshire. We are so worried about these changes because of the harm that this can cause to our environment and to our futures as the Government makes our voice even less important in our local area.
It is my future and the future of other people like me that is being decided now. 600,000 development decisions are made every year in England alone. We need as many people as possible to sign the petition to stop these changes to the law being made.
Sent: 18 April 2023 10:50
Subject: Disgusting muck, lies and cover-ups. More filthy global trade.
Soo Chapman
Subject: Re: Climate ... local election ...
Well done Soo on all your work and effort .... I don't think there was any tv coverage locally from London ...
Here is some of the latest on escalating ocean temperatures - BBC report
Rapid Ocean Warming ..
"This month, the global sea surface hit a new record high temperature. It has never warmed this much, this quickly."
I always think reasoned argument - as good science - will win out. But then many millions in the country very busy preoccupied dealing with daily life bringing up families aren't they.
That is why leadership nationally and locally is everything isn't it.
At least the new King and family are on board for all issues climate and environment - if he is not muted by political influence. And all the main broadcasters (BBC and Sky) are reporting regularly and most media are making efforts ... and world-wide many politicians not least Al Gore - along with COPP every year now it seems ... momentum is growing ...
But yes BCP abysmal - appalling ...
best
J
--------------------
I always think
Thanks so much J,
Tens of thousands of us have been in London for The Big One this weekend.
Glorious funny, encouraging speeches with a vision for a clean future, lots of witty costumes and a determined but upbeat atmosphere.
And hero Jon Fuller on ITV news with the Tell the Truth team warning of immense suffering for the young ahead as we overheat our only home. This is beyond cruel, beyond neglect, utterly insane.
Yet the delusional literature through our doors from the Conservatives still pretends the Anthropocene has not hit planet Earth. On with the Air Show, the trashing of Wessex Fields and all power to the poor old deprived motorists.
Meanwhile Vanuatu citizens are losing their homes, spending half their GDP on defences, and heading to the International Court for Justice.
Our gas chambering atmosphere now climbs historically high and humanity is now becoming oven-ready.
423 parts per million CO2!!! It should be 280 ppm.
What an idiot species we are turning out to be. Broadmoor policies must go if we'd like a chance to survive.
Many thanks,
Soo
From:
Sent: 21 April 2023 17:19
To: Mike.Wbcpcouuncil.gov.uk>
Subject: Climate ... local election ...
Doubts over Progress of BCP Climate Strategy
Areas of BCP that could be underwater within ten years ...
BCP Councillors ...
Can any Cllr explain why in this conurbation we end with a council lead for Net Zero Carbon Emissions who tells us his proudest local achievement is "leading the successful fight to save Bournemouth from the threat of Navitus Wind Farm" ????
In a world of gathering climate catastrophe - not "will happen" is happening and has been for decades - we have a lead Cllr who tells us a wind farm generating IGW of clean carbon free energy is a "threat".
And all the more unbelievable a man who has studied at one of Britain's premier universities. Studying mathematics but it seems all too clear floundering when it comes to logic.
Enormous carbon dioxide emissions over a century and a half has and is doing huge damage to the climate locking in excess heat.
The climate has become more and more unstable. With ever rising pollution feedback - classic vicious circle - rate of destabilisation is exponential.
The only solution to abate escalation is the removal of carbon sources. All systems burning fossil fuels. And do our utmost to bring in clean energy sources.
The most credible of these large scale solar and wind power. The more offshore wind (the most effective) the more aggregate national power.
That is the logic Cllr Greene. There is no credible counter argument. Escalating climate devastation happening now is global. And you want to tell us a hugely important wind farm is a "threat".
Not the most benign climate project this county could ever have backed?
And you want to tell us all but council token insulation work is "world beating".
"World beating" Cllr Greene would have been 1,000 Mega Watts of clean off-shore carbon energy for decades to come.
That would have made a vast difference with admiration from around the world. But you sold us out - for the hotels and nightclub economy. And irony of irony huge tracks of Bournemouth retail has collapsed anyway.
Cllr Butt well said the issue is "really really serious" - Cllr Slade well said commending working with Friends of the Earth - and Cllr Hadley well said exactly "the world is burning" - before our eyes.
Spot on Cllrs one and all but what are you all doing now but handing this election once again to the Tories !!!
It is beyond belief.
Why are you - non-Tory parties - not collaborating??
Why have you all - Lib Dems, Poole parties, Labour, Greens, Independents - not come to arrangements in wards not to end up neutralising each other?
300 candidates in the thirty three wards. It's so tragic so many candidates in so many wards will simply take votes off each other and we end with Tory majorities.
20 or less than a 100 votes in swing wards will determine who takes power in BCP wont it. And you all leave it open season for Tories to again get back in.
You were all very happy to form the Alliance four years ago its impossible to understand why Alliance members this time around are not making effort to work together.
So I am sorry Cllr Butt, Cllr Slade, Cllr Hadley and all others in "other parties and none" as far as the Tories doing enormous damage to our towns and lives a large share of responsibility falls on your parties doesn't it not working together to see them off.
Cllr Greene et al are of course all one with big business. That's their world - everyone is in "property" or not well defined "business". As Cllrs they think they can influence big business. But they don't and we end with Cllr Green's view that members of parties and movements who commit their lives to climate and environmental sciences would at meetings be nuisances.
Unwelcome. Not what Tory leads want at their meetings. Too well informed. Too many probing questions.
One message this election - Anyone but the Tories.
And with all due respect to one-time Conservative Cllrs out-flanked by the right wing Brexit Tory factions of their party.
Highest policy concern this election - climate and environment.
Of course NHS and health, and schools, and social services and police and roads and transport - huge demands in all directions. But whatever we must have climate literate councillors. Not men and women who refuse to take the hard decisions - stop the mass polluting air show - bring Navitus proposals back onto the public agenda - or quite simply do not understand the enormity of what we are dealing with.
And as far as public engagement Cllr Butt to which you refer you will I am sure be aware many of us in the pubic are engaging week on week year on year. A recent selection below and attached - six lead letters on climate in two weeks. Plus the Echo report on predicted flooding in low lying Christchurch and Poole.
And add on to this for policy we have to have of highest urgency large scale tree planting. I have appealed this for years - stood on Branksome Rec with a PFH and senior officer - appealing half this Rec and all recreation grounds must be planted for long term woodland. I even offered to fund a couple of dozen trees put in whatever was needed to get it going.
But in eight years now no action. Everyone in BCP fast asleep. Or in Cllr Greene's words trajectories not quite right. As in the Elon Musk spaceship - creating 140 tons of toxic gas and waste up to 40 miles into the atmosphere. No matter a big toy for the boys to play with.
And on the mater of pollution BCP might for once try really hard and do the right and honest thing when it comes to sewage in our seas and rivers. For the beaches put up red flag when there are sewage overflows. Not blue flags for tourist in the summer but red flags year round whenever there is sewage discharge - or oil spills.
But then we don't want that do we Cllr Greene - associating Sandbanks beaches with sewage and oil spills. Too much truth. As ever from Tories don't deal with the issue post it over to public relations ... until as with climate is overwhelms us.
Disastrous overheating must not be allowed to happen
Our leaders are failing to protect us from catastrophic climate
We must put our home planet on life support
Criticism of climate campaigners misjudged
Climate situation is dire but we can act
The state of this country has become unspeakable
from
April 21st 2023
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Sent: 24 April 2023 08:19ess, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee <bei...@parliament.uk>;
Subject: Telling the Truth about environmental collapse: Inspirational Jon Fuller's post
Soo Chapman
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Sent: 26 April 2023 11:17
To: tobias.e...@parlice.uk <
Subject: Rishi on the run....where's the PLAN for our well-being and survival?
Soo Chapman
REGEN says
The UK has made important progress, with 60% of power generation now low carbon and a growing fleet of storage. We also have ambitious goals. The government’s net zero power by 2035 target has been followed by Labour’s ‘Clean Energy Superpower’ mission.
Right now, however, investors are sending warning signals that the climate for clean energy investment in the UK is deteriorating and many new renewable generation projects, storage facilities or hydrogen electrolysers coming forward won’t get a grid connection date until after 2035.
That’s why the new House of Commons Select Committee report on decarbonising the power system needs to be a watershed moment. The report is crystal clear that the current pace of change is not fast enough and the existing policy framework “includes some gaps and risks”.
This month’s bulletin focuses on two “gaps and risks” where Regen has been pressing for change - policies on CfD’s and Capacity Market.
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Marine Conservation Society says
Late last year, we announced that we're taking legal action against the UK Government. This week, we've got some progress to share. |
The hearing date for our landmark sewage legal case will be 4-6th July 2023. |
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With the confirmation of our hearing date, we’re one step closer to protecting our seas from sewage pollution.
Our research shows that raw sewage is being uncontrollably dumped directly into English seas, home to incredible wildlife and vital habitats, like seagrass. Areas that should be protected are threatened by a harmful cocktail of pollutants.
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Sent: 28 April 2023 13:13
To: tobias.ellwood.m
Subject: Urgently needed...a PLAN for our well-being and survival?