From Cambridge and
Corsham to Ceredigion and Cornwall, on the 17th June WI members from
across England and Wales joined over 9,000 people in Westminster for the
biggest ever lobby of Parliament on climate change. With their bunting
and banners prominently on display, they each spoke up about how what they love
is being threatened…and asked their MP to take action. Here WI members share
what was on their mind that day and how their meeting went.
Concern for future generations was a high priority. As Jo
(Buckinghamshire Federation) explained: “I'm
concerned with climate change as I feel our general apathy means we will lose
all the diversity we are so lucky to have. My great grand-children will not
think of us with the respect we have for our predecessors if we let this
happen.”
Evelyn (Middlesex Federation) was also thinking of her
grandchildren and their futures when she spoke to her MP: “I have grandchildren and am thinking of their futures. I can think of those living in poverty now
who will face even greater threats from rising sea levels and degradation of
land through droughts and floods; I can think of the loss of biodiversity,
plants and animals that would go extinct but mostly I think that I need to do
my best, to know that my descendants won't have to say – why didn't she do
something about climate change and its consequences before it was too late.”
“We managed to make contact with our MP,
Gareth Thomas, Harrow West, and arranged to meet with him at Portcullis House. We
made our way there and he came out to speak with us, for about half an
hour. It was a good meeting and we were
encouraged that he took on board what we were saying and was also making the
'right noises' himself, including what he had achieved when he had been a
Minister in Government. We have left it with him that we will email him with
several points that were raised during our meeting and he would take the
matters further on our behalf, most encouraging!”
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Evelyn meeting Gareth
Thomas MP (Harrow West)
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The loss of nature and biodiversity was also at the
forefront of Catherine and Claire’s minds. Catherine, from Buckingham,
explained: “Action on Climate Change is
important to me because I can see how we are damaging our Planet Earth and we
need to take action to help reduce the risk of extinction of wonderful wildlife
and respect and live in harmony with nature more.” Claire, who had travelled
all the way from west Yorkshire, agreed: “I
love gardening and find it very creative mixing shapes and colours to get the
effect I see in my mind, as well as then having to take the seasons into
account. Gardening and beekeeping
take up most of my time and the loss of plants and bees would be tragic for both
for our planet and me personally as I might then have to take up housework and
cake making!”
Angie (who travelled from Brighton) noted this has been a
long-time concern: “Climate change is something
which I have been aware of since I was at school in the 1970s. The
deterioration of our environment is something we are responsible for now and
always. If we don't address the factors affecting climate and the state of our
land, rivers, seas and air, it will cause incalculable problems, suffering and
conflict.” But it was Jen (from Lewes) who summed up the urgency: “human activity is causing our climate to
change in ways that affect poorer nations most, and also affect all nations. If
we continue on our present trajectory, we will surely destroy our planet, and,
as one of the placards read, we have no Planet B! The time to act is NOW”.
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Angie lobbying Caroline Ansell MP
(Eastbourne and Willingdon)
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2015 is an important year for climate change as we fast
approach the 21st United Nations Framework Commission on Climate Change
Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC COP) which will be held in Paris this
December. All governments will need to
work together to reach an ambitious, fair and legally-binding deal that will
cut carbon emissions and limit global warming to 2˚C – something that WI members
were quick to point out.
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Jane, waiting to meet her MP
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“We know already
deserts are increasing in size, islands are disappearing, and people are losing
their livelihoods. At the moment it is the poorest who suffer most: everybody
needs to know what is happening so that we can build huge pressure to stop all
use of fossil fuels, enable developing countries to obtain all their energy
from renewables, and keep warming to under 2˚C,” said Pippa, who travelled
from Cornwall and spent about 45 minutes with her MP, Derek Thomas, talking about
all sorts of issues, both local and national.
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Pippa talking to Derek Thomas MP (St Ives)
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Maggie (Wiltshire Federation) continued: “I do feel that it is important to keep up
pressure on the government so that they realise it is essential to get an appropriate
global agreement which is fair to all countries. The lobby day must have made
quite a lot of MPs realise that they do need to find out more about climate
change if they don’t already have that knowledge.”
Maggie was pleased to have met her MP Ed Vaizey: “He
did give us an hour and bought us all a cup of tea! He listened to what everyone said (16 of us)
and answered questions where he could.
He seemed impressed that all 16 of his constituents had come to the
event – none of them knowing each other beforehand….I enjoyed the day
but felt the most important part was talking to my MP, who I had never met
before. He promised to arrange another meeting in the constituency in a couple
of months’ time to discuss climate change options in more detail – I will be
impressed if he does this.”
For Celia (also
from Buckingham) it is the lack of mainstream media attention which she finds
so frustrating: “My really big
concern about climate change is the way that the subject is being consistently
side-lined in the media. There seemed to be no reports on the main television
news or in the press. There is still a massive barrier to understanding and
accepting the need for action on the part of government and general public.”
Celia was really pleased to have joined the lobby queue, especially as initially she did
not think her MP would be coming: “I was
very pleased that my MP, Steve Baker, who did turn up once he had been tweeted
by the 7 constituents who were anxious to talk to him…so at least we did get a
chance to say what we thought.”
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Celia with Steve Baker MP (Wycombe)
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While each WI member had a different reason for why they
were speaking up, they were united in their message to their MP:
- Make it clean! We need to be getting all our energy from clean sources.
- Make it fair! Support developing countries hardest hit by climate change.
- Make it work! For the sake of people and the environment, locally, nationally and globally.
And what they all
agreed on was the sense of solidarity that the lobby brought. Claire best
summed it up: “The most enjoyable
part was chatting with the like-minded people we met in Victoria Gardens. It
gave me a real boost because for all climate change is now gaining recognition
it often feels a little isolating in some groups and conversations when one
believes it is the most important thing both nationally and globally.”
For more information about this campaign: http://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/current-campaigns-and-initiatives/the-climate-coalition-for-the-love-of
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