Fi helps launch 10:10

Fi Macmillan, Leader of the Green Group on Stroud District Council (pictured left at the Tate) invited Stroud District Council to join public figures and businesses to sign up to 10:10 climate campaign (i). Last Tuesday 1st September Fi represented Stroud District Council at the huge national launch at London's Tate Modern as one of the first 10 councils to sign up nationally.

At our Green party meeting last week and todays Green party District councillors meeting we heard more about 10:10. It is great that Stroud is signed up and we now need to look at how we can roll it out across the District and reach the most people possible. Here are some of the quotes from our local Green party website - plus photos from last Wednesdays meeting when we passed around the Guardian article.

Fi Macmillan said: "The 1010 launch was energised and well-supported. It was very encouraging to see such wide spectrum of people - apart from the politicains I met Tottenham Hotspurs director and a Logica director, there were actors and personalities like Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox, chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Delia Smith, plus Samantha Morton, Pete Postlethwaite, Colin Firth and loads of individuals and representatives of groups who are all working hard to cut carbon emissions (ii). This 10:10 campaign is about bolstering grassroots support for tough action against global warming ahead of the key global summit in Copenhagen in December. Those signing up for the campaign pledge to make efforts to reduce their carbon footprints by 10% during the year 2010."

The campaign organisers, led by Franny Armstrong, the film-maker behind The Age of Stupid, hope 10:10 could replicate the way the 2005 Make Poverty History (MPH) movement captured the public imagination and helped to drive political change on debt relief. The 10:10 campaigners distributed signature metal tags made from melted-down aircraft.

Fi Macmillan said: "We are hoping to convince Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, to commit Britain to slash its emissions by as close to 10% as possible by the end of next year. It is vital we take a lead and do more action rather than talk. Copenhagen is a successor to the Kyoto protocol and has widely been seen by many scientists and commentators as the last chance for humanity to get to grips with soaring greenhouse gas emissions."

Fi Macmillan: "I hope many individuals and groups will join Stroud in signing up to this campaign. 10:10 gives us all including Stroud District Council a great opportunity to work seriously on carbon reduction. I hope many will consider signing up: www.1010uk.org"

Fi MacMillan added: "Kevin McCloud wrapped-up the launch saying: 'If you all go out and get 10 people to sign up to 10:10 and get them to sign up another 10 people on Friday, then by next Tuesday the whole planet will have signed up and we will have won.' I think Kevin could be onto something."

Caroline Lucas MEP and Green Party Leader commenting said: "Congratulations to everyone involved in launching the 10:10 initiative, which looks set to become one of the biggest ever civil society campaigns between now and the Copenhagen climate change summit in December. Given that the Copenhagen talks seem currently unlikely to yield cuts of sufficient ambition to prevent the worst of climate change, it's crucial that we step up the pressure on the key decision makers in the coming months. That means we need ever more grassroots mobilisation like that embodied in 10:10. But commitment and engagement at the civil society level must be matched with real political will in Parliament to ensure a policy framework is urgently put in place to make ambitious carbon reduction an overwhelming objective of every government department. The Green Party has long demanded a firm commitment to year-on-year targets for cuts in emissions, to prevent politicians from making a "NIMTO" response (Not In My Term of Office) - in other words, setting targets and timetables so far in advance that they avoid having to take serious action now. When I spoke at Climate Camp in London on Saturday, it was clear that the determination of civil society to tackle climate change head on is stronger then ever. What we need now are the right politicians to ensure that the positive changes we are calling for truly materialise."

Notes:

(i) Read more and sign up for 10:10: http://www.1010uk.org/ See Guardian coverage and video of launch: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/10-10 Read George Monbiot comment here. (ii) 10:10 Sign-Ups, as of midday Thurs 3rd Sept Individuals: 9,182 Businesses: 352 Schools: 53 Organisations: 157 Politicians: All the cabinet, all the Tory frontbench, Ed Miliband (Climate Change Minister), Nick Clegg (leader of Lib Dems) Actors: Samantha Morton, Jason Isaacs, Pete Postlethwaite, Colin Firth, Tamsin Greig, James Purefoy, Alan Rickman Fashion Designers: Vivienne Westwood, Nicole Farhi, Stella McCartney Artists: Anish Kapoor, Anthony Gormley, Gillian Wearing Footballers: Graeme Le Soux Chefs: Delia Smith, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall Authors: Ian McEwan, Sarah Waters, Irvine Welsh, Anthony Horowitz, Antony Beevor, Ali Smith, Carol Ann Duffy, Andrew Motion Lords: Lord Giddens, Lord Stern (author of Stern Review) Film Directors: Mike Figgis, Richard Curtis Impressionists: Rory Bremner Musicians: Stornoway, Reverend & The Makers, Bloc Party (Russell only), Mark Ronson Energy Companies: Eon, British Gas, EDF, Scottish & Southern Football Teams: Spurs FC Organisations: Science Museum, Tate, Spurs Football Club, Royal Society of Arts (RSA), Women's Institute (NFWI), British Fashion Council, Business in the Community, Mumsnet, Sage Gateshead, Julies Bicycle, Arcola Theatre Universities/ Colleges: Edinburgh Uni, Westminster Uni, King's College, Liverpool Uni, South Thames College, Newcastle Students Union, National Union of Students (NUS) nationally, Birmingham Students Union, UEA Students Union, Leicester Students Union Councils: Hackney, Islington, Richmond, Oxford, Slough, West Sussex, Stroud, Eastleigh, Kirklees Schools: Fox Primary, St Martin Primary, Petchey Academy, Crispin School, Ashley Primary, Rosemary Musker High, Ambler Primar, Kings College School, Whitby Community, Winton Primary Charities: Comic Relief, ActionAid, ), Global Action Plan, Women's Environmental Network, Campaign for Greener Healthcare, Operation Noah, Envision, OneClimate, Fauna & Flora Intl, Green Thing