Flashmob in Parliament Square. Photo: Robert van Waarden.
Climate change action
How Friends are getting involved with action on climate change.
Quaker involvement with climate change campaigning has been on the increase in the run-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December. In particular, this involvement has recently been galvanised by two international movements: ‘350’, which aims to raise awareness of the need to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from its current 386 parts per million (ppm) to a sustainable 350ppm, and ‘Power Shift’, organised by young people for young people to explore responses to climate change and to develop their communication skills in order to raise awareness in their peer groups.
Owen Everett – a young Friend, student at the University of Warwick and volunteer and recruiter for Power Shift – spoke to the Friend on Monday direct from Parliament Square, where the first UK Power Shift weekend had just culminated in a ‘flashmob’: an impromptu dance performance by several hundred young attendees to coincide with the Greenpeace occupation of the roof of the Houses of Parliament. ‘We were supposed to finish with the flashmob this morning by the London Eye’, he said, ‘but when we heard about the Greenpeace protest we thought this would be the perfect way to show our support for them. The Greenpeace protestors were able to see us in Parliament Square and hear us shouting their slogans back to them, so it was an inspiring way to end to a weekend that had been about communication and building connections.’
Owen found his Quaker background helped with these connections. ‘I got recruited by the UK Youth Climate Coalition [coordinators of UK Power Shift] around Easter this year because of my involvement with things like the G20 Climate Camp – but I quickly discovered that there were already quite a few Quakers involved with the movement, certainly more than you’d expect in a random sample of the population. I’ve also had a lot of support from my Local Meeting, who’ve really appreciated the help we’re giving in better understanding of the issues, and have helped me out with funding for my involvement too – and I’ve been able to use things like Facebook groups to encourage other young Friends to get involved.’
Katharine McIntosh, another young Friend who took part, told the Friend: ‘The fact that Power Shift was organised by young people was empowering in and of itself. But the activities, too, gave us a real sense that our own actions could have an effect.’ Inspired by the way individuals felt a sense of connection to Barack Obama’s own personal story during his election campaign, the weekend focused on how understanding and communicating the story of one’s own involvement in issues can put over messages about climate change in a clearer and more direct way than traditional political campaigning might do. Katharine attended a session on how religious background affects engagement with the environment – ‘and I was able to do a little outreach there, too, if only by getting people to hold hands briefly at the end of the session’.
The Power Shift weekend had many links with the 350 movement, which is building towards a global day of action on 24 October and will include people gathering together to make with their bodies the digits ‘3’ in New Delhi, ‘5’ in London and ‘0’ in Quito, Ecuador. Similar activities have already begun, including the creation of a huge ‘350’ by around 350 people – including the local mayor and MP – on the west coast of New Zealand, coordinated by Auckland Friends. Katharine says Power Shift provided a great opportunity for people to spread the word about ‘350’ activities, including at next weekend’s Young Friends General Meeting in Brighton, where at 1.30pm on 24 October Katharine and as many young Friends as can be mustered will create a giant ‘350’ from pebbles on the beach. ‘If we can get people asking questions and starting one-on-one conversations about this,’ she told the Friend, ‘that is just as important as huge education campaigns. It’s about personal involvement’.
