There’s a Climate Change Education Network about to begin operating in the south-west of England. This will establish a transdisciplinary network involving researchers across university disciplines working with teachers to orient and provide active support for research on Climate Change Education. So, if you’re a teacher in the south-west who’s concerned about climate change, and would like to get involved, please read this. §§§§
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If you want to declare a meaningful climate emergency at your school, Morpeth school in London has some detailed guidance for you based on their own experience. The school says:
“A meaningful climate emergency declaration demands direct action and measurable systemic change. The first thing you will need to establish is what a climate emergency means for your school. For our school it meant acknowledging …
– the scientific indicators e.g. IPCC reports on warming and UN reports on loss of biodiversity and consequences of economic growth.
– the urgency of the situation: if we have a real chance of tackling these issues, we must take urgent and immediate action within the next few years.
– that our purpose as educators, of building bright futures for our children, is severely threatened.” §§§§
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Prince William and Sir David Attenborough have joined forces to launch what they hope will become the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for environmentalism – the “Earthshot Prize”. They say the search is on for 50 solutions to the world’s gravest environmental problems by 2030. £50m is to be awarded over a decade, the biggest ever environmental prize fund. Prince William said “The Earthshot prize is really about harnessing that optimism and that urgency to find some of the world’s solutions to some of the greatest environmental problems.” The BBC has more details. §§§§
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This November world leaders were supposed to be meeting at COP26 in Glasgow, five years on from Paris 2015, to review progress on tackling the climate emergency. Owing to COVID19 this has been delayed. Ten weeks ago, a small group of students from UKSCN took the decision to run their own COP in November to show the world what would happen if young people were running the show. Mock COP26 will culminate in a message from the youth of the world to the political leaders of the world, raising ambition to save our future. It is a failure of our elected leaders that we are having to do this alongside school, but we are determined to do it. So far, there have been over 300 delegate applications from 75 countries. You can follow what’s happening on Twitter and also donate to a crowdfunder. You can read more about MockCOP on here and in The Guardian here. §§§§
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The Conversation says that grandparents need to talk to young people about the natural world of their youth. News about growing environmental issues are often hard to conceptualise, but anecdotes about your local area can mean a lot more. Older people hold a rich library of knowledge about the past, and how their corner of the world has changed over the course of their lives. This could be critical for putting ongoing wildlife declines in context, and it’s especially useful for younger people. Our relative lack of experience of environmental change leaves us vulnerable to something called shifting baseline syndrome. §§§§
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The outcomes of a survey commissioned by the Garfield Weston Foundation have now been published and will inform future grant-making. As a result a programme has been launched with The Media Trust to help environment charities build capability, capacity and confidence in the way they educate and engage us all to promote positive change. The Foundation is keen to hear from UK charities working across the areas of climate change, biodiversity, natural resources and conservation. You can find out more and apply here. §§§§
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Greta Thunberg has resumed her school strikes for the climate for the first time since the pandemic started. She is doing so in a socially distanced fashion of course. §§§§
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16 large international organisations have come together to frame a nature positive global goal. The global goal for nature defines what is needed to halt and reverse today’s catastrophic loss of nature. Governments are being asked to adopt the goal at the international level, so that each country, the private sector, communities and others can contribute to achieving it. The hope is that a global goal for nature that is embraced at the highest levels will drive ambition in governments, business and society, to inspire the UN Convention on Biological Diversity Post2020 framework process, as well as create the opportunity for links between biodiversity and other conventions/agreements such as climate, ocean and land degradation. §§§§
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The Science Based Targets Network has produced initial guidance to help companies and cities get started on protecting biodiversity and nature more widely. This is the first synthesis of what it means for a company to do its part to help stop the loss of nature. It aims to help companies set a clear course of action to protect nature in line with science. Specifically, the guidance covers the following questions: What is a science-based target? Why are science-based targets important? How will they work? This guidance also identifies steps companies can take immediately and enables “no regrets” actions consistent with the urgency of the challenges we face.
You might also find the Natural Capital Protocol biodiversity guidance of interest. §§§§
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Click here for a dynamic global map of wind, ocean and weather which has to be seen to be believed. You can rotate the globe, zoom in and out, select your altitude, projection and phenomenon you’re interested in. If you want to see the what the wind’s doing at 1000m over Gabon, you can do it. §§§§
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The Wildlife Trusts are launching a new national campaign – the #BigWildWalk, taking place from 26 October to 1 November. The Trusts want more people to get outdoors and walk in nature, to experience first-hand the stunning transitions at this time of the year. Here are a few challenges:
The hedgehog challenge – Walk 3km a day, the distance a hedgehog can cover each night in search of food and mates (why not join us as a Hedgehog Hero at the same time?) The nature reserves challenge – Walk a new nature reserve each day of the week! The migration challenge – Walk 96,000 steps over the week, the number of kilometres an Arctic tern can travel on migration between the UK and Antarctica each year. §§§§
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Communicate 2020 has announce six new speakers for its conference along with a blog post from volunteer writer Tom Bell as he interviews a member of Avon Wildlife Trust’s Our Bright Future team about Communicate+. You can explore all the speakers announced so far, along with the full Communicate 2020 programme by clicking here. §§§§
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The Global Sustainability Film Awards recognises outstanding films from the business, non-profit, media and creative sectors that inspire audiences with real-world solutions for a more sustainable future. GSFA seeks to promote effective, credible solutions-oriented storytelling about environmental and sustainability issues. On October 24, join Difficult Dialogues and tve, in partnership with Eco.Logic, who will host debate and discussion on the role of democracy in climate action. The event is called Daring Debates. These have been conducted in various cities of India for five years now. Students are encouraged to register to participate in the debate and all are invited to the debate event, which will be followed by a panel discussion of experts in politics and in environmental law and policy. §§§§