Hey All–
Here’s the e-mail that just went out–if you’re not yet on our e-mail list, signup here: https://www.350.org/dia.php
-Jon-
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Dear Friends,
350.org started with one simple question:
How can a people powered movement unite around a common call to action, and help pull the planet back from the brink of the climate crisis?
Now, with less than four months to go before the International Day of Climate Action in October, you can start to see the answer. Every day I open the 350.org e-mail inbox to find inspiring stories from around the world-stories too good to keep to myself.
So today, we’re switching our style to bring you dispatches from the field in the first ever 350 Newsletter. The updates are short and sweet, and there’s a bunch of ’em-here’s what’s in this issue:
UN Update: 350 in the Treaty! (and The World’s Biggest Exclamation Mark)
Time is ticking away for the world to agree on a new global climate treaty-world leaders gather in Copenhagen this December to ink the final deal. That’s less than 6 months away-an extremely narrow window to ensure that leaders come up with a binding global climate treaty that actually gets us out of this climate mess.
The good news is that we have one clear target: 350 parts per million, the safe level for CO2 in the atmosphere. For a long time, people have told us that this target-though scientifically necessary-“just isn’t politically possible.”
Our response: a global movement can make the impossible possible.
And that’s exactly what’s starting to happen. The latest draft of the forthcoming global climate agreement coming from the UN includes the 350 target! In fact, it includes 350 six times-we counted.
Of course, this is a draft text-a lot can change between now and December, when the global treaty is set to be finalized. Most of the crucial elements of the treaty are in “brackets” like this: [we will come together to protect the future of life on planet earth]. The brackets mean that there is disagreement, that the text isn’t yet final. Right now, 350 is in brackets. It’s on the table. It’s a possibility. Now we need to make it real.
To hammer that message home, climate activists recently gathered at the latest round UN climate negotiations to create a spectacular aerial art image-a gigantic exclamation mark made of over 500 people. I wasn’t there myself, but based on the photos and videos it looks like a good time, if just a little bit damp.
Check out the 2-minute video and story by clicking here: https://www.350.org/exclamation
And Jeremy’s write up in Grist.org here: https://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-09-unfccc-aerial-climate-art/
The action also marked our first collaboration with Tck Tck Tck-a new global alliance (of which 350.org is founding partner) calling for an ambitious, fair and binding climate change agreement.
(Photo Credit: Robert van Waarden / Spectral Q)
2. The new video-it’s everywhere (and it’s translated)!
If you haven’t seen it yet, a brand new 350 video just hit the ‘net-it’s been spread and shared in every conceivable way online, but we need to make sure it gets out farther so we can make the International Day of Climate Action as big as possible.
As of this writing, the video has been seen 17,497 times. If we can double that number, we’ll have about 35,000 views-a nice round number. 🙂
Watching and sharing just takes a couple of minutes-and it’s one of the best ways to build this movement: https://www.350.org/video
And even better, we now have the video translated in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Chinese, Russian, French, German, and Burmese-hearing the video in other languages is a real thrill. This movement is truly global.
3. A climate movement built by athletes (and musicians, farmers, artists, people of faith, and ???)
Just a quick note to announce a brand new section of our website: https://www.350.org/people
We often get asked: how can we, as a movement, stop “preaching to the choir”? Our answer is to show the world that there is a place for everyone in this effort–it’s not just a “climate movement” it’s an “everyone movement.” So, we’ve started highlighting the actions, resources, and ideas that are specific to particular groups of people-the “People” section now has pages for Farmers, Artists, Athletes, Faith, Islanders, and Youth.
And we’re just getting started-we’ll be adding more in the weeks and months ahead.
4. The Twitter wave – build the buzz and build our website
Many of you may have heard about Twitter-and many of you are using it already. Put simply, it’s an easy way to send short updates to a lot of people at once. 350 has been using Twitter to keep people in the loop since the start of the campaign.
Now, for something a bit different, we’ve built a tool that lets you broadcast relevant updates to the 350 community using twitter. Here’s how: if you include “www.350.org” or “#350ppm” in your update, it will get pulled into our “twitter widget” which appears on the front page of our website-just like this:
(Please use the twitter gadget to inspire others in this movement. For more on 350.org and twitter, check 350.org/twitter.)
5. 350 grows – scaling up a global network
Lately, a lot of people have been asking: who’s making this movement work? Well, the short answer to that question is “all of you”-people who care enough to take a stand, in every corner of the world. But, as the movement scales up, the 350.org team has scaled up to keep pace-we’ve now got official “field coordinators” on six continents, and we’re working on Antarctica if you know anyone. 🙂 You can get to know our new team members by visiting: https://www.350.org/our-team
Also, as part of our ongoing effort to build a broader and more inclusive movement, we’re trying something new this summer: training more than 500 youth climate activists as part of our 350Speaks program. We just finished an inspiring workshop with dozens of African youth climate activists in Johannesburg, South Africa (check out the video), and we have leadership workshops coming up in Dikili, Turkey and New York City.
And just last week, we were contacted by an enterprising team in Sydney (Australia) who are setting up an independent 350 hub to organize a massive event at their famous Opera House. Incredible. It’s truly amazing to see this movement catch fire.
6. Dispatch from the USA: We need more!
You may have heard that the U.S. House of Representatives passed climate change legislation for the first time. This law has the support of many environmental groups and represents the culmination of years of lobbying work. BUT, it’s watered down with lots of loopholes and compromises, and while these concessions may well be necessary to win passage, they may also limit the speed and breadth of the legislation’s impact.
These shortcomings are symptomatic of a larger challenge: there’s not (yet) a strong enough movement out there demanding something better.
It’s hard to say that the U.S. bill, as it currently stands, will begin the emissions cuts both as strongly and as quickly as is needed for a return to 350. So, we’re keeping our focus firmly on the UN Process which culminates in Copenhagen this December. A truly global agreement is what’s need to bring the United States, and all countries, on board to an international plan to solve the climate crisis and get the world back to 350.
The climate movement must be-and will be-much stronger, louder, smarter, and more creative in time for December’s meeting in Copenhagen. By ramping up your organizing efforts for the International Day of Climate Action on the 24th of October, you’ll be helping to ensure the shortcomings of the U.S. legislation aren’t mirrorred on the international stage. If you haven’t yet gotten your community on the map, sign up an event here: https://www.350.org/oct24
OK, I could go on and on-there’s just so much happening in the 350 movement. But that’s more than enough for one e-mail-if you’ve made it this far, thanks for hanging in there.
Onwards,
Jon, Bill, Jamie, Jeremy, Kelly, May, Phil, Will and the rest of the 350.org Team