On 8 September, we made headlines globally as people on all 7 continents rose together for climate action. It was truly inspiring to watch all the headlines, pictures, tweets and videos roll in from 95 countries.
But that moment was part of a bigger, surging movement that’s here to stay: Fossil Free. We’re seeing more and more campaigns and wins to end support for the fossil fuel industry and move to 100% renewable energy for all.
In Fossil Free News, I bring together these stories from the movement, with videos, photos, podcasts and more. By signing up, you can keep up to date with all the latest news – delivered every 2 weeks.
Enjoy this recent edition breaking down Rise for Climate and its aftermath, and until next time in your inbox!
– Nicole from Fossil Free News
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Rise for Climate: Roughly 250,000 people took action in more than 900 events in 95 countries around the world to demand real commitments to go Fossil Free. Here’s an inspiring, detailed global roundup of what happened, with photos and videos from all 7 continents.
Real commitments: Hot off the heels of all the action, like this march up to Georgia’s parliament, mayors from 3 cities in Ukraine (Lviv, Kamyanets-Podilsky, and Chortkiv) and 1 in Georgia (Kutaisi) signed agreements with 350.org to go 100% renewable by 2050. And in France, where turnout was unprecedented in more than 100 cities and towns, the city of Lyon is moving to end all finance to the fossil fuel industry. What’s more, 19 Catholic institutions, including in India, made new divestment commitments and the London borough of Islington announced full divestment of their £1.2-billion pension fund.
New York and London broaden divestment call: The mayor of London Sadiq Khan released an op-ed with Bill de Blasio of New York asking all cities to take steps to divest. They announced London and New York will co-chair a network platform for cities to share tools and best practices to do so. And on the same day as their call, a new report dropped more serious evidence that the divestment movement is going mainstream. It counted $6.24 trillion in assets divested so far from 985 institutions and counting, a 120x increase from just 4 years ago. Watch this space for what happens next – we assume London’s own divestment announcement isn’t far off.
Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS): The summit convened by California governor Jerry Brown and the UN took place in San Francisco last week, just after more than 30,000 marched in San Francisco for Rise. Brown did sign SB100, the 100% clean energy grid bill reported on here previously, into law – but he still hasn’t banned fossil fuels in the state. So activists sent a message on 13 September, blocking the entrance to the summit and demanding he stop oil production.
Women rise in Bangkok: Rise overlapped with the UNFCCC intersessionals in Bangkok, Thailand where delegates prepared for the upcoming 24th UN Climate Talks (COP24) to take place in Katowice, Poland, near the Silesia coal region. Women and impacted communities came together outside the meeting to hold them to account in keeping warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, calling out coal in particular. Yet the preparatory talks were widely deemed a failure. That’s why we’re gearing up for another wave of action in October to highlight the urgency for meaningful action to meet that 1.5C target. You can get a Fossil Free starter pack and learn how to help spread the word here:
THE ONE TO WATCH
This triumphant video wrapping up Rise brings together highlights from the week’s events, and motivates us to keep going. We know time to act is short – the recent devastation from hurricanes Mangkhut and Florence remind us that the human toll of climate change is simply unacceptable. Watch and share this video to help more people make the connection and take action.
THE INSIDE STORY
Today’s “Inside Story” allows you to go behind the scenes of the making of a beautiful short film, “Rise: From one island to another”. It’s a visually immersive journey between two islanders, one from the Marshall Islands and one from Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), who connect their realities of rising sea levels and melting glaciers through a poem. Learn about the piece by Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, an activist of Marshallese ancestry, and Aka Niviâna, an Inuk writer making her on-screen debut. There’s also an opportunity to hear from Bill McKibben on the ethos of the film and director Dan Lin’s take on making the poem come to life on screen.
That’s it for now. If you’re signed up, I’ll be back in two more weeks with more updates. Let’s keep up the momentum!