Super Monday

It’s been a while it’s true, and one of my new year’s resolutions is to figure out what to do with this blog and which features I want to keep / start / ditch / tweak etc. But in the meantime.. well, there is just so much superness to reflect on!

1. I went to Papered Parlour over the weekend for their DIY Couture Make a Cloak workshop and it was great! A race against time admittedly, but I was very happy with the finished product, plus we got tea and cake. And now I can pretend to be from the 50s, or that I’m a BAT. Because capes are versatile like that.

2. Bento boxes are super. The BBC actually did a report on them, so it’s official.

3. I was interviewed for the Think Act Vote Futures series a while back, which was really nice.

4. You’ve seen Feminist Ryan Gosling. Now brace yourself for Handmade Ryan Gosling. It’s the future of swoon.

5. Talking of handmade, remember these that I made back in the spring? Well they have been selling like hotcakes! I have had orders and requests without expecting any, and I have done so much panic sewing that my left hand is all claw-like. Worth it though to think of these slogans adorning a few christmas trees this year. Haha.

6. I’ve been back at work full time for 2 weeks now as Green Jobs Director at The Otesha Project UK, and it’s nice to be getting back into the swing of things. The coolest thing is that we are trialling a flat, non-hierarchical structure. You can read about how it’s going here. I’d really recommend it, as it’s going super well so far!

7. By far the superest thing this week was Occupy Cop 17 at the UN climate talks in Durban. The outcome of the negotiations was not perfect, and in no way puts us on track for mitigating climate change, but the fact that they came away with ANYTHING was largely down to this protest. The negotiators overran the talks by 36 hours after this public show of dissent. It proves that protest does and can work. To read more about what happened at the negotiations, read this overview.

hanna ♥

Super Music Monday

So it’s Monday. What can I say? Sometimes Sundays just run away from me.

1. I spent much of last week plugged into the Desert Island Discs archive while I worked. LOVE IT. You learn some incredibly random things about people, such as Joe Simpson, mountaineer, being really into trance music.

2. Quick yay for the funding news! Superest thing of the week. image via weheartit

3. Read some brill books recently – Bossypants by Tina Fey, and The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson. Do it.

4. Saw lots of friends and family this week. Good food and good chats.

 

5. I went to the Slutwalk London rally on Saturday and it was AMAZING. I could hear the march coming before I could see them flood into Trafalgar Square, thousands of women singing “There will be a revolution when we fight for women’s rights” to the tune of When the Saints Go Marching In! Earlier today my friend Tamsin Omond put into words exactly how I felt, “i had my reservations about slutwalk. they were blown sky high by the massively inspiring, inclusive and complete day that it was. from women to trans to gay men to immigrants to sex workers to black women – all were invited to stand together fierce against this fear and the victim-blaming that surrounds this threat.” Great blog post here as well that deals with some of Slutwalk’s critics.

6. Living with Chronic Bitchface. Hilarious. I FEEL YOU Kris Atomic.

7. UN climate negotiations are happening right now in Bonn. Follow the super Adopt a Negotiator project to keep up to date on progress (or not, as the case may be).

hanna ♥

Super Sunday

1. This week has been SUPER cold, no jokes. I am officially out of love with winter, it’s overstayed its welcome. To warm up after a day outside yesterday, I listened to this amazing Fuel Theatre podcast by Kazuko Hohki which is part of the Everyday Moments project. This one was meant to experienced in the evening, in the bath (cue hilarious antics trying not to drown your ipod). It was really beautiful, I’d definitely recommend it, and I do love the idea of recreating all these mundane moments.

2. I saw both Black Swan and The King’s Speech this week. Black Swan was brilliant, if admittedly the most stressful experience of MY LIFE. The King’s Speech sees Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle (from the BBC P&P) reunited, so I was happy. He also needs to win that Oscar.

3. I met up with a girl from the super cool network So We Stand, who work against environmental racism and support local communities in standing up for themselves against injustice. Check them out, hopefully I’ll be getting involved in some way sooooon…

4. I’m a big fan of this jumper, worn by Tavi Gevinson of Style Rookie. I’ve put in a request to my knitting friend to make me one, but I think she may have to be bribed more extensively.

5. Wondering what exactly happened during the climate change negotiations in Cancun? No? Well… anyway, here’s a truly excellent video made by UKYCC which explains it brilliantly with the aid of hand puppets.

6. Brill picture doing the rounds from the Egyptian protests.

7. Been thinking this week about the coming year – what’s going to happen and what I want to happen. Nothing wrong with a little dreaming…

hanna ♥

Love Miles

In the spring, I will fly to Tokyo. It will be my first flight in two years, which is not at all impressive (in terms of emitting less carbon) by the average standard, but far less than most of my friends. Even among my climate-y friends we sit on a wide spectrum – some haven’t flown for 5 years or more and some are seemingly jetting off somewhere every month, chasing the UNFCC around the world.

I have come to accept that my relationship with flying will always be a tricky one, as my father and grandparents have always lived in Japan, and I have always lived here (well, since the age of 4). It does not seem an option for me, as it does for some of my friends, to swear off flying altogether. The Trans-Siberian railway, with the costs and time involved, isn’t really an option for me either at this time of my life.

So, although I have come to this book a little late, I was very excited to see that George Monbiot’s Heat dedicated a whole chapter to what he calls “Love Miles” – flights taken to see friends and family. I was hoping that he’d address the complexity of the issue, the various moral codes that make up our decisions, the personal consequences of being exceedingly “green”. But disappointingly, he doesn’t. Most of the chapter is alarming facts about the aviation industry in general and only a few sentences address the title of the chapter, thus:

“When you form relationships with people from other nations, you accumulate love miles: the distance between your home and that of the people you love or the people they love. If your sister-in-law is getting married in Buenos Aires, it is both immoral to travel there – because of climate change – and immoral not to, because of the offence it causes. In that decision we find two valid moral codes in irreconcilable antagonism. Who could be surprised to discover that “ethical” people are in denial about the impacts of flying?”

I don’t deny that this is a dilemma many people face – I know someone who has a “no flying except for births, weddings and funerals rule” as well as people who’ve skipped weddings because of the emissions involved (and been brave enough to say so). But framing “love miles” only in terms of “form[ing] relationships with people from other nations” is grossly over-simplifying the issue and betrays Monbiot’s uncomplicated roots. And since the number of flights to visit friends and family is not far behind holidays (and currently more than business trips), this is an issue we must address.

I am dual heritage. I am of no one country. That was the way I was born and I celebrate that I’m lucky enough to have an insight into two very different cultures. But the fact I was brought up mainly in the UK and the distance between myself and members of my family was a choice made on my behalf. There is no one-off wedding in this dilemma, no agonising over whether to relocate. I am of two countries. So, when it comes to seeing my family, what is the ethical option? I am fully aware of the environmental implications of flying and I can completely empathise with Monbiot when he declares all flights to be morally untenable. But what are the moral implications of someone like Monbiot telling me that I can’t see my father? Especially if that someone is telling me that, comfortably surrounded by their UK-based family.

Perhaps this issue hasn’t been addressed before because environmentalists in the UK are typically white and British born. But it’s an issue that’s only going to get bigger. “Mixed race” people are the fastest-growing ethnic minority group in the UK, making up 3.5% of all births in 2005 – plus of course, there must be plenty of white, “mixed nationality” babies that aren’t included in that statistic. On top of that we’ve got first and second generation immigrants… not all of these people will have family abroad, of course. But I bet a fair few do.

So, we can continue to paint all flights with the same brush, and pretend that by holidaying at home in the UK we can solve the problem, or we can open out the conversation and include those who have been globalised by birth – those who have no one home.

I heart Christiana Figueres

Christiana Figueres has already featured as a Girl Swoon on this blog, but blimmin’ heck I HAVE to show you this video of her meeting the trackers from the Adopt a Negotiator project in Cancun. Yvo de Boer was a great Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, and was definitely always so supportive of the youth there and other civil society groups. But Christiana has just built on that and taken it to another level! She is such an inspirational woman, such a role model, she gets it. Honestly, this is the first time in a while I have been inspired by someone in a postion of power and not just utterly fucked off with them. It’s such a relief to know there are people like that out there representing!

Hoorah! Go Christiana!

Video courtesy of OneClimate

p.s. Talking of great people in power, check out this amazing speech by US Senator Bernie Sanders.

Yes we Cancun! (maybe)

Today is the first day of the UNFCCC negotiations in Cancun, Mexico. Want to follow what’s going on? Of course you do. First read this article by Kate Sheppard on Grist which gives a comprehensive analysis of what we should and shouldn’t expect over the next two weeks. Then follow these great links that will give you the lowdown as and when you want it.

• Follow our very own UK negotiator tracker, Anna Collins, who is part of the Adopt a Negotiator project.
• The UK Youth Delegation are blogging about their experiences at Cancun here.
• If you want a hands-on training in how to get more involved in climate activism and learn more about the negotiations, come on down to the UKYCC Hot Spot in London on Wednesday night and meet me – I’m running a workshop on exactly that!
• Check out YouthClimate.org and It’s Getting Hot In Here for up-to-the-minute info from international youth at the UN.
• Eco is a newsletter published every day at the COP that EVERYONE reads - you can read the digital blog version here.
• If you’re hardcore, watch the negotiations live.

Got any more good links? Leave ‘em in the comments below!

Girl Swoon #9 – Guest Post

Well this is exciting! Girl Swoonery is spreading worldwide! My good friend Anna Collins (herself a featured Girl Swoon) has been at the UN climate talks this week in Tianjin, China. She met the new executive secretary of the UNFCCC, Christiana Figueres today and immediately christened her Girl Swoon #9. This post is cross-posted from Anna’s blog over on Adopt a Negotiator, a fantastic resource for anyone wanting an easy and understandable way of following the climate negotiations. Take it away Anna…

My friend Hanna has a great blog where she talks about all things climaty, crafty and feminist. As a regular feature she interviews girls who are doing amazing things and calls it girl swoon. This post goes out to her, with credit and thanks!

On the last day of UN climate negotiations it is rare to see the team grinning, laughing and optimistic. These talks have a way of beating that out of us over the course of a week, and this week definitely hasn’t provided us with much to smile about. We have seen stalling tactics being employed by many of the big players along with  a vicious circle of blame for lack of progress. We have seen constant bickering and boring sessions, negotiations consumed by process, never getting to the substance.

However this morning anyone passing the tracker booth would have seen the team in high spirits, smiling and laughing (which to be fair even in the hardest times we normally manage to keep up). But also optimistic, optimistic that the unfccc can and will achieve something.

The reason for this optimism? My new girl swoon, Christiana Figueres, new executive secretary of the unfccc.

This morning the team had a meeting with Christiana. We went it to it with the usual set of questions: How’s it going? What can we expect? What can we do to push the process forward? And we were expecting the usual answers: Progress is slow, we can expect a balanced package, you guys need to go home and push your governments.

Instead what we were treated to was half an hour with one of the friendliest and most inspirational people I have met in this unfccc world. Christiana was frank and honest with us about the negotiations and where we are, however she was also optimistic and passionate. Most of all she spoke with feeling and emotion, something so often lacking from this process and yet something so desperately needed.

Join us and get organised: your planet needs you

This is cross-posted from Liberal Conspiracy

I first heard about Climate Rush in January 2009. I was despairing about the ability and intention of our world’s governments to do anything about climate change.

With the spectre of the Third Runway and Kingsnorth looming then, what a welcome invitation it was to attend a (very civilized) sit-in at Heathrow and show our dissent with tea, cake, blankets and Edwardian garb!

Almost three years have passed, the world has changed yet internationally climate change negotiations are still stuck. It’s the penultimate day of yet another UN climate change conference, and still nothing is expected to change.

The US and China (who emit 40% of man-made CO2 emissions) are at logger-heads again. It looks as though the talks in Tianjin will end leaving a shadow over COP 16 in Cancun this winter. Commentators suggest that when the Kyoto protocol runs out in 2012 our leaders will have nothing ready to replace it.

The failure of action on climate change, at the upper-most level of governance, is more than depressing. It is fatal. When I consider how impossible the fight for environmental justice seems it is only the victories of past ‘impossible’ struggles that inspires me to have hope.

Climate Rush model themselves on the Suffragettes. The Suffragettes, who, in their time, used many forms of campaigning and direct action to fight against the pressing injustices of their day. The Suffragettes, whose use of such tactics, made their fight for justice the pressing issue of their day.

In the past few months I’ve heard so many people say that they’ve given up on fighting climate change. It’s sad and a little ironic since it is these people who, if mobilized, could make their dissent felt. They’ve lost hope because our international leaders fail us with every UN conference that comes to pass. Three weeks ago, as the parties prepared for their conferences, I remembered the sit-in at Heathrow and wondered where that optimistic, grass-roots activism had gone.

Two days later and I was on Nick Clegg’s doorstep, asking Miriam (ever-so-politely) to accept a large dose of climate Viagra to help Nick get hard on climate change. After six months getting to grips with what the election results mean for UK climate campaigns, Climate Rush is back and they’re recruiting.

Last week a group of Climate Suffragettes stormed into the editor’s office of the Express and demanded a meeting. For half an hour they discussed climate science and how best to encourage the media to put climate change, the facts and their impacts, on the front-page.

The Suffragettes gave hundreds of thousands of women and men a role in fighting for the votes. Climate Rush promises the same in our fight for climate justice. The sashes – red, with ‘Deeds not Words’ across the front – are being sewn. The postcards – and guides to protest – have been printed.

The venue has been booked: 7pm, Wednesday October 13th at Toynbee Hall. Your planet needs YOU, so swallow your apathy and change the world.

Adopt an MP

This is cross-posted from Call4.org (I officially adopted Caroline Lucas tonight too! Blog on that soon!)

Since last week’s launch of the UK Youth Climate Coalition’s Adopt an MP campaign, MPs have had more to worry about than just totting up their expenses accurately. For lurking around every corner (or, possibly, just turning up to their advice surgeries) will be a young person (or “adopter”) ready to question them on their commitment to creating a clean energy future.

It’s as simple as it sounds. The aim is to get 650 young people from every constituency in the UK to adopt their local MP and “track” them as they try to make climate change their top priority, whether that’s through writing letters, emails, visiting them in person or more exciting means!

It’s about building relationships

What is most appealing about this campaign is that it doesn’t dehumanise politics, or politicians. It is very much about creating personal and lasting relationships that can affect real change. As the Adopt an MP webpage says – “Like any new relationship it will take time, patience, trust and a little love”. It might sound unrealistic, idealistic or even sentimental. But this campaign takes inspiration from others that have really worked.

Take the Adopt a Negotiator campaign – a TckTckTck initiative which sends young “trackers” from across the globe to follow their countries’ lead negotiators through the UN climate change negotiations. Our UK tracker, Anna Collins, built up such a strong relationship with the lead negotiator Jan Thompson last year, that she was soon sharing coffees and emails on a level that I suspect most NGO and business lobbyists would envy.

A turning point came when Anna wrote to Jan just before the Copenhagen talks:

“I want to remind you to think of me when you are negotiating. And remember that each line of text you negotiate, is not just a line of text… but a moment in my life that changes because of the decision you make. Please remember just how much you hold in your hands over the next two weeks. Please remember that beautiful, amazing future I know is possible.”

Jan replied, telling Anna that her email had made her cry (on the bus, no less) and reassuring her that the negotiating team were going to work as hard as they could. It’s easy to forget sometimes that civil servants and politicians are people. Conversely, perhaps it’s hard for them to truly keep in mind the people they serve as they go about their daily business, and that’s why projects like this, based on personal interaction, can be so effective.

Adopt an MP’s launch event, Parliament in the Park, capitalised on this fact. It was an opportunity for MPs and their trackers to sit together on the grass, share tea and cake and talk about a green future. Sounds like one of the more pleasant avenues available to combat climate change…

It’s about making an impact

However, it’s not just about nice chats and tugging at heartstrings. The Australian Youth Climate Coalition did something similar in 2007 – their Adopt-A-Politician campaign. With 2007 being a Federal Election year, AYCC developed a non-partisan campaign to put local and national pressure on politicians to make serious policy commitments on climate change. They used traditional tools such as local organisers in marginal electorates, posters, leaflets and face-to-face meetings, as well as social networks and adverts in cinemas. They got a tremendous amount of press coverage and contributed to the 2007 election being called the “first climate change election”.

As well as making a political impact, campaigns such as these can have a massive effect on the campaigners themselves, empowering them and enabling them to recognise that these seemingly insurmountable problems have ordinary people at the heart of them. Mary, the “adopter” of Pat Glass in North West Durham, wrote:

“I arrive five minutes early for Pat’s surgery to find 3 people already in the waiting room. They are sitting around looking scary and tutting under their breath every time someone says anything. And when I say these people are scary, I mean SCARY… I sit down and introduce myself to Pat. I warm to her immediately, and can see that this was a part of the reason she was elected for North West Durham, not just the fact that we are a “Labour safe seat”. We talk about the Adopt an MP programme and about her wanting to get young people more involved in politics (something I am particularly passionate about) and she completely gets on my good side by talking about getting people from less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds into politics. I almost do my happy dance, but for the sake of my dignity I hold it back. I hope to meet with Pat again soon, ask her some questions of my own, get to know her as a person, and as a MP a little better. I’m sure we’ll get on like a house on fire, as long as I learn not to put my foot in my mouth. I’m sure I’ll get there.”

It’s about using what we have

Young people are arguably the only people who could run a campaign such as this – they who have time, technological skills and passion. A great example of this across the pond is the Canadian Citizen Factory site, launched by the youth-led organisation Apathy is Boring, which basically allows people to stalk their MPs. Liz McDowell (Canadian Director of the youth-led Otesha UK) looked up her MP recently in Langley, British Columbia:

“I found all his basic info plus a news feed listing all the times he’s been in the news, voted in parliament, spoken in parliament, joined a committee or tweeted in the past month. Giving this page a quick skim over, I learned that Mark Warawa has recently tweeted about census forms and climate bills, petitioned for more employment insurance and less access to abortion, and been in the news for coming 4th place in a local fast-draw shooting competition (apparently his worst placement in years). This feed is a gold mine.”

Mark Warawa, you have a new stalker. Better watch your back.

File those adoption papers

Want to get involved? Get adopting! You can register to track your MP and download an adoption pack here:http://adoptanmp.ukycc.org/.

It’s not about criticism or praise, but remembering that MPs are humans and supporting them to make a stand and fight to make a difference. In today’s government, they need all the support they can get.

Girl Swoon #5

This is Guppi. She is fabulous. I met her when we went to the UNFCCC in Poznan together in 2008, as part of the UK Youth Delegation, and now I’m pleased to say we are v. good friends! She is a bit of a force of nature in the whole climate change/health thing and in life in general, actually.

Name: Guppi Bola

Age: 25

Website: You can probably get to know me online in three different ways:

a) What I listen to

b) How I see the world

c) My spontaneous thought

1) What do you do and why?

I am a Coordinator for The Campaign for Greener Healthcare. More broadly, if you’re willing to indulge me in a massive cringe moment; I love learning about ways in which things can be better, then I try and do something about it. I guess that’s the long and short of it. To be a bit more specific, I got profiled by the Lancet Student last year which kind of explains quite well how I go about doing this.

So for starters I’m a scientist. I devour information, geek up on policy, comment, criticise and consume journals. But then I’m also a bit arty farty. I like indulging in sounds, images, words, and conversation – I love creating art, and watching others create it. I can’t think of any better way to share our experience and understanding of the world around us. I’ve just recently found a love for graphic novels.They are to die for. I’m probably a bit of a hippy -  but I rarely admit that to anyone. I have this eastern ethnic background which means I can abuse the “mother India” look quite a bit and pretend I’m doing it genuinely. I’m probably not though – so I should stop wandering around barefooted and with too many bracelets on. I should also probably stem my desire to have a tattoo soon, before I succumb to it.

More seriously –  I’m currently starting up my next adventure because I just came out of a Masters in Global Health. I spend most my time working on sustainability issues, and looking at ways in which we can enable individuals to live fulfilling, healthy and creative lives. That’s why I come at campaigning from a health angle. I hung out at the UN Climate talks over the past year, I’ve marched across London, I’ve written letters to MPs, I’ve been to Parliamentary debates –  I guess I’ve tried to encourage others to also. I work with health professionals and academics on climate change because I believe the links between the two are inextricable - there are many man-made environmental problems that impact our health, but there are also an infinite number of solutions to both if we just flip the issue around. I’m starting a really exciting project on food systems that sort of encompasses everything from economic structures, personal behaviour and political decision making. I’m a connector - one of the best things about what I do is seeing amazing people meet other amazing people and watching magic happen. So if you’ve ever got a question about health care, sustainability, climate change and economics – I’d love to chat with you!

2) Does being a woman affect your work in any way?

If it does I don’t think I’ve noticed it. When I look back on some of the things I have got involved in I can recount times when I’ve thought – wow – where are all the ladies!? The UN is one of them. There are hardly any women in UNFCCC meetings. The UK Parliament is another. such observations don’t worry me so much because I’d much rather be where I am than where they are – I think there are spaces where women can feel outnumbered and uncomfortable, and it is important to make sure both sexes have as much opportunity to participate as the other, if that is where they want to be.

I am what I am. I love/criticise/encourage a person regardless of their sex and I hope that people do the same with me. There are times though, especially when I’ve been travelling, where being a woman has gotten me into some situations that I think I could have avoided if I was a guy – and I must say that really sucks.

3) Are you a feminist?

I’ve never identified myself as one, and actually in the past I think I’ve actively rejected the notion! I put this partly down to my own naivety of the issue, but also because I recognised a while ago that feminism done wrong can often weaken the cause more than it can strengthen it. At uni we had a women’s officer, and I was up there campaigning to remove the post and change it to Equal Opportunities officer because I felt there were smaller groups of individuals who needed support and attention more than just “women”. I feel more passionate about equal opportunities, I would hate to be on the  opposite side of the gender scale and feel like I wasn’t supported, so why should that be the case still for so many males/transgenders?

We’re equally as vulnerable or as powerful as the other, its more important to recognise where and when, rather than just who.

4) What are your future plans?

More of all the things I love, especially now I’m out of my studies; More exploration, more campaigning, more connections, more reading, more drawing/photography/crafting, more friends, more problems and more problem solving! I’m about to start a real-life adult job with a group called the Campaign for Greener Healthcare, which I’m pretty excited about. On top of that I want to start writing articles on health and climate change, I want to challenge myself with this new adventure in food systems, and I want to continue working with amazing groups like UKYCC, Medsin and Otesha!

5) Tell us one cool thing we don’t know already:

I read an awesome book called The Spirit Level recently, where the authors spoke about how humans are evolutionarily conditioned to tackle conflict through love and co-operation. They showed how there is a branch of the evolutionary tree where apes split into two species: The Chimp and The Bonobo, and human social behaviour can be explained through the ways in which each species interacts within its communities.

Chimps have shown to resolve sexual issues (disputes) with power, exerting their dominance over one another. Conversely, bonobos resolve power issues with sex, as their dominance hierarchy is less pronounced. The good news is, humans have the same DNA pattern for regulation of social, sexual and behavioural regulation as Bonobos rather than Chimps.

Simply speaking, we should all be more evolutionarily accustomed to tackling conflict through love, not war!