Treat this document as you would a cookbook – we’ve written it so you can dip in and out of it, take inspiration from various bits, put it down, and come back to it down the line. We don’t see… Net zero is a bold goal. Since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, it’s been talked about more and more. We think the surge in interest is for three key reasons: If we can get to net zero quickly,… Campaigning on climate change can quickly become a quagmire of definitions, abbreviations, and confusion. We’ve tried to avoid that in this guide, and thought it would be helpful to start with some key terms and the definitions we find useful…. We’ve really enjoyed talking to activists from around the world about how they’ve used net zero in their campaigning. One key theme that resonated across many of our interviews was the need to break a net zero goal down to… We loved our conversation with activists in Indonesia, about how they tackled a challenge every campaigner knows: that sinking feeling when your campaigns are just not getting support from the public. Change.org Indonesia was finding it tricky to get people… People react best to people. But when we campaign on climate change, we can be drawn into endless technical conversations full of acronyms and technical jargon. Quite quickly it’s easy to forget the human impact of climate change. We loved… Sometimes, politicians only engage with communities when they are seeking their votes during an election year. Otherwise, local communities are often neglected and ignored by governments. That’s why Srikandi Lestari Foundation’s community organising is so important. Srikandi, a revered heroine… To start, we wanted to share our understanding of a few key terms often used by campaigners. Most of these terms have a variety of definitions in different countries and communities, so we have done our best to choose simple,… It’s easy, when you’re planning a campaign, to imagine that the person in power you’re trying to influence is negligent, corrupt or has bad intentions. But in so many cases we’ve seen, the problem actually is that they just don’t… Building enough power to make change happen can be hard work. The next example is from activists in Brazil who used a ‘big tent’ approach back in 2018 to bring together hundreds of organisations and community groups. This took serious… Working with friends on an issue you care about can be an exciting prospect – you get to work with people you trust and care about, and on an issue that is important to you. As activists we don’t learn… Campaigning to persuade companies to change their behaviour can be a rich and powerful experience. Unlike governments, they can be speedy, responsive, and bold. Often companies are very sensitive to anything that could affect their public reputation, which gives you,… Doctors are one of the most trusted professions – when they speak, most of us listen. We found this campaign in Brazil fascinating, as they found a thoughtful way to empower local doctors to explain the issues with coal mining,… Or to put it another way: don’t be shy to be inspired by the other activism you’re seeing. We were inspired to read about the ‘Delhi Lungs’ campaign, run by Jhatkaa, an Indian campaign group: SPOTLIGHT: INDIA A great idea…
Welcome: we’re so excited you’re here
Why net zero matters in our campaigns
So what exactly are net zero, 1.5 degrees and NDCs?
Chapter 1 – Make it relatable
Chapter 2 – Research, reflect, be reactive and experiment
Chapter 3 – Empower people to use their own voice
Srikandi Lestari Foundation: Live, share and eat together to organise in communities; train the members on their rights
Some key campaigning terms
Chapter 4 – Consider making the decision-maker part of the solution
Chapter 5 – Build Power by Making Friends
Clima de Eleição: Strengthening activism with friends and creating a team
Chapter 6 – Don’t forget companies
Chapter 7 – Find Powerful Messengers
Chapter 8 – Be creative – but also copy other people’s activism!