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Ditch Coal 09/06/16

ditch coal

Facebook event can be found here.

For our last event of this term, join Zero Carbon and The Coal Action Network on June 9th, 7:30pm at the Lecture Theatre (Trinity Hall College) for a very special film and discussion on how to end coal’s journey of destruction.

Four coal fired power stations have closed in the last six months. The coal industry is choking on its own fumes, but we need to help it into its death throws.

Main speaker: Vladimir Slivyak from Ecodefense, a radical Russian group raising awareness of the plight of indigenous shor and Teleut people living in the Russian coalfields that supply coal to the UK.

Touring across the country, the Ditch Coal Roadshow will take you back to coal’s point of extraction – focussing on the mines in the UK and Russia – and follow it to the UK’s coal fired power stations.

The Coal Action Network’s own speaker will look at the situation in the UK’s opencast mines and power stations and open the discussion about what we can do about the industry.

Come along to find out more and to discuss how you can get involved in ending coal’s journey of destruction.

Find our more about the Coal Action Tour here.

Students, non-students – all welcome!

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Why the climate crisis can help us reclaim democracy (panel discussion) 26/04/16

system change
Check out our Facebook event here.
Climate change is often presented to us as an abstract scientific issue and yet its consequences have profound implications on every aspect of our lives. To tackle the climate crisis does not only mean more people turning off their lights and recycling – it requires that we re-think the way our society runs; in its political systems, in business practices etc.

Climate justice movements across the world are growing in their demands for a fossil free future, and for a fair and justice transition.

But in changing the way our system runs, can the climate crisis actually help us reclaim our democracy?

Join Zero Carbon and guest speakers:

SUZANNE JEFFERY (Chair of the Campaign Against Climate Change and the CCC Trade Union Group)

OSCAR GILLESPIE (Green Party Councillor in Cambridge, worked with Fossil Free Cambridgeshire)

ANGUS SATOW (Co-founder of the Cambridge University divestment campaign and campaigns officer at Zero Carbon)

More speakers TBC!!!!

Hope to see you there, in the run up to our March for Divestment (April 30th).

All welcome!

 

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Campaigns officer switch over

Tim

Zero Carbon would like to announce that Tim Lornie has stepped down as campaigns officer, to be replaced by Alice Guillaume. Tim has been an exceptional campaigns officer, going above and beyond the call of duty time and time again. From co-launching our campaign, to leading our pre-Paris march, to his tireless efforts on research & lobbying behind the scenes, he has been an inspiration to all of us, and fully deserves his rest from climate activism!

We are delighted that Alice Guillaume has agreed to step up and replace him. A campaign member since the beginning of the year, Alice has demonstrated great ability and enthusiasm and we are very happy to welcome her on board! She and Angus Satow will remain campaign officers for the duration of Easter Term.

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Creating a zero carbon future: Is it possible?

February 3rd 7:30pm, Nihon Room at Pembroke College: https://www.facebook.com/events/1512997279004699/
What would a zero carbon Britain look like?
How can we get there?
And, is it possible?

Dr Jane Fisher, (University lecturer, environmental scientist with a background in restoration ecology, and the Head of Education at the Centre for Alternative Technology) will be discussing some of CAT’s research to outline the possibility of a zero carbon future.

The Centre for Alternative Technology – Britains major centre for sustainable research and education focuses on green living: environmental building, eco-sanitation, woodland management, renewable energy, energy efficiency and organic growing.

They are responsible for running and are involved in projects including:
-ZeroCarbonBritain – a series of research reports addressing scenarios for reducing the UK’s emissions to zero in 20 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S–isZgYKDM

-Coed Gwern – 15 acres of sustainably managed woodland, which is home to a range of courses, as well as being
monitored and managed for biodiversity.

-Dyfi Biosphere – the only UNESCO Biosphere in Wales.

This is a great opportunity to discover more about the practical solutions to the climate crisis; the extent to which different methods and technologies are effective and possible.

So please come along – Zero Carbon will also be on hand if you have any questions about our campaign

 

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Zero Carbon responds to the Paris agreement on climate change at COP21

Zero Carbon responds to the Paris agreement on climate change at COP21:

“The Paris Agreement is yet another nail in the coffin of the fossil fuel industry, as the world moves towards a zero carbon future. This is a nail that civil society must hammer in. Cambridge University has an incredible opportunity to divest, and do just that.

If a world of two degree warming is incompatible with the polluters’ extractive aims, then the new global target of 1.5 degrees Celsius must surely signal that the game is up. Commentators across the world are heralding the end of the fossil fuel era: for the Guardian it signalled a “transition away from fossil fuels and to a clean energy economy”, while the Economist reflected on “the signal [the agreement] sends to investors: the united governments of the world say that the age of fossil fuels has started drawing to a close”. As we head towards a renewable future, the coal, oil and gas industries have not only lost their social license, they have lost their financial security. Respected organisations from Unilever to the International Investors Group on Climate Change have been warning investors of COP21’s huge implications for fossil fuel investments.

Despite this good news, there is much to be lamented in this agreement. Zero Carbon stands with activists from across the world in condemning the exclusion of rights of indigenous peoples and the lack of financial recourse for developing nations – governments in the Global North have spoken fine words on these issues, but have not matched them with their actions. Most importantly of all, the lack of certainty in this agreement – from its non-binding legal status to the lack of firm dates or percentages – will allow governments to sacrifice the long-term safety of humanity for short-term gain, thereby condemning many cultures, peoples and species to destruction.

It is up to civil society to hold them to their words. The global divestment movement is more important than it has ever been. The fossil fuel industry must give way for a sustainable future. Since governments will not make this happen, the task falls to the rest of society. As the respected environmental writer George Monbiot has commented, this agreement demonstrates the entrenched power of the fossil fuel industry. There is no mention of coal, oil or natural gas in the agreement, yet the burning of these must stop if even the 2°C limit is to be maintained. Science demands this: it is not negotiable.

Institutions such as the University of Cambridge, which take an important leadership role in the future direction of society, must now know in which direction the wind of history is blowing. They cannot stand against it. In light of this, the Working Group set up by the university to investigate ethical investment has a clear mandate: it should recommend divestment from the fossil fuel industry. Not only is it morally right, but it’s also best for Cambridge’s financial status. Otherwise, the University stands to lose a lot of money when government policies kick in and over 80% of fossil fuel reserves have to stay in the ground.

It is up to the Cambridge University family – its students, staff, fellows and all its constituent groups – to make sure this message is heard loud and clear. The future is once again hopeful: we must turn that hope into reality.”

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DIVESTMENT MARCH – CAMBRIDGE 30/11/15

Read more about our march on the Tab: http://thetab.com/uk/cambridge/2015/12/01/student-zero-carbon-campaign-protesters-march-to-tell-university-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels-63280

On November 30th we held a divestment rally in Cambridge as part of People & Planet’s Day of Action against climate change, to mark the beginning of the COP21 Paris Climate Conference. We are calling on the University of Cambridge to divest its £5bn endowment from environmentally destructive and financially insecure fossil fuels. We need to keep 80% of fossil fuels in the ground to avoid catastrophic warming and so it’s time for our politicians and public institutions to act.

https://campaigns.gofossilfree.org/petitions/cambridge-university-divest-from-fossil-fuels-1?time=1446419179

#DivestCambridge
#DivestCambridge

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CAMBRIDGE GOES TO THE PEOPLE’S CLIMATE MARCH 29/11/15

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cambridge-goes-to-the-peoples-climate-march-tickets-19558388667

HELLLO PEOPLE OF CAMBRIDGE

We, Zero Carbon Cambridge, are trying to organise a coach to take us all to London on the 29th November so we can join thousands of other people in the PEOPLE’S CLIMATE MARCH!

We are in the process of getting funding from the local council and Unions, but for this to happen we need to show that we have enough people interested. So, please do sign up to this event. We ask you to pay a £5 deposit (+£1.15 fee – still A LOT CHEAPER THAN THE TRAIN!!) for your seat and then hopefully the rest will be subsidised.

We will update you all on specifics nearer the time!

Thank you so much!

Zero Carbon Cambridge

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Cambridge University Students’ Union (CUSU) Support Zero Carbon’s Campaign! 23/11/15

Cambridge University Students’ Union (CUSU) Support

Following a meeting with Cambridge University Students’ Union (CUSU) on November 23rd, the Council almost unanimously voted to support divestment, to support our campaign and to support the right to protest! This is great news for our campaign – the University must listen to a student body speaking with one voice.

Check out this article from BlewsWire for more details! http://blewswire.com/cambridge-students-speaking-one-voice-saying-loudly-cambridge-divest-fossil-fuels/

 

CUSU Council Michaelmas IV Monday 23rd November 7pm

8B. MOTION TO SUPPORT THE CAMBRIDGE ZERO CARBON SOCIETY

Proposed by Angus Satow seconded by Eleanor Whitlock

CUSU Notes:

  1. That Cambridge Zero Carbon Society has launched a divestment campaign at the University, calling for divestment from fossil fuels, with 1700 signatures on their petition after two weeks;
  2. That it is agreed across the world that global warming must not exceed 2 degrees Celsius, and that for this to happen to 80% of current fossil fuel reserves must stay in the ground, resulting in warnings from HSBC and Mark Carnet, the Governor of the Bank of England, of the moral and financial dangers of fossil fuel investments;
  3. That the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership released a report earlier this year calling for “sustainable finance” and “a just transition to a low carbon economy”;
  4. That CUSU passed a motion in November of 2013 calling for the University and its constituent colleges to “explicitly commit to pursuing low-carbon assets and withdraw their investments from companies whose main business is the extraction and/or production of fossil fuels”;
  5. That Zero Carbon staged a banner drop on Wednesday 4th November, for which one member of the campaign group on Clare Bridge was sanctioned, with the disciplinary process still ongoing and a financial penalty expected.

CUSU Believes:

  1. That it is morally wrong for the University to invest in fossil fuel reserves while leading the way in sustainability research;
  2. That fossil fuel investments pose a financial risk to the University’s endowment in terms of beached assets and the ‘carbon bubble’;
  3. That the right to protest and freedom of speech on campus is indispensable, and should be upheld.

CUSU Resolves:

  1. To support Zero Carbon’s divestment campaign;
  2. To uphold the principles of divestment wherever possible at University Committees and other meetings where appropriate;
  3. To apportion funds from the CUSU Council Free Budget to hire a coach to London for the March for Climate, Jobs and Justice on the 29th November – the cost will be based upon searching for quotes for an appropriately sized coach and using the cheapest option available;
  4. To publicise and support a fundraiser for the student’s fine if appropriate.
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Building a Global Climate Movement – COP21 and Beyond 17/11/15

November 17th at 7:30pm, Keynes Hall – Kings College. All welcome!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1519194818404471/

A positive agreement at the COP21 conference in Paris this year is essential. As carbon emissions continue to rise, and we come closer to the 2 degree cut off, it is vital that our leaders come together to make real political change. But what is COP21? What do we need from it? How can we put pressure on our politicians to act? And, if negotiations fail, what next?

Join Zero Carbon Society, *TABITHA SPENCE*, (co-international Secretary of Campaign against Climate Change, co-author of the One Million Climate Jobs project and part of the team at Fossil Free Cambridgeshire) and *SAMA BAKR* (Reclaim the Power and Time to Cycle) on November 17th at 7:30pm where we will be hosting a discussion about COP21, international civil society processes and direct actions in the lead up to COP. Zero Carbon Soc will also be on hand if you have any questions about our campaign and how to get involved.

It is #timetoact.

*In conjunction with CUSU Ethical Affairs as part of Ethical Affairs week: November 15th – 21st*

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Divestment Campaign Launch! 04/11/2015

Read more about the launch of our divestment campaign at the University of Cambridge:

The university must address climate change (Varsity)

http://www.varsity.co.uk/comment/9199

#DivestCambridge

The Zero Carbon Society bursts the Cambridge bubble, urging the university to divest from fossil fuels (Blewswire)

http://blewswire.com/zero-carbon-society-bursts-cambridge-bubble-urging-university-divest-fossil-fuels/

04/11/2015