#144: Entering our pre-school era

On three years of action and revving our training wheels

Mōrena, and happy Tuesday!

On this day, three years and three days ago, three friends started a Google Doc. After volunteering for climate organisations and diving into the world of climate action, we realised that the climate movement needed one major thing: more people. We were all concerned about climate change but were busy, and found systemic, policy-level actions confusing and over our heads. So, this Google Doc became the beginnings of a climate communication project – the first ever issue of Climate Club.

It’s been as fun and terrifying as this toddler’s spirals on his lawnmower.

Here are some highlights from the past three years, thanks to the support of climate organisations, our volunteers, and you - our readers and action-takers. Some particularly proud moments include:

• Playing a key part in at least 2 govt decisions: closing an ETS loophole and phasing out coal boilers from schools)

• Running workshops with 7 councils across Aotearoa, and numerous govt agencies & companies

• Collaborating on the 2022 & 2023 vote for climate campaigns

If you want to give us a birthday present, we’d love if you could:

• Share the newsletter with two of your friends! We know that over half of you are here because a friend has shared this with you.

• Donate - we’re registered as a charity now

• Introduce us to potential funders as we look to fundraise in early 2025, or share our job description for our volunteer trustees role

Whether you’ve been with us for three years, or three days, thank you for being here. As usual, here’s our annual readers’ survey, for feedback and reflection. What’s changed for you in the past three years?

What can we do today?

The most-clicked link last week was the petition to ban seabed mining!

🐝 5 minutes: The future is decided in the present

• Where do you want our country’s emissions to be in 2035? The NZ government is already planning our international target for emissions between 2031 and 2035 - this target is important as it helps drive our policies around climate action. The UK set a target of 81% reduction by 2035 - can we beat them?

  Action: Submit asking for ambitious target setting on NZ’s international climate goals with our 5 minute template

• We recently became a charity (yay!) and we're setting up our Board of Trustees. We’re looking for 2-3 new trustees to join our board to steward our future and keep us accountable. All candidates will go through a selection process to ensure a fair decision. Applications close 23 January 2025.

  Action: Share our job ad or LinkedIn post with people who might be a good fit.

🐇 15 minutes: It’s a cheap shot

• The Government has told councils to collect more fees from public transport, driving the cost of living up even further, and taking autonomy away from councils who were trying to keep public transport affordable. The move will make a $20 weekly spend on public transport a $34 one - and make it harder for people to choose sustainable, low-carbon transport choices.
  Action: Ask Simeon Brown to give Kiwis good options for transport using this email template

  Take it further: Send NZTA some feedback telling them it’s not ok

💃🏽 30+ minutes: Tinker, tailor, soldier on with your submission

• Got more time on your hands and care about how we face the future? Really craft your submission on the NDC using our template guide. We know that good, reasonable goal setting is key in driving our policy decisions, and that personalised submission guides make more of an impact on policy makers.

  Action: Fully adapt and personalise the submission on our international climate goals with our shiny submission template
  Bonus action: Share the template and why this cause is important to you with your friends and whānau

In case you missed it: I don’t want your ghost ships bro

• One reason we have the highest car ownership in the world is that moving people and stuff between cities and to rural regions is so time-consuming without a truck or car. With more funding for inter-regional rail, we could save kiwis time, money and emissions. As we wait for the Government to announce what they will do about our ferries, now’s still a good time to have a say and tell them we don’t want their ghost ships.

  Action: Sign the petition to support rail-enabled ferries

Wins!

• Ninety-eight countries and twelve international organisations are preparing for this landmark climate case at the International Court of Justice. This case will contribute to defining the obligations of nations to prevent climate change, and the consequences if they fail.

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That’s all for today, folks 👋🏽 Thanks for taking action. Enjoy this sarcastic video about being a good person.

See you next week,

Emily & the Climate Club team

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