It’s time to stop funding climate change! Email YOUR question to ESCC’s next Full Council meeting by 29 June.

We need your* help to tell East Sussex County Council:
IT’S TIME TO STOP FUNDING CLIMATE CHANGE!
Email your question to ESCC’s next Full Council meeting by 29 June.
Full details below, time required 2 – 3 mins.

* Residents of East Sussex, Brighton and Hove – ESCC runs your Local Government Pension Scheme.

BACKGROUND:

East Sussex County Council (ESCC) currently has huge sums (£175m as at 30/09/2019) invested in fossil fuels (oil, coal and gas), the main driver of the climate crisis. These investments are made through the East Sussex Pension Fund (which also covers Brighton & Hove).

Even before COVID-19 the fossil fuel system was being disrupted by the forces of cheaper renewable technologies and more aggressive government policies. But now the pandemic appears to have brought forward the point of peak demand for fossil fuels (possibly to 2019), revealing the overcapacity and fragility of the whole fossil fuel system and creating the prospect of big losses for investors like ESCC.

With the window of opportunity to prevent catastrophic climate change rapidly shrinking there’s never been a more important time to tell ESCC to ditch its investments in fossil fuels.

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP:

ESCC will be holding its next Full Council meeting (virtually) on Tuesday 7 July – its last such meeting before October. To keep the pressure up, we need as many people as possible to email them questions about this issue. They have to respond to these questions and include both your question and their response in their minutes. The deadline for you to email your question is 4pm on Monday 29 June.

Please follow the following three easy steps (estimate time required 2 – 3 mins):

Take action this Thursday (7 May) over Barclays’ funding of fossil fuels!

Last month UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52370221), despite the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, the world mustn’t forget the “deeper environmental emergency” facing the planet as a result of climate change. It’s currently unclear what the long-term impact of the pandemic will be on the oil and gas industries, with some analysts speculating (https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/01/the-fossil-fuel-industry-is-broken-will-a-cleaner-climate-be-the-result) that it may hasten these companies’ inevitable demise. Whatever happens, however, Divest East Sussex will be resuming its campaign to divest the East Sussex Pension Fund from fossil fuels as soon as this becomes feasible and appropriate.

In the meantime …

This Thursday 7 May, Barclays bank – the sixth largest backer of fossil fuels in the world – will be holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) in London. A shareholders’ resolution has been tabled, calling on Barclays to phase out its funding for fossil fuels.

Here are three actions you can take to help put pressure on Barclays to stop funding fossil fuels:

> sign the change.org petition (https://www.change.org/p/barclays-barclays-stop-funding-fossil-fuels) calling on Barclays to stop funding fossil fuels;
> email Barclays company secretary today (details below);
> help strengthen the voice of those who’ve tabled the resolution by being part of the social media storm at 11am on Thursday 7 May (details below)

#flattenthecurve: ‘it’s essential that we act in solidarity with the most vulnerable’

In the light of the current COVID-19 pandemic we have decided to POSTPONE the ‘Sex Strike for the Climate!’ action (which was to have taken place in Lewes next Monday, 16 March).

Postponing the Sex Strike and other public events would appear to be the right decision from a public health perspective. As Greta Thunberg says, ‘it’s essential that we act in solidarity with the most vulnerable and that we act in the best interest of our common society’. However, that doesn’t mean that the campaign to divest the East Sussex Pension Fund is going to be silent over the coming months!

As 350.org has noted, there are still lots of different forms of action that we can use to make our voices heard without coming together physically: from window posters, and virtual protests, to mass calls, texts and emails and social media barrages. The Climate Strikers are already doing this, and we will be experimenting with some of these forms of action in the coming weeks. Please watch this space!

Now might also be a good time to deepen your knowledge of both climate change and activism using tools like Michael Mann’s free online course on the science and global impact of climate change (sign-up here) or Daniel Hunter’s Climate Resistance Handbook (download it for free here).

So let’s ‘keep [our] numbers low but [our] spirits high and … take one week at the time’!

POSTPONED: Campaigners to call for sex strike over Council’s climate hypocrisy

IMPORTANT UPDATE (12 March): In the light of the current COVID-19 pandemic we have taken the decision to POSTPONE this action to a later date.

POSTPONED: 16 March: Sex Strike for the Climate!

IMPORTANT UPDATE (12 March): In the light of the current COVID-19 pandemic we have taken the decision to POSTPONE this action to a later date.

Greta Thunbergs descend on County Hall in protest over fossil fuel investments

Press Release
Divest East Sussex [1]
11 February 2020
More info: 07596 483 272

PHOTOS: https://tinyurl.com/thunberg-in-1 (Photo: Katie Vandyck) and https://tinyurl.com/thunberg-in-2 (Photo: Steve Lewis)

GRETA THUNBERGS DESCEND ON COUNTY HALL TO DEMAND END TO FOSSIL FUEL INVESTMENTS
Nonviolent direct action campaign launched as County Council refuses to stop funding climate change.

Tuesday 11 February, County Hall, Lewes: Scores of campaigners from across the County held a masked ‘Thunberg-in’ and Valentine’s-themed sing-a-thon outside County Hall this morning (Tuesday 11 February, 8 – 10am) to protest against East Sussex County Council’s ongoing refusal to stop funding climate change [2]. The event, entitled ‘Stop in the name of love!’, marked the launch of a nonviolent direct action campaign to compel the Council to stop investing in the giant oil and gas companies that are driving our current climate crisis – companies like Exxon, Shell and BP [3].

Send a card to East Sussex Pension Fund chair Gerard Fox for Valentine’s day: it’s time to stop funding climate change!

Friday 14 February is Valentine’s day. Please send our ‘Stop in the name of love!’ card to East Sussex Pension Fund chair Gerard Fox (in time for 14 Feb) to tell him: ‘It’s time to stop funding climate change.’

Here’s a way to do this in four easy steps:

Stop in the name of love! Join the ‘Thunberg-in’ and sing-a-thon outside County Hall on Tues 11 Feb

Join us on Tuesday 11 February for the launch of our nonviolent direct action campaign to compel East Sussex County Council to stop funding climate change: a mass ‘Thunberg-in’ (masks provided) and sing-a-thon outside County Hall in Lewes, with a pre-Valentine’s day theme! 8 – 10am, County Hall, St Anne’s Cres, BN7 1UE.

Join us in London @ the British Museum on 8 February for The Fall of BP!

On Saturday 8 February BP or not BP will be staging a mass creative takeover of the British Museum in London – filling the building with people, movement, props, costumes and a Trojan Horse*, to protest against BP’s sponsorship of this major cultural institution.

Contact Divest East Sussex if you’d like to be part of a Brighton and East Sussex bloc at the largest protest that the British Museum has ever seen: divesteastsussex@gmail.com or 07596 483 272.

You can also help spread the word via Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1031503930546382/?active_tab=about

Here’s how to join us:

– from Hastings: purchase a day return to London terminals and catch the 7.55am bus replacement from the train station
– from St Leonards Warrior Square: purchase a day return to London terminals and catch the 8.02am bus replacement from the bus stop on the sea front opposite the statue of Queen Victoria
– from Bexhill: purchase a day return to London terminals and catch the 8.30am train to London Victoria
– from Eastbourne: purchase a day return to London terminals and catch the 9.01am train to London Victoria
– from Polegate: purchase a day return to London terminals and catch the 9.08am train to London Victoria
– from Lewes: purchase a day return to London terminals and catch the 9.21am train to London Victoria
– from Seaford: purchase a day return to London terminals, catch the 8.53am train to Lewes and change there onto the 9.21am train to Victoria
– from Brighton: purchase a day return to London terminals, catch the 9.33am train to London Victoria and meet us at 10.40am outside the branch of Lush cosmetics inside London Victoria station

If you’re coming from elsewhere in East Sussex (or want to catch a different train) then you can either meet up with us at 10.40am outside the branch of Lush cosmetics inside London Victoria station or at 11.40am outside the Oxfam bookshop just round the corner from the museum: 12 Bloomsbury St, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 3QA

BP or not BP say:

– We have a detailed plan for the day that will involve taking part in a variety of activities in different spaces in the museum. When the event starts, there’ll be people who will give you instructions on where to be and when.

– You’ll get to join in with mass performance moments, hear voices from the frontlines of BP’s pollution and corruption, and team up with others in a variety of ways to expose the truth about BP’s activities, and put pressure on the British Museum to stop supporting the oil industry. There will also be some extra surprises we’ll reveal on the day 🙂

– We will also be highlighting the connections between oil sponsorship, colonialism and looted artefacts in the museum.

– We are planning a choice of accessible activities and a kids’ space for those who need them, to allow as many people as possible to participate in the day.

– The Feb 8th event will start from 1pm, but try to get to the museum early if you can (ideally by 12noon) as there may be long queues. If you get in early, there are cafes and places to sit inside the museum while you’re waiting for things to start (or you could do some exploring).

– Don’t bring large bags or suitcases, as these won’t be allowed in. Also, be aware that door staff will be checking everyone’s bags so don’t bring anything sharp or that could cause damage, or that makes it obviously look like you’re coming to a protest performance!

* BP is currently sponsoring the exhibition ‘Troy: myth and reality’

Santas and elves put council on notice over climate change at County Hall

Press Release
Divest East Sussex [1] and Santas and Elves Against Climate Change
3 December 2019
More info: 07596 483 272

SANTAS & ELVES PUT COUNCIL ON NOTICE OVER CLIMATE CHANGE AT COUNTY HALL
‘No toys for East Sussex County Council until they stop funding climate change’, says North Pole delegation

Tuesday 3 December, County Hall, Lewes: A delegation of Santas and elves put the County Council on notice this morning that it would face a campaign of nonviolent action in the New Year if it continued funding climate change. Members of the public can pledge to take part in the campaign at https://tinyurl.com/deedsnotwordspledge.