Dear friends
Amazing news! Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, and other scientific leaders, will brief MPs on the Climate and Ecological Emergency in JUST TWO WEEKS, on Monday 11 July.
Over 28,000 of us have now signed a petition asking for exactly this: a high-level briefing for MPs on the vital current climate science, allowing climate policy to be based on fact, not propaganda, misinformation and lobbying. WE GOT WHAT WE AND THE PLANET NEEDED.
I am now asking if you can do one more thing – take one minute to write to your MP and insist they attend.
While the Government failed to act on our petition, Caroline Lucas MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Change, took notice. Not only of my hunger strike, but 22,000 of us, together with 79 eminent climate scientists and the 29 leading clinicians called for an urgent briefing, and as a result of her principled work, Sir Patrick will brief MPs on MONDAY 11 JULY, 3.30-5pm, just like he did during the worst of the Covid-19 crisis. Accompanying him will be Prof Gideon Henderson, the Chief Scientific Adviser for DEFRA; Prof Stephen Belcher, Met Office Chief Scientist; and Prof Emily Shuckburgh, Director of Cambridge Zero, the University of Cambridge’s major climate initiative.
But attendance at Sir Patrick’s vital briefing is voluntary – MPs aren't required to attend, but you can insist to your own MP that they attend.
Our MPs work for us, and we can ask them to attend or to explain why they won’t. We can get hundreds and hundreds of our MPs to turn up at this vital briefing so that they are up to date with the latest science and can act to protect us, as we elected them to do.
Writing a letter is quick, powerful and straightforward, even if you’ve not done it before. If you use our template letter without personalising it, it could take less than a minute:
- Visit www.writetothem.com
- Enter your postcode
- Scroll past councillors to find your MP and click on their name
- Write your letter (you can base it on our template letter - see below, or even better adapt that to write your own), add your address and press Preview and Send
- Check your letter and press Send
- That’s it! You’ve taken action to help ensure your MP is informed on the most important issue of our time
The briefing will take place IN JUST TWO WEEKS, so we need to get this in MPs diaries URGENTLY. We will write to you again a week before the briefing asking you to remind them, but TODAY, it is VITAL that MPs know that their constituents request and expect them to listen to Sir Patrick.
In a couple of days, I’ll write to update you with some other things we are planning to make sure that MPs know how important this briefing is. In closing, however, I just wanted to let you know that I am continuing with my physical and mental recovery and am getting stronger and more like myself every day. Thank you once again for all that you’ve done to secure this amazing outcome. Please, please, for all of us, write to your MP today and make our hard-fought briefing as effective as possible.
With gratitude and every best wish,
Angus
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[Template letter to MPs - it's also available as a Google document]
Dear [INSERT NAME OF MP]
I am writing to ask that you attend a vital briefing from the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, who will be briefing MPs on Monday 11 July, 3.30-5.00pm in Portcullis House on the latest science of the risks and impacts of climate change as it relates to the UK. This briefing was called for by 79 of the UK’s leading climate scientists, led by former Chief Scientific Adviser Sir David King(1).
The eminent scientists explained that “the crisis is evolving at a rapid pace and it is increasingly difficult for politicians to understand the significance of the latest science that they do not have time to read and digest.” The need for such a briefing was also made clear by 29 eminent physicians in an open letter to the Prime Minister, published in the BMJ(2). In the letter they made it clear that “it is essential that the latest scientific evidence on the climate crisis is officially and openly communicated to the Cabinet and Members of Parliament by the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser.” And the concern of the UK electorate about climate change has never been higher and it will be one of the decisive factors at the next general election(3).
We saw at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic how calm, rational, evidence-based presentations on complex science were critical for both lawmakers and the public at a time when rumour and misinformation were rife. This important work led to acceptance of the need for decisive action to protect all of us; to robust, informed debate and to rigorous policymaking. Just as with Covid, potentially dreadful outcomes, complex ideas, rumour and misinformation are prevalent in climate emergency(4), and this important briefing is equally vital. As well as Sir Patrick, you will also hear from Prof Gideon Henderson, the Chief Scientific Adviser for DEFRA; Prof Stephen Belcher, Met Office Chief Scientist; and Prof Emily Shuckburgh, Director of Cambridge Zero, the University of Cambridge’s major climate initiative.
As one of your constituents, I am deeply concerned about the impact that climate change is having, and will continue to have, on me and my family. The need for detailed, impartial, robust information to be regularly shared with MPs so that you are properly informed seems obvious.
Please let me know that you will be attending.
Yours,
[INSERT NAME]
References:
1 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Zac5SzRSbFQoHC9TJnhO0enhqgD-7zS6/view
2 https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o987
3 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/articles/threequartersofadultsingreatbritainworryaboutclimatechange/2021-11-05
4 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-denial-spreads-on-facebook-as-scientists-face-restrictions/