Lucy's Deputation to the Council re Climate Emergency

TTT's Lucy Neal spoke to the Wandsworth Environment and Sustainability Strategy meeting in January re the Climate Emergency and how the community can be involved in making the urgent changes needed in the Borough.

The text is as follows:
Hello. I’m Lucy Neal. I was awarded the Council’s S. West London Green Champion Award in 2009. This is Hilary Jennings: we co-chaired Transition Town Tooting in early days in 2008. We’ve been at this a while. 

I’m sure everyone in this room tonight knows that delivering a stable future climate for everyone on Earth depends on this meeting. Everything we are currently doing feeds into the run up to COP26 in Glasgow. The Paris agree-ments start in 2021. All the lights on Earth’s dashboard are flashing red. 

So, a cross party declaration of a Climate and Ecological Emergency and an Action Plan to follow through. I think that’s worth a hurrah! Hurrah!!! (clapping...good to test spirit of room) 

We welcome mention in plan of engagement with local community groups and partners because of their expertise and contacts. 

1. TTT: We are here to represent Citizen expertise. For 12 years, we’ve been rehearsing how to join up sectors and work across disciplines towards: healthier, more resilient local communities, cleaner air, locally generated zero carbon energy, affordable transport, efficient housing, new jobs, localised supply chains, healthier food and space for biodiversity. TTT has built in this time, a ‘can do’ practice and approach amongst residents working together - to create a biodiverse, creative, skilled, zero carbon and connected town. We champion and celebrate people’s energy, care and en-thusiasm for their neighbourhoods in the community of Wandsworth. There’s a great deal of professional expertise. We’ve been shifting aware-ness of the climate emergency and also building practical alternatives for what’s needed and possible. 

Extinction Rebellion

We are in the middle of an Anthropocene Mass Extinction so Rebellion feels one of the only solutions we have left. 

David took a tour of Extinction Rebellion on the streets of London on Thursday and offers a short story of personal encounters. Thank you to TTT for the space.

Arriving at Marble Arch to a solar powered music stage, a tent city, some fabulous posters and signs, it was great to see the street reclaimed. The freshness of the air was palpable, devoid as it was of the usual fossil-fuelled exhaust fumes. I took a leaflet from Jill who told me she joined an affinity group of organisers because she felt she needed to do something. At the induction centre Sam explained to me how to get involved, what activities could be arrestable or non-arrestable. She knows TTT's Richard.

Walking down the middle of a car-free Oxford Street, I meet a slightly sunburnt policeman being berated by a Middle Eastern woman, demanding to know when he was going to clear up the protest. Her route to a hospital appointment was affected. The policeman calmly suggested she try the tube.  An aggressive bald white man joined in to have a go. This was affecting his van business - what was the officer going to do?  Our rosy-faced PC said "I'm just doing my job, maybe you would if your boss asked you?"  I tried to assist, to mediate, but both passers-by were too angry, too lost in themselves to engage. Avoiding eye contact they stormed off as the PC and I chatted on.