These are unsettling times for us all, particularly the most vulnerable in our society. The most important thing you can do right now is to keep yourself, and the wider community, safe. If we're to be effective climate activists in the future, we need to look after our physical and mental wellbeing now.
As lockdown restrictions ease, you may want to resume face-to-face campaigning and organise in-person events. However, we strongly encourage you to continue holding your group meetings online for the time being and take particular care of your own and others’ safety if you organise any in-person campaign activity. We recommend you take extra precautionary measures such as wearing a face mask if possible at all times, to give your community confidence engaging with you.
We should exercise caution as official guidelines continue to evolve and differ from one area to the other. Please consider that some more vulnerable members of your groups and wider community may not be able or willing to participate in any in person events.
If you do decide to go ahead with any in-person activity it should be outdoors. Please follow all local and national guidance which applies to your area, this is changing regularly so we strongly suggest you keep checking it. Note that you'll need to complete a COVID-19 risk assessment and share it with a relevant regional staff member to ensure your group is covered by our insurance.
Please also consider the strain many services are currently under. And make sure to communicate sensitively to decision makers and your own community.
As a network, we will support one another and those in our communities as best we can. If you have any questions or a suggestion on how we can support you, please email climateaction@foe.co.uk.
Climate Action Plan for Council
A green and fair recovery
As our government begins drafting COVID-19 recovery plans, we need to make sure we don’t return to business as usual. Because business as usual wasn’t working for our planet, and it wasn’t working for many people both here in the UK and around the world.
We cannot go back to an economy that left us with ever-increasing gaps between rich and poor, huge health inequalities and hurtling towards climate and ecological breakdown. We must build back better.
Let’s tell our MPs what a green and fair recovery looks like and ask them to speak up for people and planet in Parliament.