We're not going down without a fight

Last Monday a UN scientific panel published an alarming report on on climate change. The impacts are worse than we thought and to prevent complete climate chaos we essentially have to halve our pollution by 2030 and reduce it to zero by 2050.

On Tuesday, the Government introduced Budget 2019, dropping plans for an increase in the carbon tax announced by the Taoiseach, and effectively "giving two fingers to the Paris Agreement" and everyone who is threatened by climate change.

It was a staggering failure of political leadership that put us all at risk of devastating climate impacts.

But we're not going down without a fight.

What you can do:

1. Ring your TD on 01-6183000

Call 01-6183000 and ask for the office of one of your local TDs. Leave a message to say you are shocked, alarmed and that you want to see climate action now.
(use this map to figure out who your TDs are).

2. Email all your local TDs

You can use this link to send an email to all the TDs in your constituency. We haven't written a preset message for you. Use your own words, it can be as short as you like. Tell them why you want climate action now. You might be worried about your children or grandchildren. Or you own future! Tell your TDs what it is that makes you angry, sad or worried about climate change.

3. Come to the Dáil on Tuesday lunchtime

Three activist groups have organized an impromptu demonstration on Tuesday 15th between 12.30 and 2pm to show TDs that people care about climate change. Friends of the Earth and Stop Climate Chaos are supporting the demo organized by the Dublin Eco-Feminist Collective, Not Here Not Anywhere, and Young Friends of the Earth.

If you are in striking distance of Dublin 2, join us. If not, call your TD, that will have a real impact too - let's make sure they all get dozens of phonecalls.

The biggest take-away from the UN report is that every fraction of a degree of climate change matters. And we don't know which fraction is the difference between climate damage and climate catastrophe. So every thing we do matters and every decision government makes now matters. We are almost out of time, and the Government is absolutely out of excuses.

Please make sure they hear from you tomorrow.

All our tomorrows depend on it.

Oisin Coghlan
Friends of the Earth

P.S. This is the moment to ask to your family and friends to take action too. If you're like me you're too polite in most social situations to bring up climate change. Today is the day we push through that awkwardness for the sake of our futures:

1. Send this email to the people you care about, cos they need to care about climate change.
2. Agree with a couple of friends that you'll call your TDs and compare notes.
3. Grab a friend and bring them with you to the demo.