Whoop!! #Climate Scrutiny Petition hits 350 online, (plus 509 on paper)…. #SeventhScrutinyCommitteeNow #Manchester

Today we celebrate that 350 people who live, work or study in Manchester have successfully negotiated the Council’s registration system and signed the petition for a seventh scrutiny committee, dedicated to climate change.

We also have 509 valid signatures on paper (collected before lockdown), bringing us up to 859 in total…

Once we get to 1000, we are guaranteed a discussion at a scrutiny committee (Neighbourhoods and Environment).

But that is not enough. We have already done that once, and all it got us a pat on the head.. We need 4000 signatures to get a debate in full council. We need all those councillors who voted to declare a climate emergency back in July 2019 to vote, in public, as to whether they support the creation of a scrutiny committee that meets regularly, and tracks (lack of) progress. Climate change can no longer be kicked down the road, kicked into the long grass…

Our deadline  for these 40000 is November 10th.

Here are seven crucial ways you can safely help us get the remaining 3141 signature we need.

  1. Share the petition – individually – with everyone you know who lives,works or studies within Manchester City Council’s boundaries.  Yes, tweeting is good, as is tagging in Facebook but let’s be honest – most of us ignore those sorts of things most of the time. Therefore, because this is a climate emergency, we are asking you to step it up a notch-  we are asking you to do is write to people individually, or speak to them on the phone, or text them.  We have made some basic videos about the petition, and will be making more.
  2. Print off copies of the petition and get people in your social bubble (people who live with you, work with you etc) to sign. They have to include their name, signature, circle “live/work/study” and then give the relevant address. Then email us on petition@climateemergencymanchester.net and we will come collect.
  3. Invite us to speak at any online meetings you are part of – whether it is something religious, something Tenants and Residents, something to do with sports or hobbies. Basically any meeting which is going to include people who live, work or study within the City Council’s boundaries. There are five of us in the core group of Climate Emergency Manchester and any of us can speak for one or three or even five minutes about the petition, the logic behind it, and answer questions
  4. Notify us about any people you know who work for big organisations (public, private, whatever) who can get mention of the petition into email bulletins, newsletters etc. We need to get the petition shared within big employers within the City Council’s boundaries, since people on the email list are, by definition, able to sign, even if they live outside the boundaries of the City .
  5. Attend “sandwich boarding” events with us – we will be standing around at key public locations (city centre and elsewhere) with sandwich boards with a QR code that sends people to details about the petition.  (We will NOT be handing out flyers – the risks of passing on or catching coronavirus are simply too high for this to be responsible).  We will be sandwich boarding until the weather prevents us. It will be fun, promise!
  6. Change your social media profiles to point to the petition, even if only on Monday 7th September,  Wednesday 7th October and  Saturday 7th November (the dates of our next “social media blitzes”
  7. Help us spread the word by making a video explaining why you’ve signed the petition  (or why you would if you could) and send us the raw footage. We will add a title at the front and the end. We want videos a) from people who live in all thirty two wards b) videos in other languages c) videos from people who live in other local authorities.

There is lots else you can do to help. Here’s a longer list of 15….

And here is that QR code!

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