Climate Week

Climate Week is a supercharged national campaign to inspire a new wave of action on climate change. It culminates with thousands of events and activities taking place throughout the week of 12 to 18 March 2012, planned by organisations from every part of society. Showcasing real, practical ways to combat climate change, the campaign aims to renew our ambition to create a more sustainable, low-carbon future.

 

The window of opportunity for action on climate change is rapidly closing. The UK is far from where it needs to be, but in every sector solutions are being pioneered, adopted and refined. The campaign aims to accelerate and enhance this process by inspiring more action through real examples – both the small improvements and the big innovations.

Climate Week is backed by every part of society – from the Prime Minister to Paul McCartney, the NHS to the Met Office, the TUC to the CBI, Girlguiding UK to the National Association of Head Teachers. It is supported by a Headline Partner Tesco, and four Supporting Partners: EDF Energy, H&M, Nissan and SodaStream. During the first Climate Week in 2011 over 3,000 events were attended by half a million people across the UK.

Climate Week’s Headline Partner is Tesco, which aims to become a zero-carbon business by 2050 – without purchasing offsets. In addition it has committed to work with its suppliers to reduce emissions from products in its supply chain by 30% by 2020, and to find ways to help its customers halve their own carbon footprints by 2020. Climate Week’s Supporting Partners are EDF Energy, H&M, Nissan and SodaStream. EDF Energy is Britain’s largest producer of low-carbon electricity, H&M is for a more sustainable fashion future, the 100% electric Nissan LEAF is driving change for a sustainable future, and SodaStream is the smarter way to enjoy sparkling drinks.

You can register now for the Climate Week Challenge, judged by celebrities including Kate Humble, Bruce Parry, and Liz Bonnin. The Climate Week Challenge in 2011 was Britain’s biggest ever environmental competition, with over 145,000 people participating in the one day and one-hour versions. This year teams from schools, workplaces, and community groups will again be challenged to come up with creative solutions to a problem that is only revealed on the Monday morning Climate Week.

The prestigious Climate Week Awards recognise the most inspirational and impressive actions taking place in every sector of society. The judging panel contains figures such as the human rights activist, Bianca Jagger, the former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, and the Bishop of London. Winners from 2011 included a community-run hydroelectric project in Settle, North Yorkshire, a virtually waterless new washing machine that uses polymer beads to clean clothes, and a schools project in the North East of England that has resulted in over 18,000 hours of pupil-led activities.

Climate Week Cuisine is a new part of the campaign for 2012, encouraging people to make the food that they eat a part of the solution to climate change. They can do this by joining in the call to action of eating a low carbon meal during Climate Week. This can be done easily by eating less meat or dairy, eating local, seasonal ingredients, or eating leftovers. Inspiration and ideas are being provided by a number of celebrity chefs including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Angela Hartnett, and Levi Roots.

There are a number of other elements to the campaign. The Climate Week Pub Quiz will be run in hundreds of pubs and workplaces. The Climate Week Play in a Day at the Arcola Theatre in London features award-winning writers and celebrity performers putting together five 15 minute plays in just 24 hours.

There were over 1,000 pieces of media coverage about the last Climate Week, with national articles ranging from the business pages of The Telegraph to the fashion pages of the Daily Mail. Television coverage included a feature on BBC Breakfast, an entire episode of children’s show Blue Peter, and comedian Marcus Brigstocke discussing the campaign on the One Show.

Organisations can get involved right now by starting to plan an event for Climate Week. This provides a unique opportunity to profile their own initiatives and innovations to stakeholders and staff, customers and the community, members and the media. They can also spread the word in advance, so that others find out about Climate Week in time to plan their own activities.

Individuals can help right now by asking the organisations they know – such as their workplace or local school – to plan an event or activity for Climate Week. They can also register to take part in the Climate Week Cuisine call to action and plan to eat a low carbon meal during Climate Week.

To find out more about Climate Week, or to register your event, go to www.climateweek.com, email info@climateweek.com or telephone on 020 3397 2601.

For specific reources for school teachers, please visit our Teacher Resources section of the website.