Ring the Changes on Climate Change - Countdown to Copenhagen

Ring the Changes on Climate Change – Action Guide

Introduction

The UN climate conferences in Poznan this year and Copenhagen next year are arguably the most important meetings in human history. When the targets set by the Kyoto protocol come to an end in 2012, new and stringent targets must already be in place to guarantee that countries around the world reduce their carbon emissions drastically. The latest science states that we have very little time left to avoid a temperature rise above 2 degrees Celsius, which would result in runaway climate change.

It is because of the urgency of the need for international action on the issue that we have organised “Ring the Changes on Climate Change – The Countdown to Copenhagen.” This event coincides with the Global Day of Action on Climate Change on Saturday 6 December 2008 and is your opportunity to be involved in a weekend of activities taking place around the world. This event is open for everyone to join and we’d like you to participate.

How to use this guide

There are a number of actions for you to choose from over the weekend:

1) Join us on the steps of St Anne’s Cathedral from 11am until 12pm on Saturday 6 December.

2) Arrange for bells to be rung in your Church or other Churches in your town or village at noon on Saturday 6 December and organise a gathering with prayers or carol singing nearby.

3) If you don’t attend Church and there are no bell-ringing actions taking place in your area, organise a gathering in a prominent location in your town or village on Saturday 6 December and ring hand bells at noon.

4) Persuade the clergy in your Church to bring the central message of the event into that weekend’s services.

5) Make Saturday 6 December a “Power Down Day” by not using heating or electricity for an hour from 8pm to 9pm.

You can do just one or any number of these actions.

This action pack should contain all the information you need to carry out your action. However, if you would like to talk through any particular issues, contact Niall Bakewell on or 028 9089 7592.

Contents

In this guide you will find the following:

Section 1Background information on the campaign – the history of the Global Day of Action and the Northern Ireland aspect of the event.

Section 2The action plan - precise details of what we're asking you to do including how to plan your action in advance and what you need to do to follow up the media work.

Section 3How to work with the media – guidance on how your local media works, how to contact them and get them interested in your story, how to set up a photo opportunity so that it works for them and you.

Section 4Draft press release and template letter to your MP/MLAs – this can be adapted to suit your own circumstances.

Section 1Background information

The Global Day of Action on climate has occurred every year since 2005 at the time of the annual United Nations Talks on Climate Change (the COP or "Conference of Parties" to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or UNFCCC). People from all around the world have come together on the same day to demand urgent action on climate, and climate justice, from the governments of the world meeting at the annual climate talks. Obviously it's not possible for thousands of people from all around the world to come together literally in the same place so the Global Day of Action has consisted of demonstrations and events all around the world on the same day - or as near as possible to that as circumstances allow. Usually that day has been the Saturday midway through the climate talks. To see more details about the annual event please log onto: .

In Northern Ireland last December we hosted our first Day of Action event. Around 100 people joined representatives from the four main Churches in Northern Ireland on the steps of St Anne's Cathedral in central Belfast on Saturday 8 December. At 2pm, armed with alarm clocks, mobile phones, triangles, whistles, drums, a megaphone and one vintage football rattle, the group made a cacophonous din in order to "Sound the Alarm on Climate Change". The time of 2pm was chosen to represent the 2 degrees rise in global average temperatures which scientists have warned we cannot exceed if we are to avoid the worst ravages of climate change.

The group posed for photographs and television pictures with a giant cut out of an alarm clock and a banner reading "Wake Up to Climate Change". Meanwhile Churches and Cathedrals across Ireland rang their bells at the same time.

This December, governments are meeting at Poznan in Poland. Discussions at this conference will feed directly into the Copenhagen Climate Conference next year, which will seek to replace the Kyoto protocol when it runs out in 2012.

Over the next twelve months, world leaders must receive a loud and clear message that bold action on carbon emissions is essential on a global scale and that Copenhagen must be the forum to make that happen. This is why we have decided to organise the event again this year.

The same team who organised last year’s actions, with the addition of Tearfund, have got together again to organise the event. We have renamed our event “Ring the Changes” because we want to convey a positive message, one concerned with solutions to climate change – both scientific and political. This is a message of hope and possibility, not one of panic.

We are also offering more ways to get involved. We still want a concerted effort to ring as many bells as possible at noon on Saturday 6 December, but we also want Churches and Cathedrals to include the message of action on climate change in their services that weekend.

For those who don’t go to Church, please try and join a bell-ringing action in your area. If no Churches are hosting an event then organise a gathering of your own in a prominent location in your town or village. Try to source some bells and ring them at noon. You could use hand bells, bicycle bells, wind chimes or anything that makes a ringing sound – be inventive.

Everyone can also take part in our “Power Down Day” on Saturday 6 December. At 8pm put on your coats, light some candles and turn off your heating, lighting and electrical appliances for an hour.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Choose which action or actions you’re going to take based on what time and resources you have at your disposal. Any one action taken by a congregation, community or activist group will be a great addition to the event.

Section 2The action plan

The plan:

Over the weekend of 6 and 7 December we want you to get active in your community and make sure that events are spread out across Northern Ireland. Remember, we have offered you a number of different options but we don’t expect you to do everything. Anything you do will make the event a success.

Suggested roles for group/congregation members

There are several ways group/congregation members could get involved to split the tasks:

In advance:

An overall day of action coordinator
Media liaison
Church/clergy liaison
MP liaison
Bell-ringing liaison
Location researcher
Prop coordinator

On the day:

People to hand out flyers to members of the public and maybe encourage them to join your carol/prayer service or other kind of gathering as they pass
Media liaison
Group photographer
MP/MLA liaison
Stewards to usher people to where the gathering will take place
Set up and take down coordinator

What to do when

Four weeks to go…

Discuss the Day of Action with your group and decide which action or actions you’re going to take. Check you have everything you need. Think about the different roles group members could take. If you’re not staging your event at a Church think about where you might have your gathering.

Approach your members of the clergy and ask them to get involved in the event – they ought to have been approached by us before you speak to them. Suggest to them that they could:

Arrange for the bells to be rung in their Church at noon on Saturday 6 December.
Host a service either inside the Church or on the streets outside during the bell-ringing – Christian Aid, Eco-congregation and Tearfund can help with tips on what prayers to use for this. Log onto:

(go to Module 2)

Include information about the event, either in their sermon/homily or announcements during the weekend’s scheduled services – we will have an information sheet specifically for this, which we can give to any members of the clergy who request it.
Organise a service or gathering with other Churches in the community at noon on the Saturday that can include bell-ringing, carol singing or some other activity.
Arrange an announcement to be put in your Church bulletin two weeks before the event.

Talk to friends in other Churches and friends who don’t go to Church but who care about the environment and invite them to join your event and spread the word amongst their friends.

If you’re organising a non-Church event, then try and source as many different kinds of bells as you can to ring at noon, wherever you intend to gather.

Approach the bell-ringers in your area. You can contact them through your members of the clergy or by logging onto seeing if there is an affiliated tower of the Irish Association of Change Ringers in your area.

Contact your MP and MLAs (you can adapt the template letter enclosed with this pack – putting your own details in where the text is red – or phone or email them). Once you’ve decided on the best location for your event, and any other details, get in touch with their office and invite them to come along. Make sure you tell them that the local media will be there.

Start researching your local media contacts: These could be your daily or weekly papers/free-sheets/radio stations/ TV and community websites. It may also be worth finding out about community magazines and Church or group newsletters. The more that you can spread the word the better. If you need help with this then contact Niall Bakewell ( or 028 9089 7592).

Please also email us () to let us know that you are taking part. We would like to hear about everything you plan to do, including the power down on the Saturday night. We can then compile a list of actions and get a good idea of how successful the event is going to be.

2 weeks to go…

Make sure that your members of the clergy are happy with what they are being asked to do and that they have the resources they need to do it.

Look at where you’re going to gather. Ask yourself the following questions:

How can you avoid blocking public thoroughfares?
Where should everyone disperse to if there’s an emergency?
Where should photographers stand to get the best shots of the gathering/action?
Where would stewards be best placed to keep the gathering safe and contained?

Ensure that there will be an announcement in the Church bulletin two Sundays before the event.

Talk to your bell-ringing contacts and ensure that they are onboard.

Chase up people you’ve invited to come along and keep spreading the word as far and wide as possible.

Try to borrow some high-visibility vests, armbands or tabards for your stewards.

Adapt the draft press release below (putting your own details in where the text is red) so that it refers specifically to your event. Email it to your media contacts and follow it up as soon as possible with a phone call to check they received it. Enthuse them about coming along and gauge their reactions. Make sure you include a mobile phone number, on which you can be reached on the day. Top tip: send your press release in the body of a personalised email (not as attachment) to each contact separately. Sending in the morning is best as in the afternoon many journalists will be up against deadlines and it could get lost. The more news desks and contacts you send it to, the more chance there is of it being read and noticed.

If you haven’t emailed us yet () to tell us about your plans then please do so now.

1 week to go…

Chase up any media contacts you haven’t heard from.

Put your props together and check you have a digital camera to use. It might be a good idea to do a practice run too.

Chase up your MP if you haven’t already. Confirm any final details such as exact time and what you’re asking them to do.

Print off some of the flyers available at (insert hyperlinks for flyers) that you can hand out to passersby when you host your actions.

Saturday 6 December Ring the Changes

On the day it’s a good idea to get there well in advance so you can set yourselves up and be ready in case any media turn up early.

Place your stewards in the locations that you have decided are best for them and brief them on where everyone should be ushered to and where to disperse the crowd to in an emergency.

Have contact phone numbers for your clergy and bell-ringers as well as anyone else who has a specific role to play on the day.

It is useful for the group’s media person to take along the contact details of any media you are expecting to come along. Bring a mobile phone so they can reach you if they need to. If someone doesn’t turn up, give them a quick friendly call to check if they have any problems or are on their way. By doing this you will know how long to stay there for. Some photographers just get told to turn up and may not have been given the press release or know what it is all about. Take spare press releases along and talk to them a little about why you are there and what you’re doing as it will help them get a better photo and avoid any confusion. Don’t forget to make sure you get your own photographs too –can send them on to any media that don’t make it on the day.

Once you’ve finished the action, before you go off to celebrate, choose the best few photos and email them with a copy of the press release and your contact details to all your media contacts the same day. It’s good to do this straight away rather than the next day as then it’s more relevant and won’t get ‘lost’ on the Sunday. If you’re very eager you can always follow it up with a phone call on Monday morning to ‘check they got them ok’ (really that’s just a cheeky way to prompt them to cover it though).

Most importantly, don’t forget to ring your bells at noon on the day.

When your event is over, please text details (location of your event, estimate of numbers gathered, groups represented, anything you did to customise the event) to Niall Bakewell on 07729208005, or email . If you’re emailing details, try to include some photographs.

Please send us copies of local media coverage, by email to or post to Friends of the Earth, 7 Donegall Street Place, Belfast, BT1 2FN.

Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 December Church Services

If you can persuade your members of the clergy to include a mention of the weekends activities, either in their sermon/homily or during Church announcements, then please put them in contact with Niall Bakewell on 028 9089 7592 or for advice and information about how to do this.

Section 3How to work with the media

It would be a great disappointment to put so much of work into organising event and then getting no coverage in your local press. You need to be proactive, and it does take a bit of organisation and determination to succeed but it is well worth the effort.

How your local media works

Note: if you would like further guidance on working with your local media and making the most of this action

with the media, please contact Niall Bakewell ( or 028 9089 7592)

Your local papers, radio and TV stations reach thousands of homes. Even the most ardent street campaigner cannot talk to so many people in so short a time. While journalists can sometimes seem imposing they are just ordinary hard working people. The main part of their daily lives is pressure – pressure from editors and producers to find good stories, and pressure to produce them by strict deadlines. Ultimately it’s likely that you know more about the issues than they do. With this Day of Action, if you contact them in advance, meet their deadlines and provide them with a fun but meaningful photo opportunity you could get some exciting results.

How does my local media work?

Local media: Small towns, city districts and rural areas will generally have at least one ‘paid for’ weekly local paper, and possibly free news-sheets delivered directly to the door. Interestingly, local media tends to be read, watched or listened to with more attention than national media.