I'm a mum going to COP26 - AMA

[ParentsForFuture]

We're Charlotte and Rowan from Parents for Future UK, a growing group of parent climate campaigners. We're going to COP26 in Glasgow to demand ambitious action on the climate emergency and are planning what will be the biggest mobilization of parents ever on a single issue, with other parent groups. Mumsnet reached out to us to come on and answer your questions on COP26 and how parents can make their voice heard. Our work is led by parents and rooted in love (and fear). Charlotte (Mumsnetter) is from Bath and Rowan is from Oxford, and we each have two children, aged 3 and 7.

ParentsfirFuture

Families are dying from the impact of the climate crisis, and it's important we try and keep everything in perspective. We need to target what matters most”

Sorry, disagree with you. Most of us need to focus on the small things within our control. I can’t do much about deforestation but I can stop eating red meat, drive electric when I must, walk when I can, buy second hand, repair not replace and not set bloody bonfires and fireworks.

The millions of small things add up and I think you’re just glossing over the small, boring but ultimately pretty important stuff because it would lose support.

[quote JC2021]@ParentsForFuture

Hi, I'd love to get involved in this somehow! I'm based in Kent!

A voice for our future generations is vital when it comes to climate change! [/quote]
@JC2021 Loving this message. Yes please do get involved!

If you fancy getting involved with Parents for Future, we have a welcome call once a fortnight. We try to pop them on social media, but can be a bit patchy toward Christmas - so bare with us. Send us a direct message and maybe join a call. Or if that feels a bit too intense, maybe follow us on social media for a bit and see if you like the sound of any of the campaigns we are working on.

There is totally no pressure. Parents dip in and out to suit them and there are literally tonnes of ways to get involved. We have local groups too. We are all busy parents trying to do something, no matter how big or small and we are VERY friendly!!

@Hawkins001 thanks so much for the support. We probably won't be updating this thread but if you are on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, Parents for Future are on there and we will be updating the feeds every day...

Inst www.instagram.com/parentsforfuture_uk/
Twitter twitter.com/parents_4future
Facebook www.facebook.com/ParentsForFutureUK/

[quote ParentsForFuture]@Hawkins001 thanks so much for the support. We probably won't be updating this thread but if you are on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, Parents for Future are on there and we will be updating the feeds every day...

Inst www.instagram.com/parentsforfuture_uk/
Twitter twitter.com/parents_4future
Facebook www.facebook.com/ParentsForFutureUK/[/quote]
Your welcome. hope you have a productive time at the conference. and all the best.

[quote MichelleScarn]@4thtimethecharm
Re when people are questioning why not hold it virtually Exactly, it shows a certain ignorance of international negotiation practice.
So it's back at the asking questions/disagreeing with you of course = ignorance?
Is it not more ignorant of you to assume everyone has an understanding or experience of international negotiation practice? I've inferred that response as quite condescending and mocking.[/quote]
@4thtimethecharm

I don't want to be an arbitrator but agree it would be great not to assume we all have the same exposure to international negotiations practice. And just want to stress that whatever your thoughts, questions are, they are all valid and welcome. Even the snippy ones! We are working through them as soon as we can get to them.

What's your opinion on Brexit?

@MrsSkylerWhite

ParentsfirFuture

Families are dying from the impact of the climate crisis, and it's important we try and keep everything in perspective. We need to target what matters most”

Sorry, disagree with you. Most of us need to focus on the small things within our control. I can’t do much about deforestation but I can stop eating red meat, drive electric when I must, walk when I can, buy second hand, repair not replace and not set bloody bonfires and fireworks.

The millions of small things add up and I think you’re just glossing over the small, boring but ultimately pretty important stuff because it would lose support.

@MrsSkylerWhite I think we are more aligned than maybe it came across in that post.

I'm fully supportive of individual changes and I don't find them boring at all. I have a small blog on small, accessible eco ideas, so quite the opposite www.instagram.com/onlyoneworld19/.

But we are all busy parents, and if we had to choose one thing to focus on, for me it wouldn't be a bonfire that happens once a year, it would more likely be a small lifestyle change that had a bigger impact on our carbon emissions. IE turning the heating down a notch and putting a jumper on as a habit.

I also think one small individual change usually leads to another. And ultimately having more awareness of the impact turning the heating down a notch has on the energy we use might lead us to sign a petition later on for to support system change.

So I'm massively supportive of any change to be honest, but I'm now also pushing for system change, because we need our leaders to legislate for safe future to ensure global carbon emissions go down swiftly enough. Unfortunately the clock is ticking.

@user1471519931

What's your opinion on Brexit?

@1471519931 haha I don't think you really need to ask do you...

@JorisBonson

1) Why did neither of you stop at 1 or 0 children considering the environmental impact? I don't observe many environmentalist parents choosing to limit their family size in this way. Obviously there are plenty of other behaviours that can be modified but this is the biggest and it's never compromised upon in my middle-class circles. Please don't say you only tuned into the environment after having children as the issue has been headline news for at least a decade

This is also my question. Beat me to it @GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat!

@JorisBonson @GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat!

Great question. Thanks. You may have now seen my answer on this earlier, but I don't actually support the overpopulation rhetoric.

Mainly because it is often centered on poorer nations who consume a fraction of the carbon as the person making the suggestion. We simply don't all consume the same amount of carbon.

Also, I have to say I am so far from perfect. I have traveled a lot. I ate meat growing up. But does that mean I now shouldn't be doing everything I possibly can to help halt the climate crisis? I'm not saying this is you. But I do find a lot of folk try to find fault in climate campaigners, to try and make themselves feel a bit better about doing very little.

45% of the global population live rurally. Where are the AFFORDABLE, reliable, safe, spacious, work horse, electric cars that can compete with diesel cars for mileage?

"alot of folk try to find fault in climate campaigners, to try and make themselves feel a bit better about doing very little."

It's so true and is always the case when people are being called to some form of action. I hope it is proving to be productive for you and I will be following the updates. Thank you for this thread.

You've said a lot about trying to engage with everyone and outreach in different communities, which is great. Do you not worry that the 'vote- but not Conservative!' message might be alienating a lot of people? Obviously you're entitled to your personal opinions, but if that's the organisational stance then a lot are going to find it offputting. There are issues that matter to people other than this one, and a lot of Conservative voters, even if they're under-represented on MN. Encouraging people to pressure whatever party they support to take more action might have better results.

(I vote Conservative. Vegetarian, no children, no car, haven't flown in more than a decade...)

I'll chip in on nuclear if I may

It's problematical , but may well be the best short term option

It's very expensive

It's not renewable , there is a very limited supply of raw material, so at best it will buy you some time

It's not able to respond to changes in demand so can only be part of the solution

The waste is highly dangerous

A single problem like Chernobyl or Japan gives huge ecological damage, could kill millions , and problems do occur

@Maireas I think the beat starting point for any person or organisation is to measure your carbon footprint. There are a whole load of calculators out there or you can work it out from scratch. Then you can prioritize and plan ahead - what can you do now, in two years, five years, ten?

* But I do find a lot of folk try to find fault in climate campaigners, to try and make themselves feel a bit better about doing very little*

It’s not about finding fault. It’s about challenging the people that are campaigning for changes that will impact us all.

@BrightSideRightSide you make some really good points but seabed dredging doesn't release as much CO2 as aviation. The article in the Guardian earlier this year misrepresented an series of academic papers. The CO2 isn't released in to the atmosphere it is absorbed by the ocean and the total amount of first trawls would equal the annual emissions by aviation, but there is very little accessable seabed left that hasn't been trawled. The damage has been done.

One of the real challenges we face is sifting through the well intentioned misinformation that is out there. I listened to the news last night and some reporters clearly had little or no understanding of the science behind climate change, and the mitigations it was scary.

If you are challenging and disparaging the person not what they are trying to achieve then it's not about challenging the message at all .

Kill the message not the messenger if you don't like it

And most people interested in climate change are really interested in change now to avoid real pain later , in getting government and big business ( one who controls money and one who has it) to step up snd do the right things

And yes your life will change and I understand that people are often scared of change

but change doesn't have to be bad. And that also what activists are fighting for... controlled change, change to help all in society, not catastrophic change that is the inevitable result of unlimited climate change

Your life will change. It's how and how much ... less change but fast or more change slower , hit the brakes or end up in a multi car pile up

It's very expensive

Yes, so more suitable for developed countries like the UK, correct?

It's not renewable , there is a very limited supply of raw material, so at best it will buy you some time

Not very limited, but yes, it is something to consider. We do have at least 100 years of it, we could probably unearth more with better tech and we have spent fuel to reprocess as well.

It’s like peak oil—we keep managing to find more of it or get better at extracting it. No reason to think uranium is different.

It's not able to respond to changes in demand so can only be part of the solution

It does solve the base load power problem though. Something renewables are very bad at.

The waste is highly dangerous

Its no worse than other industrial waste, better in some ways. Things like mercury and cadmium are dangerous to human health FOREVER while nuclear waste gets less dangerous over time.

A single problem like Chernobyl or Japan gives huge ecological damage, could kill millions , and problems do occur

Chernobyl is a nature preserve, essentially: www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/how-chernobyl-has-become-unexpected-haven-wildlife#:~:text=This%20so-called%20Chernobyl%20Exclusion%20Zone%20%28CEZ%29%2C%20which%20covers,iconic%20–%20if%20accidental%20–%20experiment%20in%20rewilding.

And the Fukushima relocation was much more deadly than the meltdown. I think maybe one worker died of radiation poisoning? Compare to tens of thousands from the tsunami.

Also compare that to Banqiao Dam—that Chinese dam burst killed 26,000 people directly in the 70s but it never led to people trying to ban hydro power.

It’s a shame that nuclear power gets singled out despite it having the least deaths associated with it. More people have died falling off rooftops installing solar panels for that matter.

@ParentsForFuture, @MichelleScarn,

I did not mean anything negatively with 'ignorance''. I just meant it to indicate a lack of knowledge and information on a topic, which I think is pretty neutral. I am ignorant in loads of things, one of them clearly being the connotations of the word 'ignorance'.

It wasn't intended negatively, or mockingly, or condescendingly, and I am sorry as it came across as such and I used it wrongly. As a non-native speaker, it is difficult to get the nuances right at times. I clearly did not perceive it to have the same negative connotation you had.

I thought I was just backing up a sensible comment from someone else, drawing on knowledge on a topic I happen to know a little of. (Which is why I commented on this topic, and not on themes of bonfires, travel arrangements, going vegan, etc., as I have no knowledge on those.)

Not sure about you using this platform to chastise someone who did not mean harm and was supporting your work, @ParentsForFuture. You could have given the benefit of the doubt, which I hope you will do with your peers from all over the world, who may also have learned English as a second or third language.

Anyway, good luck up there in Glasgow!

Hi all, we've removed some posts from this thread.
Please do bear in mind our guidelines for these AMAs (posted at the top of the thread)

1. One question per MNer
2. Keep your question brief.
3. Don’t heckle if your question doesn’t get answered.
4. Do be civil/polite.
5. If one question threatens to overwhelm the AMA, MNHQ will usually ask for people to stop repeating the same question or point.

Thanks
MNHQ

With a few supervolcanoes overdue for eruption, how do you plan to stop the impending dust cloud that threatens half the earths atomsphere?

@MichaelMumsnet

Hi all, we've removed some posts from this thread. Please do bear in mind our guidelines for these AMAs (posted at the top of the thread)

1. One question per MNer
2. Keep your question brief.
3. Don’t heckle if your question doesn’t get answered.
4. Do be civil/polite.
5. If one question threatens to overwhelm the AMA, MNHQ will usually ask for people to stop repeating the same question or point.

Thanks
MNHQ

Why did you remove my question?

It was not heckling it was totally civil and polite, I was asking why a previous posters question about nuclear power had not been answered because this was a valid question to ask.

This feels very unfair to me and I don't know why this was done.

What do you think about XR people lying down in the road? Do you think it’s helpful to the overall message when society largely sees them as a nuisance?

Do you think the meeting should have taken place online rather than world leaders and influencers (Jeff Bezos…why is he there?) all flying in on private jets?

I'm reposting my question from Monday as it hasn't been answered or a similar question answered re the sports/leisure industry.

Thank you for doing this AMA.

I'd like to know your thoughts on professional sports. It occurred to me that many many air miles are spent transporting people (and horses!) amongst other things, all over the world in the interests of entertainment. Is that something that'll end?