Guest post: “Climate breakdown will affect us all.”

[MumsnetGuestPosts]

TLDR: The Mothers’ Climate March is on 12 May; Hyde Park corner to Parliament square. Come and join us.

I am not usually the sort of person who organises marches - I’ve never been an activist or a campaigner.

I really, really hate conflict. And asking people to do stuff.

But being a mother has changed me in some quite profound ways. If my kids are threatened, you can bet I’ll be there to protect them. If they need me to advocate for something, I’ll make myself do it; I’ll arrange meetings, write letters and have difficult conversations. In my time, I’ve thrown everything into getting them into good schools or trying to get my DS help for his SEN. And now I’m organising a march with a group of mums called Mothers Rise Up. This time it’s not just for my kids - it’s for everyone’s kids.

I’ve known our kids’ futures are threatened for some time now. For me, this knowledge has mostly manifested itself as an underlying sense of dread, humming in the background alongside a feeling of absolute powerlessness. A desire not to look. I’m talking about the C word.

Climate.

Climate breakdown, more specifically. You may not have heard of the IPCC report (it didn’t get loads of press)  -  it’s a collaborative report commissioned by the UN and worked on by hundreds of climate scientists. These scientists make predictions about how the climate will change and recommendations for what to do about it.

Historically they have always underestimated the speed and severity of climate change. Their most recent report is the first one I’ve read all of. I’d known about climate change - as much as we all know - and knew things were bad, but I hadn’t let myself realise quite how bad.

This report, I believe, is what has inspired the recent protests and documentaries such as the Youth Strike, Extinction Rebellion, and the recent David Attenborough documentary. The narration is in plain language, but it paints an alarming picture of what will happen to the world in our lifetimes if we do not all act quickly.

This is not about polar bears. Without rapid, systemic and far-reaching change there will be serious loss of human life. Climate breakdown will affect us all. Our food supplies, our homes and the other resources that we need to live are all under threat. Rising sea levels, ocean acidification, spreading deserts and natural disasters like forest fires, floods and typhoons will become more and more commonplace. This scenario is on track to happen in my old age, when my children are in their thirties and forties. Their kids, if they have them, will face threats and hardship unlike anything our generation has known.

This will not be solved by individuals diligently separating their recycling. Arresting climate change is possible, but it will require radical, systemic and rapid change.

Our children are already out there on the streets protesting, striking from school and demanding government action, but this mess is not theirs. We wholeheartedly support them, but they are too young to take this burden alone. It should be us who are out there demanding change and protecting them. This is something the current government needs to act on. It’s time for us to sort out this mess.

A group of us have come together to form Mothers Rise Up. On our own, we felt worried and powerless. As a collective, we are not powerless. We are organising. Our first step will be a march to demand government action: The Mothers’ Climate March is on International Mother’s Day, 12th May and will go from Hyde Park Corner to Parliament Square in London.

This guest post is your invitation to join in. To come to the march on Sunday 12th May, to email your MP, to make your change, to find a community that shares your concern over the future of our shared home. You can find us on Facebook or follow us on twitter @MothersRiseUp

Join us! Everyone is welcome. Like Mumsnet, we are powered by mums but we are not only for mums; anyone who cares about the future of our shared home will get a warm welcome. My DD is making cookies for the march so if you spot me and give me the Mumsnet wink I might persuade her to part with one.

This post is also your invitation to chat. I’ll be back in a few days to answer your questions. I also have a personal Mumsnet account @traynorbird where I generally lurk about giggling in AIBU and Classics. I’m happy to have a conversation there too.

First though, I have a question for you. Should there be a climate board on MN where we can form community around this issue? I think there should be.

Catherine will be returning to the guest post on 26/04/2019 to answer some of your questions

[FriarTuck]

Ghosts - there were pictures of the litter left on the streets right after one march / protest / whatever - it wasn't Hyde Park, it was the pavements where they'd been pictured camping out protesting.

[Tootrousers]

I said something on mumsnet about 7 years ago about deciding to only have 2 kids so that we were in effect replacing ourselves and not adding to the population. People with 3,4 and 5 kids absolutely hammered me and said I was being ridiculous. Now I see women on tv saying they’re choosing to not have any kids because of the worlds population. I wouldn’t change my situation but part of me wishes I hadn’t had kids as it will be them suffering the consequences of this disaster

[KateXland]

FriarTuck I've been mulling over your comment; I was all ready to come back with an angry reply about missing the points on rubbish at the protests.
On reflection I think you have shown exactly the problem. If the few thousand people engaged enough in climate issues to turn up to XR and camp are still using plastic bottles and not picking them up* then we must all agree that individual action is never going to be the solution.
If the XR campers aren't blameless, there is no hope for the rest of us.

Action needs to be taken at governmental, legislative and corporate level to make it not possible to leave a plastic bottle. Not possible to buy a new gas boiler. Not possible to individually own a non-electric car. Not possible to use electricity other than renewable.

*with the massive caveat that I know they tried, perfection is hard

[IrmaFayLear]

Absolutely, KateXland.

I think we will need some kind of catastrophe or plague to force people to hunker down and to revert to the consumer patterns of the past. Currently the norm is to eat/travel/clothe oneself without restraint.

And as has been pointed out ad infinitum, little gestures are futile when you look outside our country and see developing nations. China's bicycle use has declined massively, with the government actually encouraging bike scrappage/closure of cycle lanes in cities in order to promote the growth of their automobile industry. And why not? We all have cars, so it's pretty rich to tell other nations to halt any "progress". Same with deforestation. We chopped down all of ours, so do we have the right to beat our breasts about others wanting to do so?

All very difficult.

[amandacarnet]

Sorry I will stop hammering this point after this comment, but the OPs post does not read as if it is a group of mothers coming together because they have this in common and want to fight for their kids future.
The OP says "But being a mother has changed me in some quite profound ways. If my kids are threatened, you can bet I’ll be there to protect them."

This is very much framed that it is because she is a mother that she cares about the environment. Even if that is true, it is not a good pr message. Because it inevitable leads to the charge either of mums who don't care about climate change to think - are you saying I don't care about my Kids? And for those without kids who do care about climate change to think, bloody hell I was fighting this when you could obviously not care less. And for those with kids who have always cared about climate change to dismiss you as superficial. Etc etc. I can see so many ways this will rub up different people the wrong way.

Personally I would be saying something like, as mothers we have come together to fight climate change, etc. We know this is important for our kids and all future generations.

[CupOhTea]

@amandacarnet

I definitely see your point. I enjoy your hammering ! You’re obviously very knowledgeable, so hammer away.

But, the one thing I would say about this;

“mums who don't care about climate change to think - are you saying I don't care about my Kids?”

Well... sorry, but good! Don’t you care about your kids future if you genuinely don’t give a rat’s arse about climate change? Maybe, if people who previously didn’t care see this it might spur them into action or just out of complete apathy.

Mind you, I think there are thankfully few people left in the UK who don’t care about climate change.

[Traynorbird]

@Oatmilk4breakfast
I think we are on the same page! I feel incredibly nervous about the idea of being arrested too, and one of the nice things about our march is that it is a very above board march in solidarity with the more radical groups, so hopefully it feels safer and more accessible. As regards scientific solutions, they are there, we just need the political will to do them. We know that rewilding works, we have the technology to produce green electricity and to insulate our homes and make them more efficient so that less power is needed. We have carbon capture technology in the form of trees and soils as well as more technological solutions. I believe we can do it but it will be an enormous job and will require careful handling and a huge amount of political good will. See you at the march!

[Traynorbird]

@Disquieted1
I’m defining best as a climate which can sustain human life as well as the life which is currently on the planet

[Traynorbird]

@Smotheroffive
I’m with you! Hopefully see you at the march :)

[Traynorbird]

@Hilbobaggins
I’m more than happy to work on policy, maybe me and KizzyWayfarer could band together – She has listed a number of rock solid ideas down thread.
The march is about enabling the political environment for these kinds of policy changes. Policy can’t happen without a swell of public opinion creating the political will to do it.
I also agree with you on the idea of laying off individual guilt and shame. We need to create a situation where we can all enjoy living sustainably easily. I’m certainly not anti-progress, I want to live in a warm comfortable home with my family and spend time with my mates and eat nice food and have days out like everyone else does! I’d just prefer that my home was not heated by fossil fuels.
Kind regards and hope to see you at the march x

[Traynorbird]

@KateXland
You make some great points!

[Traynorbird]

@64623K
Really sorry to hear that. Do you have a local transitions group? They work on local projects and can be really nice to go to. I think they are mainly London based, but perhaps you could start something where you are, here is the link to the London ones: www.london-transition.org.uk/

[Traynorbird]

@User1494621907

Extinction Rebellion have got the attention of the media in a way that no-one else has, a lot of them are academics, policy people and scientists who have dedicated themselves to pursuing change through conventional channels for decades. Its come to the point where there is very little time left in which to act. They are pissed off and I can’t say I blame them for causing disruption in the name of getting attention. I didn’t see trash left behind, but if it was, then yeah, that’s not great.
Mothers Rise up are a bit different to them in that we are not doing acts of civil disobedience, we are just there to represent the face of ordinary mums who are trying to get government action on climate change.

[Traynorbird]

@AmandaCarnet

We will have a look at the course, but at the moment we are all exhausted and doing this around our day jobs, our children and our other caring responsibilities. A truth for all of us is that the thought of our children living through a climate breakdown really horrifies us and makes the crisis real. There is a lot of grief there and empathy for mothers in other parts of the world who are already being affected or whose countries do not have the infrastructure to deal with the coming crisis. Yesterday some of us met with Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, a London woman whose child died from asthma aggravated by unsafe levels of air pollution; that’s a level of pain I don’t want anyone to have to experience. When you become a mother, as when you love anyone, I do think you open yourself up to new levels of pain and I think that is relevant to us as mums.
That is not to say that people who do not have children do not care, they clearly do. Many of them are our inspirations and heroes. This is a huge problem and we need everyone. Here is a quote from one of us, which is on our literature.
'I’m not a mother in the traditional way, but I am a carer and nurturer of many young people in my life, and I am part of this movement because I care for us all, because it’s urgent, and because we need radical care if we are to continue together on this planet.' Tessa, Professor, Norwich.

Finally, as you have made many comments on this, I'd like to say that this post was written for mumsnet; A site which is for everyone, but which foregrounds mothers and their specific concerns, if it was written for a different audience it would have been written differently.

Hope to see you at the march - All are welcome!

[Traynorbird]

@Cautionsharpblade
I’m not saying that I never cared about the climate before I had kids. I did, I just never organized a march before.

[Traynorbird]

@Tootrousers
[Hugs] There are some of us who feel the same, come join us.

[Traynorbird]

And finally, sorry for spamming these all at once. I was asked to save my replies until today so I wrote them all on a word document after I put the kids to bed, and just copied them in this morning (apologies if they have some cross eyed with tiredness typos in them.)

Hope to see some of you at the march!

Its starting to look really good now, we've got some great inspirational speakers, music, and our craftiest mum has made some spectacular props.

[ByGrabtharsHammarWhatASaving]

Another benefit I can see to people protesting by demographic (i.e. groups of mums, groups of young people) is that a lot of politicians and businesses model their thinking around those boxes. If you're a political party who wants to attract young voters, and you see them marching against CC, you're more likely to stick something about that in your manifesto. If you're a business who's main customer base is mothers and you see mothers protesting against CC you might start to think about making sustainable changes to attract their business. A lot of businesses are lazy and greedy - they want our money and they don't want to think too hard about how to get it. If we do the hard work for them and say, en masse, "hi, we're your target audience and you can attract our custom/ vote by doing these eco friendly things" then maybe they will.

[CupOhTea]

@ByGrabtharsHammarWhatASaving

Good point!

[ORMum]

I just want to put the record straight on the rumours of Extinction Rebellion protesters leaving a load of mess. I believe this rumour has been spread maliciously and a lot of photos shared of mess from completely different events. One common photo doing the rounds has been from a separate event about legalising marijuana in Hyde Park last weekend. The Extinction Rebellion protesters helped to clean up after their event voluntarily and the Royal Parks even tweeted to clarify this. And before they brought an end to this phase of their protest yesterday, they were cleaning the whole Marble Arch site and scrubbing chalked graffiti (hopefully not the Banksy though!)

I'm in support of the Mothers March as I am about anyone trying to bring attention to climate change and I don't mean this next bit in competition to your event but in case anyone has time and energy to get involved in multiple events. To those of you who expressed concern about the methods of Extinction Rebellion but agree with the message, I would say, give them a chance. There is no obligation to do anything illegal to be part of it, there are many other ways you can support them. Even the arrests themselves have been very peaceful, I've seen some first hand as I work round the corner from Waterloo Bridge and I went to have a look in a couple of my lunch breaks. The protesters themselves are on the extreme side of polite and respectful and range from children to grandparents and everyone in between. I wouldn't worry about taking my kids to one of their events.

Good luck to all taking part in any action!

[amandacarnet]

Tray or bird, you misunderstand me, I am well aware it was written for mothers on mumsnet, but I was trying to help.

Personally I agree with extinction rebellion that the only way forward is civil disobedience. I have met many impassioned people who have devoted to this cause, and yet things have just got worse. We are already seeing the real impact on people in poorer countries, and yet few seem to care.
I hope the march goes well, and I think you should talk to extinction rebellion about linking up with them.

[Traynorbird]

Hi @AmandaCarnet Thank you, I know you are trying to help.

Yes, we are hooked up with extinction rebellion, the founders of our group met at one of their events and XR will be there at our march.

So, the question is, are you gonna come?

[Smotheroffive]

ORmum that needed saying!!
Putting the record straight over who's actually the disgusting mess and wrobgly attributing it to a good cause.

Always the antagonists.

[ORMum]

Great, I will try to come along. Thanks! Will check out your Twitter feed for more info

[Anna1717]

Watch the Sir David Attenborough documentary 'Climate Change The Facts' on BBC 1 iplayer for information. He speaks with many of the top climate scientists who are calling for urgent action. Even if we were not sure about the facts it would surely be better to do something than risk being wrong and suffering the consequences.