2020 was logged as one of the two hottest years on record and the end of the hottest decade on record. This is the context in which the Climate and Ecological Emergency (CEE) Bill, initially scheduled to have its second reading on March 12^th, has been dropped for a second time. The Private Members Bill, which seeks to hold Government to a timescale for action on Climate Change, was rescheduled to March 26^th. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all sittings of Parliament on a Friday (the day on which private member’s bills are considered) have been cancelled.

Although frustrating, this was not unexpected. At the best of times, it can be difficult to get Private Member’s Bills (put forward by MPs who are not members of the Government) heard in the house. Nevertheless, having one “logged” in the system for debate means we can raise the profile of the Bill with MPs and around the country, bringing a groundswell of opinion in support of this endeavour. This latest cancellation of the reading of the Bill gives us the perfect opportunity to do just that. We need to highlight to MPs that the Bill will no longer have a second reading during this Parliamentary Session but that it is imperative that the Climate Emergency be addressed.

So, on March 26^th, in place of the bill having its second reading, we are encouraging CCA members to work together in their local groups, with other activists who care about the planet, your church, or anyone who is willing to get on board to:

1. be part of creating a Twitter Storm – a sudden increase of posts on Twitter about the Bill. Record a message and tweet it to your MP asking them to back the CEE Bill (#CEEBill).
2. achieve a banner drop in your local area.  If you are able to do this, it would create a perfect backdrop for your video!

This is intended to be an inclusive, collaborative action. The banner should simply say: BACK THE CLIMATE + ECOLOGICAL EMERGENCY BILL, without any logos or group names.

Throughout the day on 26th March, we encourage activists to ‘like’ and ‘retweet’ other activist video tweets by searching #CEEBill. The Bill Team will also ‘like’ and retweet to help maintain momentum. The ultimate aim is for #CEEBill to trend on Twitter on the 26^th and this will only happen if we have enough people tweeting and retweeting content.

Please read the briefing document giving full instructions on how to proceed with this action.