#NowWeRise – 9 Dec Day of Action for Climate Justice

As world leaders gather for a COP28 Summit presided over by an oil executive in the United Arab Emirates, we’re mobilising for climate justice in Birmingham.

Critical Mass bike ride, gathering 11am at Pidgeon Park

We will arrive in time for the march and rally at 12 noon near Barclays on Brum High St.

2023 will be the hottest year on record.
Climate breakdown is no longer a problem of the future: it’s happening now. Extreme weather events on every continent are becoming more frequent and more destructive, leaving behind mass devastation and loss of life and livelihoods in communities around the world.

At the same time, the corporations most responsible for this crisis keep posting record profits, paid for by us through our extortionate bills.

And countries claiming to be ‘climate leaders’, including the UK, sign off plans to expand drilling for new oil and gas – adding flames to the fire and doing nothing to reduce the cost of living.

If we’re to have any hope of a liveable planet and tackling the climate crisis, we must dramatically and immediately reduce the use of fossil fuels – and overturn the systems of extraction, exploitation and oppression fuelling this crisis.

As world leaders gather for a COP28 Summit presided over by an oil executive in the United Arab Emirates, we’re calling mobilisations for climate justice across Britain.

Prices will keep rising, corporate profits will keep rising and the world will keep burning – unless we rise.

Our City
As well as protesting on Saturday 9th December we are also planning to hand in our petition calling on Birmingham City Council to re-state its commitment to achieve net zero by 2030 and to ensure that green policies are at the heart of any future plans. https://www.change.org/p/birmingham-city-council-honour-your-commitment-to-achieve-net-zero-by-2030-brumcjc

When Birmingham City Council issued a section 114 notice, it essentially declared the city bankrupt. We are now facing another five years of austerity and an effective ending of democracy in the city. This will mean an increased pace of cuts, less services and more privatisation, all of which hit the poorest hardest and deepen inequalities of race and gender.

But Birmingham is not broke. You only need to look at the skyline to realise this. In fact Birmingham’s economy has grown by 36 per cent since 2013 to £29bn, attracting the most foreign direct investment in any city outside the capital over the past year.

Business might be booming, but pollution in our city already means our children are more likely to suffer asthma as they grow up and lung cancer when they’re older. Our city is crying out for investment in cleaner, safer roads, better public transport, warm homes and good health and social care.

System change
Now more than ever we need a people-led global justice transition, rewiring the system in a way that addresses injustice, poverty and inequality. We need global system change.

We have to demand an alternative to the business-as-usual inaction and false solutions. The lack of ambition of rich nations, corporations and of our own local authorities is holding back change.

Climate justice means fighting for a world where Global South countries and working-class communities in cities like Birmingham aren’t made to face the disastrous consequences of decisions made by the rich and powerful.

We will be handing our petition over to Birmingham City Councillors at the Council House at 12 noon on Friday 8th December.

See a list of organisations supporting Now We Rise on the Birmingham Friends of the Earth website.

To find out more about the Climate Justice Coalition or to find out where else events have been organised, visit our website: climatejustice.uk/9-december-day-of-action-for-climate-justice/

#NowWeRise