Researching Charities
We had to look at three different charities and find out what each organisation does to help the environment.
The first charity I looked at is probably the most well known as its been in the news a lot lately with protests taking place in central London all the time.
Extinction Rebellion founded and established in the UK in May 2018 was done so with one hundred people signing a call for action. In November 2018, five bridges across the River Thames in London were blockaded. Then In April 2019, Extinction Rebellion occupied five different sites in central London: Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Circus, Marble Arch, Waterloo Bridge, and the area around Parliament Square.
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For some of my research with other members and staff of the college we attended a extinction rebellion march to take photos and document what was going on and why there where doing this.
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Extinction Rebellion state there main aims are:
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1. Tell the truth
The government must tell the truth about the scale of the ecological crisis by declaring a climate emergency, “working with other groups and institutions to communicate the urgent need for change”.
2. Net zero emissions by 2025
The UK must drastically cut its greenhouse gas emissions, hitting net zero by 2025.
3. Citizens’ assembly
The government must create a citizens’ assembly to hear evidence and devise policy to tackle the climate crisis. Citizens’ assemblies bring together ordinary people to investigate, discuss and make recommendations on how to respond, in this case, to the ecological emergency.
In the US activists have added a further demand: “A just transition that prioritises the most vulnerable and indigenous sovereignty [and] establishes reparations and remediation led by and for black people, indigenous people, people of colour and poor communities for years of environmental injustice.”
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Friends of the Earth is an international network of environmental organisations in 74 different countries. Friends of the Earth was founded in 1969 in San Francisco by David Brower, Donald Aitken and Gary Soucie after Brower's split with the Sierra Club due to the latter's positive approach to nuclear energy.
The organisations main aim is to stop mass projects that are un environmentally friendly.
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Its main programs focus on environmental issues, mostly highlighting their social, political and human rights contexts. Their campaigns and rallies mostly take place in the UK, with some activities in USA and Europe with partner agencies or Friends of the earth (International). The international part of Friends of the Earth is based in Amsterdam Netherlands.
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Some of the things they are currently working on include ditching plastic cups. Specifically at events like football matches where shocking statistics show how much plastic is wasted at every game. They are also targeting younger people as they advertise how to attend events without plastic or any un environmentally friendly packaging. This is to educate the younger generation and get them use to change in order to help this planet.
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Looking at friends of the earth tactics.
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Friends of The Earth use 'shock tactics' a lot as as seen below a graphic picture of a bird killed by a full stomach of plastic. They think showing the truth to the public will get them on their side and that something needs to be done quick to stop this. It does work but if its over done it can be too much and won't win people over.
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The Climate Coalition is an organisation dedicated to action against climate change in the United Kingdom.
The organisation is partners with many other organisation some different but all want to help the environment. These including the likes of The National Trust, Women's Institute, Oxfam, and RSPB. This is to show across the UK they all want to protect the world form from climate change, and to ask politicians to put aside their differences and commit to doing whatever is necessary to protect them.
Looking at Extinction Rebellion Further
The charity organisation I have decided to look at further is Extinction Rebellion as its very similar to the my charity I have created. Except that we do not cause disruption and all are protests and messages are peaceful.
What have Extinction Rebellion been up to?
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Extinction Rebellion have held several big protests and marches including one we attended in September 2019. Photos I took can be seen under Campaign Photos but here is some footage and photos from there marches in 2018 and 2019 showing the impacts and the protest disruptions caused.
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Criticised by the press and public.
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The most criticised protests they held included completely shutting off Waterloo bridge from traffic keeping the bridge closed for a thew days. They then went on to step up the protests and the location to target the government as they shut the whole of Westminster surrounding parliament. They then targeted airports delaying flights showing air travel is one of the main factors of climate change. Climbing on tubes in stations targeting Canary Wharf where the wealthier business sector is. Protesters attaching themselves to the HQ of Shell in London. Protesters interrupting parliament naked. Finally most recently climbing up Big Ben in Parliament. All these protests have been criticised by thousands as its costing the police a fortune and will it actually work or will it just frustrate the public and not get the point across that the world is dying and climate change is the biggest problem right now.
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Is What Extinction Rebellion are doing right and is it working?
Extinction Rebellions protests and marches have cost the police nearly £40 million pounds. Caused disruption and delays for thousands of working class people who are not necessarily a very big part or cause to polution and climate change. This has led to them becoming unpopular amongst many people. So many people are questioning Is targeting the public and government in this way the right way.
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Are things changing?
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Extinction Rebellion do believe this tactic is working as they have dominated the news and media and has got people talking about climate change. As seen above, extinction rebellions main asks include declaring an emergency and telling the public the truth. They did get one of these policies passed as Labour leader Jeromy Corbyn got a bill threw the government declaring a climate emergency but extinction rebellion still want a citizens assembly to meet regularly to make decisions on how to tackle climate change.
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So yes it is evidently working but very slowly and it will take a lot more time and money to see results that we can stop climate change.
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Looking At Climate Campaign Videos
I looked at a lot of other Climate Campaigners promotional videos and adverts.
This helped me film and create me own promo video for Earth Drops Campaign.
The first video I looked at was the official Extinction Rebellion advert that was showcased on all of their social media accounts and online sites. This was a similar sort of video and style I wanted to do.
I then looked at Friends Of the Earth official video describing how they thing we can save the World and stop Climate Change. I really liked this video as it touched on how they need to tackle the problem by making a change in the government. This is the main aim to do for Earth drops Campaign.
My favourite video of all the ones I looked at had to be The Climate Coalitions Video with Actor James Norton. It was a big budget advert that showed every great thing that Humans had achieved on Earth. Then went on to show that saving the earth would be the best achievement Humans would ever do.
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I also watched a short film documentary with Sir David Attenborough that simply showed the facts and truth in Climate change and how it needs to be dealt with as soon as possible as the times running out. Its a very powerful film showing one of Britains most experienced nature tv presenter scared not for his life as he's getting on but for the beautiful planet Earth he explored and called home. Why was he scared because others won't experience this after him as the worlds conditions are changing rapidly. He pledges for change and hopes humans will do enough to sustain life on Earth for years and years to come.
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After looking at all these examples of Climate Change videos and short films I did get an understanding on just how big of a deal it is. The biggest challenge humanity will face.
Questionnaire Feedback
To get an understanding of how young people respond and feel about climate change I handed out these questionnaires and collected in this information which I then used in my evaluation.
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To see the rest of the feedback and results of these questionnaires go to Campaign}Campaign Evaluation.
