Successful Campaigns

01/10/18 - We won! Housing Minister James Brokenshire has just announced a ban on dangerous combustible building materials, like the cladding that was used on Grenfell tower. The government has chosen to put people before profit and you were a part of making that happen, so thank you. So many lives were turned upside down after the Grenfell tragedy. Since then, we’ve been campaigning hard as ‘Grenfell United’ for justice and change, to make sure no families have to go through what we did. Your signature on our petition helped us pile the pressure on the government before the announcement when it really mattered. Here’s what Ahmed Elgwahry, who lost his mother and sister in the fire, had to say: “It is heartbreakingly too late for our families but we’re one step closer to making sure other families across the country can go to bed at night safe in their homes.”

We won! The Welsh Government will not build the £1.6bn M4 relief road, First Minister Mark Drakeford has decided. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48512697

The Jeremy Kyle Show has been axed by ITV after a huge public backlash around the show exploiting people for entertainment. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48279613

On Tuesday 11th June Birmingham City Council declared a climate emergency! All 83 councillors who turned up to the meeting (out of possible 101) voted for the motion. Extinction Rebellion were named as part of the debate and the young people involved in the school climate strike were referenced multiple times. Many councillors spoke and covered a range of topics including energy, transport, education, housing, waste, divestment of pension funds and investment and system change. The petition was submitted with over 3000 signatures. This decision has placed the UK’s second largest city on the climate crisis map of those willing to take action. Thank you so much for your support so far! Now we must ensure that action happens! If you want to stay involved, here are a few of the local groups that will continue to support, monitor and put pressure on the council: https://www.facebook.com/birminghamfoe/ https://www.facebook.com/extinctionrebellionbirmingham/ https://www.facebook.com/CANWM/ https://www.facebook.com/bhamyouthstrike4climate/ https://www.facebook.com/ecobirmingham/ https://www.facebook.com/FootstepsBCF/ Please do reply to this email if you have any questions! And thank you once again for taking part in this campaign! Best wishes, Katherine

10/04/19 We did it! Newcastle Council has declared a Climate Emergency, promising to make our city carbon neutral by 2030!! Thanks to your support for this campaign, climate change is back on our Council's agenda. But of course, the devil’s in the detail… Here’s the full story: We presented the almost 3,000-signature petition to Newcastle City Council’s meeting on Wednesday Evening. I asked Taymar Pitman from Newcastle Green Party to speak in support of the petition inside the Council’s chamber, since she’s been instrumental in helping me to understand Council procedures and has regularly joined me out on the street in freezing weather to gather signatures - along with many other Greens and supporters of the climate pressure group Extinction Rebellion, among fabulous others. Taymar explained to the council why each of the petition’s four points was critical to tackling the climate emergency. A crowd rallied outside the Civic Centre to push our Council to take climate action. We were also joined by supporters of Save Newcastle Wildlife’s campaign opposing a new open cast coal mine at Dewley Hill near Throckley, on the edge of Newcastle. Despite the Council delaying the debate about the climate emergency into ‘extra time’, we got a pledge from them to make Newcastle carbon neutral by 2030! However, the Council ignored the petition’s call to set specific targets for sectors such as housing and transport, and refused to commit to the annual progress reporting we’d asked for. Their ‘carbon neutral’ pledge (not ‘climate neutral’ as we’d asked) also ignores other climate-warming emissions such as methane and nitrous oxides. I’m glad the Council expressed a desire to divest their pension fund from fossil fuels, although again with no firm commitment. I very much hope that myself and other supporters of this petition will be invited to take part in the Council’s proposed new ‘Climate Change Convention’, bringing together businesses, residents, academics and the public sector to create a city-wide plan for action! The lack of commitment to a timeline worries me though, given that the Council have previously failed to meet the ambitions set out in their past climate change plans. Nonetheless, Newcastle Council’s recognition of the climate emergency opens up a window of opportunity to keep pressing them to take rapid, ambitious action to tackle the looming threat of climate breakdown… To continue to build momentum, I’ll be again joining the #YouthStrike4Climate’s #FridaysForFuture rally this Friday outside Newcastle Civic Centre (12 April 11am-2pm), as well as working alongside Newcastle Green Party, and Extinction Rebellion [I’ll be talking about their campaign at Jesmond Library on 25 April 6pm during their North East action week], to keep the pressure on our Council to urgently agree it’s plan for climate action! Newcastle Green Party also ask me to invite supporters of this petition to contribute their ideas for continuing the push for urgent action at their meeting tomorrow (Thurs 11 April 7pm at Commercial Union House, 39 Pilgrim Street NE1 6QE) or for a celebratory drink afterwards at the Tyneside Cinema Bar opposite (8.30pm). Friends, I thank all of you for signing, sharing and supporting this successful call on Newcastle Council to declare a Climate Emergency – together we have put climate change firmly back on our leaders’ agenda in Newcastle. I hope you will join me in continuing to push for urgent climate action, and thank you again for your support, Clare Petition link: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/declare-a-climate-emergency

Pembrokeshire Council have declared a Climate Emergency. Congratulations - your support made a difference! 1,150 of you signed the petition, thank you. This link shows just some of the people who turned up at County Hall to present our petition and encourage our Councillors to vote for this. And they did - 38 councillors for, 6 against, and 6 abstained. https://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/17631420.pembrokeshire-county-council-declares-a-climate-emergency/ The Council voted on two of the points in the motion submitted – these were points 1 and 4 below. The other points will be passed to Scrutiny committee for further discussion and planning. - Declare a Climate Emergency - Commit to making Pembrokeshire County Council a net zero carbon local authority by 2030 - Develop a clear plan for a route towards beingnet zero carbon and halting biodiversity loss within 12 months - Call on Welsh and UK Governments to provide the necessary support and resources to enable the above - Collaborate with experts from the private sector and 3rd sectors to develop innovative solutions to haltng biodiversity loss and becoming net zero carbon.” So there is still much to do – we’ll need to keep monitoring, providing ideas and information, and demanding action from the Council.

19/2/15 update: Portsmouth City Council has now overturned its three-year opposition to our demand and has at last issued a specific type of legal Repairs Notice specifying how the pier must be safeguarded for the future. This was a stunning result brought about by YOU and more than 12,600 other people signing our petition – including more than 7,000 on 38 Degrees.

23/07/14 - Sainsburys are not opening a store on South End Green! "This is a seismic victory for the community who have acted with one voice to inform the senior management teams of the landlords, Dorringtons and Sainsburys of their concerns. ...Well done to you all. The world seems a better place to live today and by working together and continuing to nurture the connections that we have all made through this campaign, we can all secure a better tomorrow."

14/07/14 Great news! The government have scrapped their plans to privatise the Land Registry. What's more, 38 Degrees members' campaigning alongside high street solicitors, unions and MPs had a major impact on this outcome. So well done to everyone involved, we've saved another of our public services from privatisation! Hurrah!

29/01/15: Great news! Thanks to a massive public outcry the beavers have been saved! Read more here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31019595