The Climate Majority Project keeps on building - a new book, new mission and vision statements, and help for teachers

Much to savour from the Climate Majority Project’s latest newsletter - we encourage their work greatly.

First and upcoming, a webinar on Tuesday, 19th March, 08:15 - 09:45 GMT, to launch their new book The Climate Majority Project: Setting the stage for a mainstream, urgent climate movement. An amalgam of blurbs explain it well:

If climate action remains marginal at this late hour, it will fail. The rapid, system-level change that we need to escape catastrophe will take unprecedented public mobilization.

A ‘silent majority’ of citizens is now concerned about human-made climate change – and as ever more people wake up to the crisis and ask ‘What can I do?’, the climate movement must answer them without insisting on conformity.

In dismay at the inaction of governments on climate, emerging citizen groups are showing how people can use their real power and authentic voice to drive change. In the workplace, in politics and in local communities, people are stepping forward both to demand transformation and to make it happen.

At the same time, they’re regenerating community and directing the wasted energy of us-and-them polarization back towards solidarity and resilience. This wave will grow if concerned individuals recognize that they’re part of a climate majority: a formidable collective force for change.

CMP have also been working on their “Vision” and “Mission”:

Vision: To catalyse a mindset shift towards climate responsibility at all levels of society, that limits ecological harm, embraces adaptation and protects our planet for future generations.

Mission: To accelerate effective, coordinated climate action across society by a broad-based coalition of climate-concerned citizens; from grassroots initiatives to high-level policy.

They also have an excellent event targeted at teachers, on March 25th:

Across the UK and worldwide, teachers face the difficult task of teaching their students about climate breakdown. Learning about climate can provoke powerful emotions - and also a powerful urge to act.

Holding space for these responses can be overwhelming for teachers – particularly when they don’t feel supported themselves. We are a coalition of education professionals and organisations concerned with erasing stigma and responding effectively to climate distress – starting in the classroom.

As a group that includes educators, we understand when colleagues say “How do I deal with this on top of everything else?” Our mission is first and foremost to support teachers in addressing these challenges.

We’re committed to transforming approaches to climate education and distress within schools, educational institutions and communities, and campaigning for policies that support them.

Join our open call for teachers to:

connect with other educators who are facing the same challenges
Join a 10-person breakout room with a professional facilitator to experience the kind of support we are working on making more broadly available
learn effective and simple skills, to support students and create spaces where awareness can lead to wholesome action rather than denial or anxiety
Discover resources
learn about our wider campaign goals.
Share your ideas and challenges, and come away inspired and invigorated

In classrooms across the world, educators find that teaching and learning about the realities of environmental breakdown can elicit anxiety and overwhelm in themselves and their students.

When properly understood, this is a natural response to the reality of this threat – especially when world leaders are so clearly failing to protect young people and their future.

Currently, schools and higher education are lacking the appropriate resources to respond to the naturally arising climate anxiety, and support healthy engagement with the realities of a warming planet.

Campaign objectives include:

Raising awareness of the impact of climate distress
Sharing and publicising available resources for educators and students
Calling for a public policy response crafted by all concerned groups
Gathering supporting statements and strategies from professional associations
Creating engaging media content
And more …

Students, teachers, parents and mental health professionals, as core stakeholders of this campaign need to be fully supported on this crucial issue. We must be truthful about our deep challenges while remaining resilient and feel equipped to make good decisions.

We’re committed to promoting the idea that our society's survival depends on acknowledging and addressing our ecological challenges, while simultaneously fostering and improving mental well-being. The classroom is a key area where this challenge is most directly experienced, making it a primary target for this campaign.