Harness the power of writing to your MP with Climate Writers 2024

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Climate action is a collective effort that we can (must!) all be a part of.

We're here to bust a few myths: you don't need to be an expert; you don't need to be an amazing writer; and you definitely don't need to do it alone.

At Voice Your Future we teach you in an unpretentious, jargon-free way:

• Why contacting politicians is the most effective lever for systemic change

• How to write a letter to a politician

• Climate topics to write about and letter writing templates

• How to reflect on and communicate your personal story and connection to climate change

This aims to promote an intersectional understanding of climate in a safe space.

Who are we?

Climate Writers is a non-partisan grassroots community that empowers the average Australian to become lifelong advocates for the environment and their local community.

After feeling powerless about the government's inaction to climate change given the bushfires and floods in 2020/2021, we trained as facilitators under Climate for Change to teach everyday Australians what they can do about climate change. In April 2022, the urgency of the climate crisis compelled us to shift from hosting conversations about climate change, to carving a space for dedicated action.

This community has since grown entirely through word-of-mouth to 120 attendees, of which 75% had never written to a politician before. We want to elevate the conversation about climate to a massive and sustained scale that is impossible for politicians to ignore. It starts with events like these that empower the average Australian on how to take effective climate action.

Having sent almost 300 emails to date, we've had:

• Policy wins on topics we've written to politicians about: e.g the passing of the Climate Change Bill, stronger rules on the Safeguard Mechanism, banning of native forestry logging in Victoria and more...

• Meeting with MP Chris Bowen (Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy) to discuss Labor's climate policies)

• Group meetings with MP Jenny Leong (Newtown) on the NSW State election. Jenny connected us with other local climate non-profits, and booked us a room in NSW Parliament.

• 1:1 meetings with local MPs / Councillors to ensure climate action is top of mind e.g Tim James (Willoughby), Paul Fletcher (Bradfield), Charishma Kaliyanda (Liverpool), and Dai Le (Fowler)

• Publications in local papers

• Countless responses from local MPs / their teams who are reminded about everyday people wanting climate action

All are welcome!

@climatewriters

This event is part of Sydney Climate Action Week: a series of community-led events from all aspects of the climate action ecosystem running from 13-19 May 2024. This event is proudly supported by Greenhouse, City of Sydney, and Boundless.