Inspiring & organising action to respond to the climate and ecological emergency
Why we are here
With the looming climate crisis and lacklustre international agreements and national government responses, councils are ideally placed to be leaders in responding to the climate emergency. Our mission is to inspire and provide the tools needed for campaigners and councils to take action on the climate and ecological emergency at a local level in the UK. By providing accessible information and transparent data on climate action through our Scorecards, we support campaigners and councils to learn from each other and lobby for further action, as well as providing a network where local authorities, activists, NGOs, business and local communities can work together for climate action.
What we do
Our focus is currently on creating the Council Climate Action Scorecards, after our successful launch of the Council Climate Plan Scorecards in January 2022. You can find out the latest update on the Scorecards project on our blog here.
Our previous projects include working with mySociety on creating the Climate Action Plan Explorer – a database of UK Local Authority climate & ecological emergency declarations and action plans. We also created the Climate Action Plan Checklist – detailing what makes a good action plan and the best practice from Councils.
Creating a UK wide movement requires strong networks. We have supported this by holding seminars and conferences that connect people and organisations interested in local authority climate emergency response.
We work with councillors and officers across the political spectrum, as well as individual activists, XR and NGO’s including Friends of the Earth, Centre for Alternative Technology, Ashden and mySociety. We liaise closely with Cedamia who started the global ‘climate emergency declaration movement in Australia.
Funders
Climate Emergency UK is primarily funded through grant funding from Quadrature Climate Foundation, via mySociety, Gower Street, Attainable and We Have The Power. We are incredibly grateful to our funders for their support as we develop crucial tools to unlock council climate action. Thanks also to O’Mara Books who donate generously.
We are also funded by individual giving from our users. If you find our work useful, please consider becoming a Scorecard Sustainer today by setting up a monthly donation on Paypal.
Who we are – our Staff Team
Annie Pickering: I have spent over 5 years working with volunteers on local climate and workers rights campaigns, with lots of experience of UK local councils and their weird and wonderfulness. I’m a trustee of People & Planet and Alumni of the UK Youth Climate Coalition. Having previously worked at People & Planet on their University League, I was keen to take inspiration from this project and create a way to hold councils to account on their climate action.
Isaac Beevor: I started working and campaigning in local climate policy in Metro Vancouver, managing volunteers and working on campaigns to support Vancouver’s low-emission buildings policy and introducing an annual measuring and reporting system across Metro Vancouver. I have previously been a Trustee, worked in communications and marketing (particularly SEO), and coach table tennis.
Don von Rohland: Over the last 5 years, I have supported community climate action in Scotland, enabling community groups to access funding and deliver successful engagement projects. I also provided climate emergency training to third sector organisations and the Scottish civil service. I am a very keen cyclist and carbon foot-printing enthusiast! I am excited to support the environmental movement across the UK in my role as Campaigns & Outreach Director, where I will continue building community resilience in the face of the joint crisis of biodiversity loss and climate change.
Claire Stephenson: I led the main opposition group and chaired the scrutiny committee on Norwich City Council during two terms as an elected councillor between 2006 and 2014. More recently I returned to the council as a political assistant. Alongside these activities I have worked in secondary schools teaching English. I am based in Norwich and am interested in communication around climate change.
Our Board of Directors:
Kevin Frea M.Sc (Human Ecology): I became an environmental activist and vegetarian as an Environmental Studies teacher in the 1970’s, inspired by reading ‘Silent Spring’ by Rachel Carson. I became a Woodcraft Folk District Leader when my children were growing up. Following a lifelong interest in the Co-operative movement, I joined the Co-operative Party in 1979, founded Gloucestershire Community Energy Coop in 2011, project managed a solar installation at Lancaster Cohousing (where I live) for Morecambe Bay Community Renewables in 2013 and raised £1.2m in Community Shares for Halton Lune Hydro as a founding Director in 2014. Today most of my energy is directed towards work as Deputy Leader of Lancaster City Council and Chair of Climate Emergency UK.
Talia Berriman: Talia is a force in the local climate sector, currently working as the Network Programme Manager at UK100, supporting Councils to accelerate progress towards their ambitious Net Zero goals. Talia has been at UK100 since it was a similar size as CEUK and understands the challenges and opportunities of working in a small organisation.
Eloise Waldon-Day: Eloise comes with a wealth of experience in fundraising: she is currently the Senior Fundraising Manager for C40 Cities, managing relationships and partnerships to further climate action in cities globally following experience in women’s rights’ and global development organisations. Eloise joined CEUK’s Local Climate Policy Programme in 2021 and was a key volunteer for this year’s Scorecards work. Eloise also campaigns locally with XR Southwark and used the Scorecards to successfully argue for SMART goals to be included in Southwark Council’s climate action plan.
Godwin Matembe: I was born and raised in Uganda, moved to the UK in 2008. I’m married to Tynah, a FinTech entrepreneur and we have two amazingly wonderful children. I am an accountant and a banker, who will act as the Treasurer for Climate Emergency UK, and I love running outdoors, travelling the world and building relationships.
Our final two board positions are filled by Muntazir Jaffer and Robin McGhee
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