Dear John,

I had a rather unusual day yesterday. I spent my lunchtime roaming around outside the Dáil with a herd of elephants. Along with several of my Stop Climate Chaos colleagues I was taking part in a photo stunt to highlight the fact that fossil fuels will be the elephant in the room at COP28. 

Photos from the stunt are all over the newspapers today. It was also mentioned on RTE Radio 1 this morning.

We used this novelty action to highlight that fossil fuels are the elephant in the room at the COP28 Climate Talks. And to put pressure on the Irish Government to support a fossil fuel phase out both at home and at COP28.  

You can add more pressure by retweeting our tweet here or use our Action Kit to go a step further again

As COP28 begins, we must push politicians hard to support a global phase out of fossil fuels at the Climate Talks. Making sure they see our photo stunt will help with that! 

If you’ve 10 seconds could you retweet our photo stunt tweet tagging key political targets here?

If you’ve a couple of minutes to spare you can have a bigger impact by doing your own tweet, email or other social media post using this Action Kit. You’ll find sample text and images to use inside. Along with guidelines on how to do your own mini-photo stunt if you want to go one step further again! 

Will you act now to pile on the pressure for a fossil fuel phase out at COP28?

On Wednesday 6th December, from 1pm to 2pm, Stop Climate Chaos will also host a webinar as the negotiations reach their midpoint.

The webinar will include a brief overview of the COP Climate Talks and their function. It will feature speakers who are on the ground at COP28 - including Friends of the Earth’s Head of Policy Change, Jerry Mac Evilly. We’ll assess progress on key issues at COP28, such as the need for a global agreement to phase out gas, oil and coal in a fast and fair way.

The webinar will look at the issue of Loss and Damage Finance -  a key climate justice issue.

The failure of rich countries to reduce their polluting emissions means that poorer countries are now suffering from devastating economic, social and cultural impacts of climate change to which they can’t adapt. These impacts are referred to as “loss and damage” and money is urgently needed to deal with them. It’s crucial that rich countries and big polluters are made to pay for this loss and damage. To discuss this we’ll be joined by Siobhan Curran of Trocaire and Ineza Grace, Global Coordinator of the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition. 

Other webinar speakers will include Charles Eris Ekalale from Concern Worldwide and Dr. Mary Keogh of CBM Global Disability Inclusion.

Whether it’s calling out the fossil fuel elephant in the room today, or joining next week’s webinar, I hope you’ll take action with us during COP28. 

Imagine how Government leaders will feel if their social media gets flooded with calls on them to address the fossil fuel elephant in the room. They’ll have already seen our demands for a fossil fuel phase out in today’s newspapers and on the airwaves. If we pile more pressure on via social media it could be the push they need to really champion an agreement to phase out fossil fuels at COP28. By acting together, we can have an impact! 

With thanks for all you do.

Oisín

Stop Climate Chaos is a coalition of civil society organizations campaigning to ensure Ireland does its fair share to tackle the causes and consequences of climate change.