Dear John,

Hi. I'm Nicole, the editor of Fossil Free News. There's so much happening in the movement for a fossil free world everyday that it can be hard to keep up. So I thought I would give you another way. That's why I'm sending you this global movement newsletter. It's got stories that give us hope and inspire us from the climate movement around the world, and it's delivered every 2 weeks. Enjoy the issue below!

Dear John,

I’m excited. Because over the past two weeks, I’ve seen a surge in the number of #ClimateStrike stories rolling in. Plans for September are really starting to take form. And there’s a relaunched globalclimatestrike.net site where people can now register their own Climate Strike events for September 20 and 27.

But that’s not all I’m excited for. In Brazil, activists are still celebrating a monumental win that has injected new momentum in the country’s ongoing fight against fracking. Already since last week we’ve learnt that another statewide ban has been passed in Santa Catarina.

Now is the moment to step up your own involvement in the climate movement. As Greta says in her latest video: “if not you, then who? If not now, then when?”. We’ve got brand new resources to help you organise your community to join the September climate strikes.

Onwards,
Nicole 

P.S. We’re still trialling sending out Fossil Free News updates via Facebook Messenger. Thanks for all the feedback and sign-up if you’d like to try these bite-sized updates.

In Case You Missed It

Fracking ban: In an historic victory, the Brazilian states of Paraná and Santa Catarina have both passed a law to permanently ban fracking - within 2 weeks of each other. It means Latin America’s largest shale reserves will go untapped, and 12.5 million people in Paraná state are safe from the direct impacts of fracking. "We will continue city by city, state by state, until fracking is banned across Brazil," said one activist. Find out more


People gather water at a dried lake in Chennai in June. Photo: Reuters - P. Ravikumar

This is an emergency: Large parts of the world are sweltering with heatwaves this week, and much of India is still suffering from devastating drought. Meanwhile in Nepal and Bangladesh, floods have claimed hundreds of lives and affected millions more. Farmers who have lost their crops due to extreme heat are marching, and over half a million people have already signed on to a youth-led petition urging their government to declare a climate emergency. Read more


 
Protests in San Juan on Monday shut down a main highway. Photo: Carlos Giusti, AP

Island-wide strike: More than 500,000 people vowed to go on strike across Puerto Rico. They were calling on the governor to resign because of corruption, sexism, homophobia and awful mismanagement and neglect in the wake of Hurricane Maria which claimed thousands of lives. The protests were sparked by leaked messages showing the governor’s callous attitudes towards Puerto Ricans. On Wednesday evening, he announced his resignation. Read more

Deathly dairy: One of New Zealand’s biggest polluters, dairy giant Fonterra, has committed to stop building new coal boilers, which they use to dehydrate milk for export. Read more about the win (and be sure to catch their hilarious parody video, too!)

Outside CBC offices in Ottawa, activists display “climate emergency” on sandbags used to protect against flooding. Photo: Nhattan Nguyen

Tell the truth: People gathered in cities around Canada last Thursday, to demand Canada’s public broadcaster hold a televised debate on the climate crisis and a Green New Deal ahead of national elections. Just weeks ago, wildfires raged across Alberta. Read more

Divestment: Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a wide range of fossil fuel divestment wins continue to roll in:

• The UK’s National Trust will divest its £1 billion of assets from oil, coal and gas. More
• The London Pensions Fund Authority will divest from Exxon
• Chubb becomes the first insurer in the United States to divest from coal More
• Royal College of Emergency Medicine and Royal Society of Arts will fully divest More
• Largest city in Wales divests its pension fund More
• German cities Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, and Brandenburg commit to partially divest pension funds (they still have holdings in gas)

If you’re curious about divestment, you can sign up to follow the Financing the Future Summit on September 10-11 in Cape Town, South Africa here.

One to Watch 

Here’s a new video featuring a characteristically frank plea for action from adults this September from Greta Thunberg and others from around the world.

“If you not you should do it, then who? If not now, then when?” Greta has a point. Please watch and share today, to help us invite millions more people to join the Global Climate Strike this September.

Use Your Power

As one climate striker from the Philippines says in the video above: “It’s time to take charge of the future that belongs to us, not to the fossil fuel companies.”

Young people have been leading the latest wave of global action on the climate crisis - now it’s time for people of all ages to stand with them and join them on #ClimateStrike.

After you share the video, head over to the Resources section of globalclimatestrike.net find out how to spread the word and make this September the turning point the world needs.

That's it for now. We'll be back in two weeks with more climate movement news from around the world. 

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