Kingston residents are invited to sign TTK's open letter (at http://chng.it/ygkxXXsd7p) to Cllr Hilary Gander and her colleagues on Kingston Council, welcoming her proposal that Kingston join other UK councils in declaring a climate emergency. 

The letter “Kingston upon Thames residents support a Climate Emergency Declaration” reads: 

"Dear Councillor Gander, 
We warmly welcome your proposal that Kingston join other UK councils in declaring a climate emergency. We urge our councillors of all parties to support the Climate Emergency Declaration, and then to back the local initiatives that will be needed in the very near future to implement the Declaration and help avoid climate chaos.
Yours sincerely,
Kingston upon Thames residents"

We seem to be reaching a critical mass of concern about climate change: Greta Thunberg has inspired millions; school children’s climate strikes and XR bringing London to a standstill have hit the headlines; David Attenborough talked about climate and extinctions on mainstream TV; an open letter published on the Bank of England’s website warned about climate-related financial risks; we had the hottest Easter weekend for 70 years, the warmest February day on record earlier this year and the hottest recorded summer ever in England in 2018; councils all over the UK are declaring a Climate Emergency, R4’s Book of the Week was Losing Earth, Nathaniel Rich's account of how climate change could have been halted thirty years ago...

All this highly visible activity means that few Kingston residents can still be unaware of the threats of climate chaos to themselves and future generations and the need for urgent action, so now seems a good time for Kingston Council to step up its commitment to a sustainable future with a Climate Emergency Declaration. Residents across the borough are invited to sign TTK’s open letter to Cllr Hilary Gander welcoming her proposal that Kingston join other UK councils in declaring a climate emergency and urging her fellow-councillors to support the Declaration.

The Climate Emergency Declaration proposal will be debated in full Council in July, so please sign our open letter before July. 93 people signed it in its first week on-line - let's try to make it 100s!

The Climate Emergency Declaration proposal was on Kingston Council agenda on 24/4/19, and will be debated at the Environment and Sustainable Transport Committee meeting in June and brought back to full Council in July 2019 – for dates and agendas of Council meetings see https://moderngov.kingston.gov.uk/mgCalendarMonthView.aspx?bcr=1.

Climate Emergency Declarations are more than just words – they entail a commitment to take action locally, and also send a strong signal to Government that it must do more to implement the Paris Agreement of two years ago and do it faster. A Climate Emergency Declaration in Kingston would commit our Council to strengthening and speeding up their plans to reduce carbon emissions and become carbon-neutral locally.

More arguments supporting a Climate Emergency Declaration

With only 12 years left in which to prevent catastrophic climate change (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-45775309), councils all over the world are declaring a Climate Emergency.

(https://climateemergencydeclaration.org/climate-emergency-declarations-cover-15-million-citizens)

https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/climate-emergency-declaration-councils-green-party-un-report

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/01/youth-climate-change-strikers-open-letter-to-world-leaders

https://www.facebook.com/friendsoftheearth/videos/297371554469432/

“Climate Change, the Facts” - Sir David Attenborough on the science of climate change and potential solutions to this global threat - available till mid-May on BBC i-player at https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00049b1/climate-change-the-facts