COP26 a stark reminder that we need to do more locally

As world leaders meet in Glasgow we are reminded of the need for those of us in the Global North to take responsibility for our own carbon emissions. As part of our response we need to ramp up local climate action.

Communities for Future is focused on such action, helping to support the mainstreaming of local, community-led responses to the climate and ecological crisis. Thousands of community-led initiatives including ecovillages, Transition initiatives and permaculture projects have been niches of social innovation and experimentation. Now is the time to bring their learnings to a wider audience.

The European Day of Sustainable Communities has for 5 years been helping to grow awareness of the potential impact of community-led action. This year it showcased over 400 communities across Europe.  It is now part of a wider EU-funded partnership that includes the SPARK Youth Action for People & Planet campaign.

SPARK asserts that climate change is all around us but it’s impact is unequal. And those most affected by it, have done the least to cause it. Women and girls are hit hardest because social, political and cultural systems silence their voices, and limit their access to the resources and opportunities needed to withstand and adapt to climate change.

“Because of the effects of climate change, we have seen in recent years that our land is becoming poorer and more difficult to cultivate,” says Ouedraogo Aguiratou, a 39-year-old, farmer and mother of 7 children from Bukina Faso.

SPARK is taking to the streets, digitally, to demand that world leaders take immediate and drastic action to address the climate crisis. Join the digital march! See https://www.worldclimatemarch.org/