WRITE TO YOUR GOVERNMENT REP.

AND ASK THEM TO ACT ON CLIMATE.

NEED SOME HELP WRITING TO YOUR GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVE? USE THIS HANDY TEMPLATE!

Note: this is just a template. The more you add your own flair, the better. 

Dear (insert your govt. rep.’s name),

My name is ______.

I love spending time in the outdoors and especially enjoy ______ (e.g. snowboarding, skiing, kayaking etc.). I’m really concerned about climate change and how it is impacting ______ (e.g. the mountains, rivers and lakes that I enjoy so much).

(You can add a short personal story of how climate change affects you here e.g.: how it affects your leisure activities, your work, your family, your friends, your community, our pacific neighbours, the elderly, the poor, the vulnerable.) 

IPCC scientists project more intense and frequent climate extremes including heavy precipitation, flooding, heatwaves, earlier snow melt and ecological and agricultural droughts – all of which threaten our communities. See page 10, 19 and 25 of the IPCC’s Summary for Policymakers.  

I am including a link to the latest IPCC Report and Summary for Policymakers in this email so that you can read them and take action as our leader. Link: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/#SPM.

I’m concerned because this nation’s greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, despite our commitments to the Paris Climate Agreement we made in 2015. 

As my government representative, it’s your job to represent me and my concerns. It’s your job as a leader to create and implement strong policies which will allow ______ (insert your region and country here e.g. the Canterbury District in New Zealand) to address the climate crisis. 

As the IPCC illustrates, there is still a path forward to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C. We, with you as our representative, can choose that path. This will require swift policy action. 

Please note that the IPCC Working Group I is policy neutral, it does not provide policy recommendations - however it clearly states the need for rapid, large-scale reductions in carbon dioxide emissions to limit future warming and its consequences. 

Covid-19 has taught us a very important lesson for the climate crisis: we can act quickly, and we can make big changes in a very urgent way. Please take urgent action on climate change. 

I look forward to hearing back from you. Please let me know when you have read the report and what path you will choose to take. 

Thank you for your leadership on the most important issue facing the world today. 

Best wishes, 

(your name)