Connect in your community... connect with your MP... connect the issues to stop climate chaos.

The Stop Climate Chaos Coalition is calling for people across the UK to connect with others in their communities on 5th-6th November and lobby their MPs.

With supporters from more than 100 organisations coming together in their communities for the Big Climate Connection, we’ll show MPs that people from all walks of life – from environment to development groups, from unions to local community and health groups - are calling for action on climate change.

There's more information on how you can get involved below (scroll down past the map), and you can sign up to the Big Climate Connection by clicking on the map below.

What is a lobby and what will I be expected to do?

Lobbying is not a specialist skill. It simply means meeting your MP, explaining your views, and asking him or her to act on them. MPs are our representatives. It’s their job to make sure that the Government hears the concerns of ordinary people, and MPs often say that face to face meetings with their constituents is one of the things that has the most impact on them. You can find out more about what's involved in the Big Climate Connection lobby pack. Download it (in pdf) here.

What will we be asking for?

November is a key time for climate politics. Closer to the time (when we know more detail) we will let you know some very specific things that you can ask your MP to commit to, to ensure that together we can really influence some big issues: International: The lobby will take place three weeks before the UN Climate Talks in Cancun, Mexico. Domestic: A new UK Energy Billwill be before Parliament in November. Local: Local lobbyists will link the climate asks in with local issues, to show our MPs that climate change really is relevant to them, and of course if there are any local issues of concern that are connected to climate change, this will be a great opportunity to bring them up. Find out more about these issues here, or download our lobby pack briefing (pdf)

What can you do now?

• Sign up and make connections!
Our interactive lobby map shows you if there is someone already coordinating a lobby in your constituency and enables you to link up with them. If there’s no-one organising a lobby in your constituency, you can sign up to organise it! There’s more information on what’s involved in coordinating a lobby in your constituency here. Of course, you don’t have to coordinate a lobby to be involved in The Big Climate Connection. There may be someone else in your area that does want to coordinate, so you can just join up with them, via the interactive map to lobby your MP. Even if there’s no-one coordinating a lobby in your area it’s still worth signing up and putting yourself on the lobby map because this might encourage other people in your constituency to coordinate a lobby.

• Why not tell your MP now that you’ll be joining the Big Climate Connection? You can use our example letter/ e-mail.

• Get others involved! - Can you connect with other groups in your constituency to show your MP how diverse the movement is? - Do you know people in other areas that might want to coordinate, or join in, a lobby in their constituency?

• And if you want to do more, you can apply to be a regional mobiliser!

Resources

The Big Climate Connection lobby pack has lots of tips and ideas for lobbying your MP, information on how you can get involved, and a briefing on what we're asking for. You can:

• Download the full lobby pack here

Or download it in sections:

• How you can get involved in the Big Climate Connection here
• How you can coordinate a lobby in your constituency here
• A briefing on what we're asking for here

We also have Big Climate Connection flyers. You can download the flyer here, or if you'd like printed flyers to help spread the word, just e-mail admin@stopclimatechaos.org, and tell us how many you want and where to send them.

If you don't have a PDF reader you can either download the free Adobe reader or the open source alternatives Sumatra or Foxit.