Major Campaign briefing

Final Demand Final Demand launched in October 2011 with the big aim of getting us on the right path to decarbonised electricity by The opportunity to do this is through the Energy Market Reform Bill (expected later this year). But before we can start talking about this we have a problem – The Big Six Energy Companies are keeping us hooked on fossil fuels!

Final Demand They have too much power over government policy – government needs them to invest. They block alternatives (such as the Feed-In Tariff). So to get what we want we need to weaken the stranglehold of the Big Six. So together we’ve been giving them a Final Demand.

Final Demand We’ve sent the Government a powerful message that the Big Six are too powerful and the people want change. THANK YOU for everything you’ve done so far! Together we have: – Lobbied around 50 MPs – Secured hundreds of bits of media coverage – local & national – Got around 30,000 people to sign the petition

Final Demand At the End of October the Government announced a review of the Feed in Tariff scheme. The consultation was unfair, as the subsidy would be slashed with only six weeks notice with new rates being introduced two weeks before the consultation ended This led to massive uncertainty in the renewables industry - impacting on community energy projects, social housing solar schemes and jobs.

Final Demand We took the Government to court – and won! Now Government has tabled new regulations – with new rates from 2nd March. This is a big step forward, giving the industry the confidence to continue. The ‘Show & Tell’ lobbying events groups have organised, made a big difference – putting MPs directly in front of the people affected by the Government’s plans.

Final Demand What Next…. We will launch the next phase of Final Demand at the end of April Between now and then we need to keep building the petition numbers getting as close as we can to 100,000 signatories, and keep the pressure on MPs – we need to campaign for the renewable industry to have a secure and thriving long term future. You can get all the resources you need from your Network Developer, or our Campaign Hub!

Final Demand What Next…. In April the second phase of Final Demand will be calling for everyone to make the big switch to renewable energy, and there will be opportunities to work with individuals, local businesses and organisations to help them make the switch – as well as demonstrating what is possible by working on Community Energy Schemes in your area. Look out for more information on this over the next month.

Greener Products

The problem? Too much stuff, not enough planet Making everything we buy or use is putting our planet’s life-support systems under dangerous strain. Companies are not currently required to measure or manage the impact of the products they make.

Greener Products Our solution? Producer responsibility, not consumer To make a difference on the scale needed, we need to tackle the way all companies produce all our stuff in the first place.

Greener Products Campaign objective: to shift the debate away from confusing labelling and specialist ‘eco- products’ to producer responsibility for how things are made before they come to us.

Greener Products Key opportunity in 2012/13 to push for an EU law to oblige producers to measure and manage the resource use of products sold in Europe. Through helping reframe the debate, we hope to create the right conditions to support the EU product policy.

Greener Products Greener Products Campaign Hub Share your ideas of: Wasteful products we could expose? Contact with insider company info? Ways to illustrate the impact of products on the environment? The hub is the place to share our thoughts.

Bees

Why work on Bees? Without them, we’d have a third less food on our plates. Bees are a key indicator of the state of our biodiversity. And bees are in trouble…

Bees Bee numbers are declining for a number of reasons: Loss of habitat Farming practices Disease

Bees Bees are important pollinators: This is significant in economic terms. And in providing the food we eat.

Bees Bee Action Plans at home in your street in schools locally and nationally.

Bees We can take action where we are – at home, in our streets, in our schools… Plus we will be calling on the Government to get ‘Bee Friendly’ in the decisions it makes. The Bee campaign will be live from April. Join the Bees Hub conversation.

Campaign Calendar JanFebMarAprMayJuneJulyAugSeptOctNovDec Final Dem -and Gree -ner Prod- ucts Bees

Campaign Options It’s not too late for your group to choose which campaigns it wants to get involved in this year. Please complete the Campaign Options form, or the online survey: