Momentum Climate Justice 

The left needs to take climate action

The climate emergency is here. But despite an upsurge of climate consciousness in recent years, sparked by grassroots movements,  most of us aren’t sure how to take action.

We know that current responses to the crisis are replicating patterns of inequality, exclusion and exploitation. The reality is that there is no tackling climate breakdown without socialism. And there is no socialism without a liveable climate.

We must unite with other progressive and anti-capitalist movements to force radical action on climate change. A just transition from fossil capitalism to ecological and community resilience must take every worker with it. We want nothing less than a worker-led, global Green New Deal.

Momentum’s new Climate Justice course

This month, Momentum is launching our new Climate Justice political education course. We want to empower our membership and the wider movement with the knowledge, tools and confidence to build climate justice into our political organising at every level, from the local to the international; to make democratic, internationalist eco-socialism the beating heart of the Labour Party and the labour movement!

Our political education course on climate justice is designed to fuel autonomous organising; to arm new and experienced activists with the knowledge and tools you need to form action groups, build new alliances and bring the concepts from this course to your local movements, communities and CLPs. Let’s build the power and unity we need across progressive movements to create a just and equitable future. We need eco-socialism now!

If you’ve ever wondered about these questions, this course is for you.

•  What are climate justice and eco-socialism? Why do environmental and anti-capitalist movements need each other?
• How can we find common ground and build solidarity between environmental and union organising?
• How can we root our climate activism in anti-racist, anti-colonial consciousness and solidarity, taking our lead from Indigenous anti-capitalist movements and climate leadership in the global South?
• How does the fossil fuel industry prevent meaningful state action on climate change – and how can we fight it ?
• Net-Zero, PPMs, NDCs, Nature Based Solutions... What does all this jargon mean?!  What are the hidden assumptions and political realities behind these terms?
• In the face of dread, confusion, apathy or hopelessness, how can we build our morale and determination to support each other in this existential struggle?
• How can we envision a new world of food security, ecological resilience and human flourishing?

How to take the course

This will not be a passive course. We will help Momentum members organise in groups of 5-10 locally  to take the course collectively. The sessions will run every month but in the interim you will be supported to continue your learning and build your skills through review and discussion. We will provide guiding questions, research materials and connect you with local speakers between sessions so you can apply the general learning from the course to your local context. We will also support you to explore local campaigns and coalition spaces.

If you’re not a Momentum member you are still very welcome to take the course and self-organise into study groups or study as an individual. All supporting materials will be available to you.

If you are interested in taking the course, please fill in this application form.