that sounds great, thank you!
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I think it is crucial not to forget the fact that the main problem is the extreme inequality and waste generated by capitalism (and of course the, almost un-mentionable, fact that the worlds biggest consumer of fossil fuels is the US military), see for example this 2015 report from Oxfam.
Kevin Anderson, deputy director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research has been really good at not losing sight of this, it is really worth listening to his talks and interviews, this is a short summary of where he is coming from published last year:
Some are also starting to ring alarm bells that saving capitalism (not humanity and life on the planet) is the key motivation for some rich people and corporations, see Greenwashing the Climate Catastrophe, published a couple of days ago…
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This is a good half hour of audio from Kevin Anderson, A Rule Book for the Climate Casino via Maria Gilardin’s TUC (time of useful consciousness) Radio show:
Kevin Anderson was also quoted in a recent Counterpunch article on Capitalism’s Ownership of Global Warming.
More directly on the issue of tech and the climate crisis this article covers the relationship between Microsoft, Google and Amazon and the oil industry:
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Labour for a Green New Deal has just been launched (via GoDaddy, Google and Square Space… 
):
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Suggestion: for CoTech Spring Gathering (later this month) would it be OK to invite Extinction Rebellion (XR) to give a short talk (20 mins?) as part of Climate Emergency and Tech proposed a while ago by Dot, And to stay for the discussion if they wish. I think XR people could learn a bit about tech and CoTech could learn about this important issue.
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I don’t see why not, @naomi has already mentioned this on the other thread.
Alan Simpson, ex-Labour MP and advisor to Labour on environmental policy has an article in the Morning Star today:
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For the Spring Gathering on 25 - 26 April the theme of Climate emergency and tech looks like being discussed on the Friday.
@Dot you asked earlier if anyone is interested in collaboration in this area. So far we have @Naomi, me, and possibly a short talk by Extinction Rebellion. If you’re still interested would you like to get in touch?
Thanks.
@jonathan , Webarchitects
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Please let me know ASAP if this is happening, so I can get back to the XR person who offered to talk. Thanks!
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hi … yes I’m really excited to see that this may be on the Agenda. I’ve been working with XR in Bath and we successfully lobbied local council to declare a climate emergency and commitment to reduce emissions to zero by 2030. This will feed through to procurement, and is something that tech co-ops could help them achieve. I also have a short talk I have given about environmental impact of tech, happy to provide a condensed version of it if that would work… and yes, I started some work in this area and have some ideas for products and services, very keen to meet others who may want to collaborate.
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yes please! great to include XR Sheffield in this
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Thanks a lot Dot 
I think that the final agenda will be discussed online here CoTech Spring 2019 Gathering : 25-26th April in Sheffield - #74 by jonathan
and finalised on the first morning of day one.
Polly’s been talking to some people about it but I haven’t heard the latest but I’m fairly sure environment/climate will be on day 2
Best regards
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Naomi sorry I didn’t answer here; yes please can you ask them to come on the Friday morning please? (Day 2, say 9.30/10am)
In discussion with @polly the proposal is taht the final agenda will be discussed online at CoTech Spring 2019 Gathering : 25-26th April in Sheffield but only finalised on the first morning of each day. So it’s a fairly informal ‘gathering’ rather tahn a confernce with a very fixed agenda. However there will be an all-group meeting at the start of day 1 and day 2, after which people (we’re expecting between 30 and 40) will split off into groups for workshops, decided on the day. Then at the end of the day we’ll get together for an all-group feedback.
OK?
See you there, or in the week before
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Hi Jonathan , I’m completely unable to give this any brain space in advance, but time is noted, and i will almost certainly be there to speak a little, even if I don’t make it to the first day.
However, I will speak about what’s been happening in London this week, rather than about anything else; hope that’s ok. I expect people will want to hear about it.
I asked Nathan to contact you, perhaps he hasn’t. I’ll message him.
See you soon
Naomi
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Hello Naomi, thanks good to get yr email.
That’s fine, it’ll be great to hear first hand.
I’m suffering brain space capacity issues as well, but we’ll get there
Hope to hear from Nathan but at this moment I’vve lost my mobile 
Aaaagh!
so don’t giv him that numbr; I’ll get sorted with this next week - Tues probably
See you soon
Jonathan
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Proposal:
That the discussion about climate emergency aims to create a position statement, or better yet an agreed policy/strategy, that all CoTech members can support. In that way we not only educate ourselves about the issues, but we also create a platform that can be helpful in promoting CoTech as a distinctive offering, and drive internal planning and policy development within CoTech member organisations.
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That sounds a great idea @graham. I’ve now been in touch, and Nathan or someone from Extinction Rebellion should be attending the Spring Gathering (Sheffield 2019 - CoTech) to help with discussion/awareness raising, on the morning of Day 2 (Friday).
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Do you have some suggestions for content for this?
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VERY broadly, a statement might look something along the lines of: CoTech member organisations recognise the paramount importance of the climate emergency, and the urgent responsibility to take action both within their own organisations and externally to promote best practice. CoTech believes that having zero negative impact on climate change is the minimum viable position that it can adopt, and is working to become a climate-positive network.
And a policy/strategy might be something like: CoTech member organisations are working to define a shared climate policy and strategy, building on the agreed position statement. This will ensure that suitable measures are embedded within member organisations enabling them to effectively assess their organisational impact and take rapid steps towards becoming climate-positive. CoTech undertakes to publish a report annually, setting out progress in respect of this strategy.
How’s that for starters?
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Sitting listening to the Extinction Rebellion talk and thought I’d throw Low-tech magazine into the mix, especially given their solar-powered server.
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We sat in a small subgroup of the climate subgroup to make a list of things you and your co-op can do to help avoid the climate emergency. The list is here —> Sheffield 2019/List of Climate Actions - CoTech
Please edit your other cool ideas in!
Especially keen to get the input from @Dot about council procurement and other stuff!
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