Councils: stop funding fossil fuels

With everyone's campaigns at various stages and local contexts being very different, we're not setting a specific tactic or action for all groups to do. However, to help us tell a cohesive national story about the actions, we're asking all groups to incorporate the well-known orange cross into your actions and any photos you take.

We encourage you to be as creative as you like, based on the skills and resources you have within your group. Some examples of things that you could do include:

• Council snakes and ladders: Create an interactive giant game of snakes and ladders that people can play, which shows actions the council is taking both towards climate action (the ladders) - and those in opposition to it (the snakes). See this leaflet produced by Friends of the Earth for inspiration.
• Climate justice memorials: This tactic can be used to allow people to come together to bring to life the stories and memories of communities harmed by the injustices of the climate crisis, through chalking, painted tributes on stones, portrait photographs, candles, flowers, murals, and speeches. See this guide from #DefundClimateChaos with ideas of how you can make this happen.
• Building projections: Groups could project investment figures or a call to action on the side of the council building. Bare in mind that it will need to be dark outside if you do this!
• Record interviews with the local community: Use the attention gathered from your action as an opportunity to interview members of the public, asking them what they think about the council's investments in fossil fuels and get their reactions to sharing stories about the companies they are invested in (you can find this data here). This will allow you to continue to build momentum online in the weeks following the action itself, and can be used to help publicise an online petition via social media. See this example of UKSCN London’s interviews outside of the Science Museum.
• Think about creative ways to draw attention to your action – turning the target office into a crime scene, by dressing up as cleaners armed with mops and buckets to “clean up the council's investments”, or staging a “die in”. Get in touch with local artists, actors or musicians to see if they'll help collaborate on a creative stunt!

Think about the ways you can get the word out about your demand and your group during the action. What you might need to engage the public – is there a way passers-by can participate in the event? How will you collect information on people interested in your campaign and follow up with them afterwards?

You might also want to consider who specifically you'd like to talk to and where and when you will be able to reach them. For example, if you want to speak to council staff (who will be members of the pension fund) then gathering outside their offices at lunchtime could be a good opportunity to have a conversation. Whereas, if your priority is to secure a spot on your local radio station's breakfast show, then holding your action earlier in the day may give you more time and make this easier to secure coverage.

We can support you to draft press releases, which you can send to local papers beforehand. Make a list of all the local TV and radio stations, and contact them in advance to see if they will cover the action. Have a volunteer available, confident and prepped with your campaign's key messages to take part in any broadcast interviews on the day!

Spreading the word of your action far and wide will help attract support for the campaign and your group.

Here's how you can spread the word on your social media channels:

• Plan your social media coverage in advance. Prepare some text beforehand and have an idea of the photos you'll need to capture to complement the posts. Make sure you appoint someone responsible for monitoring and posting on social media on the day.

• Think of ways that people who can't make it to the in-person event can participate online – do you have a petition to the council that you can promote? Or would you like to encourage people to contact their local councillor using UK Divest's e-action?
• Take pictures throughout the day and share them on your social profiles, explaining what your group is doing and the demands being made around COP26.
• Take a video and post it on your channels to give your followers a glimpse of the atmosphere. You can interview members of your groups, or just document the action from the sidelines. Read Friends of the Earth's tips on taking your own photos and videos.
• Use the hashtags #COP26, #COP26Glasgow or #ClimateTalks when posting on Twitter or Instagram. If every group does this, we've got more chance of making divestment a real talking point among the wider public and attendees at the conference.

Given how big a moment COP is, this is a great opportunity to reach out to groups you might not usually get a chance to work with. By focusing on climate justice, you'll be able to more easily draw the connections between struggles and across groups of people. You could reach out to groups campaigning on gender justice given how women around the world disproportionately suffer the impacts of climate breakdown. Or to networks supporting asylum seekers and migrants given how the climate crisis is causing people to flee their homes.

We don’t know how the pandemic will play out between now and November. We’re hopeful that we can take to the streets, but if there are greater restrictions on in-person gatherings or if things don’t feel safe or accessible, we’ll need to be flexible and respond quickly. Either way, it is crucial that safety and accessibility are at the forefront of planning for your actions – make sure to think through how you'll ensure people are safe and comfortable at your event.