Climate Justice
Climate Justice
We want the world to be fair, clean and green. Civil society organisations across the UK are taking action to reduce inequalities and tackle the climate emergency.
Most people in the UK care about climate change. Yet the rising cost of living is also putting pressure on everyday lives. At Citizens UK, we work with people who are already being affected by issues of climate change.
What keeps me awake at night is that young people are having our futures stolen by decision-makers who talk about the climate crisis like it's something way off into the future - as if the destruction of our only home is a distant inconvenience. But we have seen how the climate crisis is right on our doorstep. And what fills me with hope is US because WE are taking this opportunity to make change.
Maia, West London Zone
Our national priority campaigns:
Home repair and upgrade.
An end to damp, mouldy homes that bring illness and debt and waste energy.
Transport for our times.
Reliable, timely, affordable and clean public transport. Providing a sustainable and attractive alternative to car use.
Thriving green spaces.
Clean, safe and welcoming parks and public spaces to improve mental and physical health, enhance nature and strengthen communities.
A national home repair and upgrade strategy
The UK's homes are not fit to protect us. Damp and mould is rife causing respiratory conditions in children. Windows broken for three years and basic repairs which are never attended to. In addition, temperatures are rising and our homes are getting uncomfortably hot.
In our Citizens Manifesto, we are calling on the new government to publish a national home repair and upgrade strategy which will make our existing homes safe and healthy as well as more energy-efficient.
When I moved into my Council home, there was mould on the walls that has now spread to every room, which impacts my health. The next Government must introduce a UK-wide home repair and upgrade strategy to make our homes safer, healthier, and greener."
Helen, Cardiff Citizens
We presented our housing asks to representatives from the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats at our National Assembly.
Show your support for a national strategy to improve damp, unhealthy and unsafe homes.
On 20 June, across the country, hundreds of community leaders came together calling for safe, stable, and healthy homes for all.
Improving homes in London
We are asking the Mayor of London to work with us on community-led home upgrade projects in each London borough, building on our previous work to reduce the amount of homes in fuel poverty across the capital.
Improving public transport
Public transport is patchy, expensive and unreliable in the UK. Isolated communities are becoming increasingly disconnected so people resort to cars and taxis instead. We heard from parents who are forced to leave their jobs to drive children to school when the bus never arrives, a problem which families face in many parts of the country, particularly in the north of England.
Find out what we heard when our bus went on tour across the north of England, listening to how public transport affects people's lives.
"We all know it is hard to travel by public transport in the North. When you invest that £1 billion into better bus services will you make sure the bus users and communities are involved in shaping services and holding providers to account through involvement in regional public transport accountability boards?"
In February 2024, 64 young people from eight schools across our chapters in the north of England, attended the Convention of the North. They asked senior politicians like Michael Gove and the metro mayors for better transport for their areas.
Thriving green spaces
We all need good green spaces. A safe playground for children to play in, a park bench to socialise with friends, a natural environment to exercise or relax. Yet access to parks and gardens is not equal with less and poorer quality green spaces in communities with lower socio-economic status.
Across the UK communities are working together to change that.
In Leeds, local residents, children, schools, community festival groups and faith organisations succeeded in securing £50,000 of funding for play equipment, trees and shrubs in an underused and neglected local park.
Tyne and Wear Citizens chose not to accept the way things were, to work together and to hold those in office accountable. Even in the Covid pandemic local leaders worked together to transform a local park to make it an enjoyable place for the whole community to use.
Climate Leadership Academy
Young people are coming together to learn how to make effective change on the climate issues which matter to them and their communities.
Through our Climate Leadership Academy we are developing a diverse network of leaders influencing climate policy locally and nationally.
Drop us an email to find out more about climate organising in your area and how you can get involved.