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  SERA at Labour Party Conference 2022 #Lab22 #SERALab22 We’re excited to share our Conference programme and look forward to seeing you in Liverpool later this month. This year’s Labour Conference slogan is “fairer, greener future”, and we plan to be at the very heart of all of the debates and discussions at this Conference - and beyond - to turn this slogan into a winning set of policies and messages for Labour at the next UK General Election.  SERA will be based in Blundell Street Liverpool, 63-65 Blundell Street, Liverpool, L1 0AJ, our hub for our fringe events, as well as our Rally and Drinks Reception, with special appearances from senior figures across our moment. Our events will be live streamed on our Twitter, Facebook and YouTube channels. Links for Facebook and YouTube for each event are below. Please don't forget to like and retweet and use the Labour Party hashtag #Lab22 and our conference hashtag: #SERALab22.    Sunday 25 September 2022 14:00-15:00 Why chemical pollution poses a growing threat and Labour's response  Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/events/1159456138312614 YouTube: https://youtu.be/nbLGqn6xe4s   16:00-17:00 Biodiversity code red: how to reverse the ecological crisis   Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/events/504386344853128 YouTube: https://youtu.be/ijB8NNQrdXM   Monday 26 September 2022 09:30-10:30 Trade balance: put climate and social justice first  Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/events/1464989930634384 YouTube: https://youtu.be/Y9lqQQaHkes    11:00-12:00 Putting people at the heart of the energy transition  Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/events/3292762841007755 YouTube: https://youtu.be/AFqMmsXJDmI   12:30-13:30 Rising seas: what we know and what we can do about it Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/events/1164916910764770 YouTube: https://youtu.be/KNjKknHl3dI   14:00-15:00 Just the ticket: Labour's approach to a green transport revolution Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/events/1261298367743819 YouTube: https://youtu.be/vSh54CvH_MA   17:00-18:00 Turning the tide - how our waterways can carry us to a greener future Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/838910450438521/ YouTube: https://youtu.be/uQzCbbLuRi0   18:00-19:15 SERA Rally: bold, rapid, just - the climate and nature action we need  Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/events/2893255160977261 YouTube: https://youtu.be/C9yAXSTAghQ   19:30-21:00 SERA Reception- Time is running out Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/events/439712511472277 YouTube: https://youtu.be/ipBJrYPUBEQ   Tuesday 27 September 2022 10:00-11:00 Stronger Together for better jobs and work  Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/events/460550112684405 YouTube: https://youtu.be/Cl4rD-g5z1s   11:30-12:30 Stronger Together for a green and digital future  Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/events/787734789132481 YouTube: https://youtu.be/HnFCtZ8Hdx0   18:15-19:30 Act now: why Labour must lead in addressing the climate and energy crisis.  Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/events/600629851800301 YouTube: https://youtu.be/B49NsP7HjkM We hope to see you there and look forward to welcoming you to Labour Conference and to SERA’s many fringe events.

  A healthy, biodiverse environment is critical for our future, yet, as the UN has warned, the decline in the natural environment is acute and an ecological crisis is unfolding. It is not just rainforests but nature closer to home too. The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. More than one in seven native species faces extinction and more than 40% are now in decline.  Nature must be restored while biodiversity can be enhanced in every community. As pandemic highlighted too, access to nature brings wider benefits such as to mental health and wellbeing. As local champions, councillors have a strong voice to encourage more biodiversity and rewilding in their wards and to work with councils and other organisations to make it happen. Next month local elections take place in many areas across the country. SERA: Labour’s Environment Campaign, is supporting and highlighting Labour councillors and candidates are backing nature restoration, biodiversity and rewilding in their wards. SERA has worked with Panny Antoniou, a Labour candidate in Highgate, Camden to draw up this pledge. Labour rewilding and biodiversity pledge If elected I pledge to encourage greater biodiversity and support rewilding in my ward which could include the following: Seek to protect and preserve existing areas of nature Encourage the planting of more trees and plants Seek to create more nature supporting green and blue spaces and enhance the biodiversity of existing nature spaces Increase the number of carbon sinks through new planting Support the introduction of nature recovery networks which improve the environment for living creatures with a focus on pollinators and keystone species Look into the feasibility of the reintroduction of species into areas where they were once present including local extinct bee species and beavers and pine martins where suitable End the use of pesticides and peat in municipal planting Improve access to nature for all residents and address inequality of access To back the pledge, a candidate or councillor can do a social media post giving support and with a photo, for example in a local green or blue space in their ward which is an example of rewilding or a space that could benefit. Use the hashtag: #LabRewild and include the SERA Twitter handle @serauk Here's a sample text: I'm supporting the Labour biodiversity and re wilding pledge in insert ward and council election.  You can read more about the pledge here: https://www.sera.org.uk/labour_rewilding_pledge  @LGA_Labour @serauk #LabRewild

Last week (4 February 2021) Oxford City Council announced that Oxford can become zero carbon by 2040. Cllr Tom Hayes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Green Transport and Zero Carbon Oxford (and long-standing SERA member) explains: Continue reading

Max Smith is a campaigner formerly working with the UK Student Climate Network and Teach the Future. This article was originally published in the Autumn 2020 edition of SERA's flagship magazine, New Ground.   Continue reading