Running your Planet A Action Hour

Acknowledge Country (as appropriate, learn more about this here), give some context for the hour, and invite people to introduce themselves.

SAY: “Thank you all for coming today!" (If you'd like to acknowledge Country, you could say something like: "I’d like to begin by acknowledging that we are meeting today on Aboriginal land. I’m on the lands of the <NAME OF TRADITIONAL OWNER GROUP(S)>. I pay my respects to Elders past and present, and acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded.”)

“Today we’re here to talk about climate change, and take action together to encourage business and our elected representatives to step up. We’ll spend about an hour together, and we’ll be using a computer or smartphone to use some resources provided by the Australian Conservation Foundation to take action.”

“Before we get into it, I’d like to invite each of you to introduce yourselves.”

Invite each person to introduce themselves. You might like to ask each person to answer a question prompt, something fun like “what’s your favourite dessert?” or something more serious like “what’s brought you to the conversation today?”

“Thanks everyone, it’s great to have you all here.”

Hear from each person about their views on solutions to climate change, and thoughts on the first episode of Fight for Planet A (if they watched it).

SAY: “Before we get to action, it’d be great to hear from you all about your views on solutions to the climate crisis, and what’s holding us back. I have a couple of question prompts here to kick us off.”

Facilitate a discussion using the following question prompts:

• “For those of you who watched it, what stood out to you from the first Episode of ‘Fight for Planet A’?”
• “What do you see as the most impactful solutions to stop climate damage?”
• “What do you think is holding us back from fully-implementing these solutions?”

Try to keep the discussion moving, so you have at least 30 minutes for the next section taking action.

Introduce the actions and resources, then step through the actions together. The actions are:

Action 1: Government – Write to your member of Parliament and call for strong climate action
Action 2: Business – Use social media to ask your super fund about their fossil fuel investments
Action 3: Community – Host your own Planet A Action Hour with friends and family

SAY: “Now let’s get to action! The Australian Conservation Foundation is working with communities across the country on a campaign to Recover, Rebuild, Renew. From the bushfires to the pandemic, we’ve experienced so much disruption this year. The decisions governments and businesses make today will shape this country for generations. Recover, Rebuild, Renew is about helping communities recover with jobs that are good for nature and our climate, and renewing our energy system so it’s clean and renewable.”

“The resources we’ll be using today are part of the Recover, Rebuild, Renew campaign. We will step through three actions towards change:

• Asking our elected representatives to advocate for clean energy and create jobs that are good for people and planet;
• Asking our superannuation funds about their fossil fuel investments; and
• Get more people involved by hosting your own Planet A Action Hour

Ask everyone to open the resources by going to this web page: acf.org.au/planet_a_start

SAY: “Please go to acf.org.au/planet_a_start to find the resources.”

When everyone has the page open, introduce the action.

Action 1: Government – Write to your member of Parliament and call for strong climate action

SAY: “Writing to your elected representative is a really powerful way to contribute to big change. While change can feel like it happens slowly, MPs keep a close eye on what their constituents are contacting them about at any given time. Now is a critical moment – the decisions they make now will shape our country for generations. Thousands of people across the country are part of this campaign – each of us who contacts our MPs is contributing to renewed momentum towards change.”

“Has anyone contacted their MP before? How did it go? Do you have any tips?”

Assure people that this is a powerful action even if your MP doesn’t seem receptive. Share that there are thousands of people doing the same as them all over the country, and that acting together like this is how we build pressure at key moments.

SAY: “Before we start writing, let’s read through the tips for writing a great email to your MP:

1. Use their formal title, then introduce yourself and the issue you’re writing about.
2. Make sure to keep it brief, polite, and concise. Using your own words is key towards addressing issues to your local MP.
3. You want your MP to know they’re dealing with a real person and tell them what you want them to do – share something personal (for example, what is something from the show that moved you?) and clear asks (see the webpage for suggestions from ACF).
4. Show your appreciation and thank the MP for their time. Remember – you’re aiming to build a relationship with them.
5. Provide your contact details, making sure your email/telephone number is listed on the email or letter so they have a way to contact you if they wish to do so.

“Remember, your MP has a responsibility to represent you and to communicate with you. That is why they were elected and what they get paid to do.”

Encourage people to work on their emails to their MPs on the web page. You might like to share the email you wrote, as an example for others.

Action 2: Business – Use social media to ask your super fund about their fossil fuel investments

SAY: “Once you’ve written to your MP, click through to see instructions for the next action. The second action is to make a comment on your superannuation fund’s social media page, asking them to divest from fossil fuels and invest in climate solutions. If your superannuation fund is already fossil-fuel free, we encourage you to comment on one of the super funds listed on the resource page. They all continue to invest in coal and gas.

Invite people to read through the information on the action page, or read it through together as a group.

Give people a couple of minutes to write their comment. Share the comment you wrote with them for inspiration if needed.

Action 3: Community – Host your own Planet A Action Hour with friends and family

SAY: “Great! We've just taken two actions – one targeting our elected representatives, another big business. To achieve the bold change we’re seeking, we need more and more people to get involved. Hosting a Planet A Action Hour like this one is an easy way to bring people together to take action. Would anyone here be open to hosting a Planet A Action Hour too? You can sign up on the page you're on now after the last action, or you can go to acf.org.au/planet_a to sign up!”

Encourage others to host a Planet A Action Hour. Briefly share your experience of hosting, and emphasise the importance of more and more people taking action together.

Debrief, thank everyone for their time, and take a group photo.

SAY: “Thank you all so much for coming today. How are people feeling after taking action? Any reflections before we finish up?”

Invite reflections from your group. Remind people that they’re acting with thousands of others across the country, and that every letter makes a difference.

SAY: “To finish, can I take a group photo? I’d like to share this with ACF so they can show others just how many people are involved in this campaign!”

If people consent, take a group photo. If you’re online, take a screenshot (here’s how).

“Thanks so much for coming today, let’s keep the conversation going and let’s keep in touch about what we hear back from our actions today!”