Secure rights are the foundation of rapid transition. Without secure rights and a say over how to address climate change, decisions imposed from above may be resented or rejected.
For rapid transitions to work for all, they have to be just, and based on real, accessible and democratic decision-making. All kinds of positive rights have been agreed internationally over decades. Access to food, shelter, dignity, and freedom from persecution for all, sit alongside the rights of the child. But too often economic systems become entrenched that make securing these rights practically impossible, and climate breakdown is a further assault on all of them.
Sometimes the conflicts become stark and unmissable, such as when land, forest or fishing waters are grabbed from communities for remote, private gain, or a privatised water system prevents access to safe water. Finding ways to reclaim basic rights and see them properly realised and respected is a fundamental part of the picture of rapid transition.
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Story of change
Transition Towns – the quiet, networked revolutionThe Transition Network began in 2006 in the small rural UK town of Totnes, Devon. It was initially a response to the twin threats of climate change and peak...
Story of change
Rojava in Syria – growing local democracy and defending ecology in the midst of conflictIn 2012 in Rojava, Northern Syria, a group of Kurds set up a secular, ethnically inclusive and bottom-up democratic system, in which all ethnic and...
Story of change
The simple strike goes global, led by young peopleIt might seem strange that bringing things to a standstill might help bring about a rapid transition, but that is exactly what a huge number of young people...
Commentary
What would a climate emergency plan look like?Across the world, national and local governments are declaring a climate emergency on the back of dire warnings from UN scientists about the need for urgent...
Commentary
Given Half a Chance: Ten Ways to Save the WorldEnvironmentalist Edward Davey’s new book, Given Half a Chance: Ten Ways to Save the World shows how little it would take to set a rapid transition in...
Story of change
A kiss of life for climate action: the rapid growth of youth protestA global youth movement to force government action on climate change has brought 1.4 million children and young people out on strike and created a dilemma...
Story of change
Local, civic action is growing a climate revolution from belowIn the yawning gap between national action and what is needed to stop climate breakdown, a rapid rise of local and city level activism is growing a...
Story of change
The rise of the rights of natureA global movement to give nature rights is growing in the face of a mass extinction event driven by climate change and human over-use of the natural...
Story of change
Turning the tide of water privatization – the rise of the new municipal movementPeople around the world are reclaiming their access to water as a basic human right, by seizing control of their water supplies from private companies. This...
