Weekly Briefing: Africa Climate Summit Calls For Global Carbon Tax

September 13, 2023

 As we continue to educate our communities about carbon pricing — and push Congress to enact one — it’s helpful to keep an eye on the encouraging carbon pricing advancements in the rest of the world. 

Canada has a carbon fee and dividend system in place, which they strengthened even more this year. The EU has a carbon border adjustment mechanism, or CBAM, which enters its next phase in October. And just last week, a new development: the Africa Climate Summit included a declaration in support of a global carbon tax.

The Associated Press reports that the event “ended with a call for world leaders to rally behind a global carbon tax on fossil fuels, aviation and maritime transport.” The declaration was adopted unanimously by African leaders, representing 1.3 billion people.

Citizens’ Climate International issued a statement in support of the declaration. “In addition to being the most effective tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a global system for coordinated carbon taxation can also provide the much-needed resources for African countries to transition away from fossil fuels and adapt to the damaging effects of climate change,” said David Michael Terungwa, coordinator of CCI in Africa, pictured above with CCL Executive Director Mark Reynolds.

Share the news, and remind Congress that we want to see a price on carbon here at home!

Ask Congress for a Price on Carbon

In other news this week:

• Inclusion Conference this weekend: Last chance — register now to be part of CCL’s 2nd annual Inclusion Conference, which kicks off with a virtual reception on Friday night and takes place on Zoom this Saturday afternoon. Check out the exciting speaker lineup and program, and we’ll see you this weekend!

• A great time in the Great Lakes: Congrats to our Great Lakes region for holding their first in-person regional conference since 2019 this past weekend. The event had 124 registrations. Programming included a youth plenary session, modeled after this national discussion in June, as well as a shout out and some screen time for attendees on CCL’s September national meeting.

• Town hall highlights: While members of Congress were home during the August recess, CCL volunteers around the country showed up at their town hall events to ask climate questions.

Take action this week

If you have a little time: Share this social post. One in 10 Americans have considered moving because of climate change. This stat prompted some great conversation on CCL's Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages. Share the post and see what your friends and followers think.

If you have more time: Watch the recording of our September national meeting. This past weekend, we heard from guest speaker Madeline McGill about climate action messaging in rural communities, and we reviewed this month's actions. Watch the call to catch up.

Featured: Braver Angels Action Team

Trying to build common ground — on climate change or any other contentious topic — is no small feat, given the high degree of polarization in American politics. One organization tackling the challenge head-on is Braver Angels. 

Braver Angels describes itself as an organization “that brings conservatives and progressives together on equal terms to understand our differences, find common ground where it exists, and help the country we all love find a better way.”

In other words, their work is right up CCL’s alley! Beth Malow and Bruce Morlan (pictured above) co-chair the Braver Angels Action Team within CCL, which they launched in 2020 to help CCL volunteers use Braver Angels' methods to engage across the aisle and look for ways to work together.

Coming up this fall, the Braver Angels Action Team has arranged a presentation from Mónica Guzmán, one of the leaders of Braver Angels and the author of the bestselling book, "I Never Thought of it That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times." (Here’s a bit more about her book in the New York Times.) She will weigh in on how this approach relates to climate advocacy.

The team is hosting a book discussion in October, in advance of Mónica’s presentation and Q&A in November. Both events are open to any CCL volunteer, so mark your calendar and plan to attend.

Upcoming trainings

9/14: Clean Energy Permitting Reform Basics Action Party - Join CCL's Research Team to learn the basics of clean energy permitting reform and take action together to move Congress forward on it. Join us!

9/21: Ask Community Leaders to Champion their Support to Congress - Learn to activate local community leaders on both sides of the aisle, using specific examples of other CCL groups' success stories. Join us!

Need training on the basics? Catch our next session of Core Volunteer Training, made for newer volunteers:

9/19: Preventing Burnout as a Climate Advocate - Climate work can feel heavy and hard. Take this time to connect with others, share authentically, listen deeply, and build your personal resilience. Join us!

To see other topics and past trainings, visit the Training Topics page of CCL Community. 

Chart of the Week

2023 was Earth's hottest summer on record

Join the discussion about all the temperature records being broken in 2023.