Fuel For Thought
Fuel For Thought, from fuel poverty to climate justice
Because we’ve had enough of being told that it’s our own fault for being poor, cold, and miserable, we have Fuel For Thought, a monthly get-together to share research and lived experience, tackle lies and clear up confusion.
Each month, we bring our members and supporters together with experts, activists, and campaigners in one online space to discuss and share stories on a subject related to our mission. It’s our approach to putting our network, its collective knowledge, and people power in your hands. And, it starts with promoting the thoughts, reflections, and demands of people in fuel poverty.
Making retrofit work: for warm homes, good jobs and a safer climate.
Online, May 21, 6.30pm
Government attempts at improving homes have scandalously failed and destroyed lives in the process. Shoddy jobs cost families their life savings, irreparably damage homes, and worsen insulation, leading to even higher bills than before. Whereas for workers, badly targeted and unambitious subsidies have made for precarious jobs in the small businesses that dominate the sector.
Yet upgrading homes with properly installed insulation and low energy heating technologies, is still the best way to lower energy consumption and bills. It’s the answer to coming back to comfortable homes, with energy-spending that’s under control. And if appropriately resourced and delivered at scale, it can create lots of high-skilled jobs in every region, to contribute to a fairer, safer and more sustainable future.
Join us on Fuel For Thought to talk about the failure of government retrofit, and overhauling it with a long-term, mass public programme delivered by a skilled and unionised public sector workforce. With a focus on the importance of retrofitting for the climate and why policy should be shaped by workers and Trade Unions.
Cost-of-living, job insecurity, conflicts, and climate change all link back to our reliance on fossil fuels. An effective response to these crises requires a retrofit programme shaped by workers and Trade Unions, and answerable to communities. The benefits are too big to forgo, it’s time to make retrofit work for us!
Confirmed speakers include:
Ellen Robottom | Unite member, CACC Steering Group member and author of the energy chapter in CACCTU’s “Climate Jobs: Building a Workforce for the Climate Emergency.” Ellen will speak to the importance of retrofit for climate.
Prof Linda Clarke | Emeritus professor at Westminster Business School and a researcher at the center for the study of the production of the built environment specializing in labor, vocational education and training and industrial relations. She’ll be speaking to remedying national retrofitting efforts with special attention to training and delivery.
Glyn Oliver | Chair of the Unite Community National Housing Group, on why retrofit is a trade union issue and what Unite Community is currently doing.
Take part
If you have a story to tell, an idea for a future Fuel For Thought, some research, or a campaign you’d like to share – we’d love to hear from you.
You can also put someone forward to speak, or help promote our sessions, so we can grow our network and reach new people in need of reliable information to fight back against fuel poverty.
As a member of Fuel Poverty Action, you could even guest-host a session on a subject you’re passionate about.
Whatever fuels your thoughts, reach out to amalric@fuelpovertyaction.org.uk and get those ideas flowing. And if you’ve joined a session before, please let us know your impressions through our feedback form.
Check out some of our past sessions for inspiration.
Visit the Fuel For Thought playlist on Youtube to watch more sessions.
