10 Apr 2025
Across the summer months in 2025, local action groups will be bringing our Planet over Profit campaign to local communities. The aim is to build a list of as many people and local organisations as possible who support the campaign.
How can my group get involved?
Aim: your mission over the summer months is to build support among your local community for the Planet Over Profit campaign. Practically this looks like collecting as many postcard petition signatures as possible, co-creating a large mural, and asking local organisations and businesses to sign an open letter.
If you can show that there is a lot of support in your area for the campaign, your MP is much more likely to take action to support the new law.
When: from June until autumn.
Take part in an action this summer
Tactic 1: create a forest mural with your community and gather signatures
Co-create a mural of a forest with your local community using collage and art materials. Just like a real forest this can grow over time and members of the public can add to it through a series of summer events or stalls. After people have contributed to the mural and learnt more about the campaign, ask them to sign a postcard aimed at your local MP, calling on them to support a new law for justice in supply chains.
Where? We’d love to see groups taking this activity to summer events such as fêtes and festivals where there will be high footfall, but it can also be done on high street stalls.
How? Order resources such as the mural template (coming soon), petition postcards, leaflets and placards. Bring along art materials like felt tips, crayons, colouring pencils or paint. Set up your stall using a trestle table or attach the mural to an upright board. Why not get creative and decorate your stall to look like a forest too?
Have group members ready to talk to the public. Have a couple of group members ready to invite members of the public to contribute to the mural. Adults can do this but also children can do the activity while you have a chat with the parents about the campaign.
How can I make my action successful?
Explain the campaign. Talk to people about why you’re campaigning for a new law. What concerns you the most? For example: “I found out that UK companies are using materials in their products that are contributing to deforestation and there is currently nothing to stop them from doing so. If we had a new supply chains law, it would force companies to take responsibility for what goes into their products.”
Ask questions. What do the members of the public think about the issue? Do they support the proposed new law?
Make your ask. Will they sign a petition postcard? The postcard also gives them the option to hear more from the group so they can opt into your mailing list if they want. Then give them a way to find out more and thank them for their support. If they seem keen you might want to invite them to get more involved. Do they want to come to an upcoming group action or meeting?
Top tip: increase the number of postcard petition signatures by making an online version of your petition using Action Network. We’ve created a template for you to adapt in English and Welsh. Email [email protected] for support setting up your online petition.
Tactic 2: ask local organisations, institutions and businesses for their support
Alongside drumming up support from members of the public, why not ask local organisations and businesses in your community to pledge their support for the campaign?
You can do this by asking them to sign this template open letter to your MP.
Who to approach? Think about the range of local organisations, institutions and businesses that could add some weight to your campaign. Read our guide to building local alliances. Examples include:
- National organisations involved in the Corporate Justice Coalition. See if there are any groups in your community to join forces with.
- Reach out to other community groups. Think beyond other environmental groups and think about how a new supply chains law would benefit a wide range of people and causes.
- Unions. The new law would protect the rights of workers around the world, so why not ask a local union branch to pledge their support?
- Ethical businesses. A new law would give a more level playing field to small ethical businesses. Ask them to pledge their support.
- Diaspora communities. Are there any diaspora communities in your area connected to countries most impacted by corporate injustices? Read our guide to anti-racist campaigning to help.
What next?
Once we’ve built a good amount of support for our campaign locally, we’ll hand in our petition postcards, online petitions and open letters to our MPs in the early autumn.
You can bring your mural along to the meeting with your MP. It’s a great visual representation of support for the campaign from their constituents, with each contribution representing a concerned community member.
In the autumn we’ll be looking towards COP30, the international climate negotiations taking place in Brazil. Your murals will make compelling banners as part of the demonstrations.
