Today: SOS. Extinction Rebellion groups across UK to raise the alarm on Climate Emergency
December 15, 2018 by Extinction Rebellion
- From Llandudno to Inverness to Truro, Extinction Rebellion groups in more than 15 towns and cities across the UK will today hold protests to pressure local councils to declare a Climate Emergency
- Comes as Extinction Rebellion activists at COP24 – the UN’s climate summit taking place in Poland – disrupt talk by UK Energy Minister Claire Perry MP, while Former President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives speaking on behalf of more than 100 countries, declared: “We are rebelling against extinction. And if necessary, we will rebel against these talks.”
- Marks beginning of build up to International Extinction Rebellion Week starting 15th April 2019, with groups already established in more than 35 countries around the world – having launched just over six weeks ago.
Extinction Rebellion groups across the UK today will stage a day of peaceful protests to raise the alarm on the ecological and climate emergency. [1] They aim to pressure local councils to declare a Climate Emergency, go zero carbon by 2025 and create Citizens’ Assemblies to deliver the required changes to avert ecological and climate disaster.
Among the many actions planned by Extinction Rebellion groups from Inverness to Truro, expect choir singing, die-ins, funerals and roadblocks. Cardiff and Cambridge will hold funeral marches. There will also be flashmobs in Christmas markets. Carmarthen and Bristol will be singing and reading the Declaration of Climate Emergency. In Scotland, protests will also take place in Dundee and Glasgow, in Wales in Llandudno while in England there will be actions in Bedford, Halifax, Frome, Norwich, Brighton, Swindon, Totnes as well as a solidarity visit to the anti-fracking protest camp at Preston New Road. Yesterday Extinction Rebellion Manchester held a symbolic action in St Peter’s Square.
All will highlight the need for local councils to declare a Climate Emergency like those passed in Bristol, Stroud, Totnes, London and Brighton or, if they have declared, to challenge them on how they will meet their commitment. [2]
“People all over the world are dying and whole species are going extinct and yet, the world’s governments do virtually nothing about it,” said Friederike Lürken, 21 iof Extinction Rebellion.
“It is now down to cities and local councils to listen to the voices of their people who are taking to the street to address this moral scandal. We want local councils to lead by example and declare a climate emergency, an appropriate response to the crisis we’re facing today. Most importantly, we want them to let deeds follow words, and implement emergency measures, something not a single council has done so far.“
Rebellion at COP24 in Poland
Beyond the UK, there are now Extinction Rebellion groups in more than 35 countries around the world – having launched just over six weeks ago. In Poland this week at COP24 – the UN’s climate summit – the rebellion call has been heard at diplomatic levels with Extinction Rebellion activists causing havoc and disrupting UK Energy Minister Claire Perry’s greenwashing attempts.
Most notably, support for rebellion has come from former President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives representing Alliance of Small Island Nation States at the talks, as well as Gebru Jember Endalew, Chair of the Least Developed Countries group. Speaking on behalf of more than 100 countries while wearing an Extinction Rebellion pin, President Nasheed said yesterday:
“For some of us, on the frontlines of climate change, we face extinction. Extinction not just of our coral reefs, or our ecosystems… but of our entire homelands. We are not prepared to allow that to happen. We are rebelling against extinction. And if necessary, we will rebel against these talks.”
“The IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C is clear: if we allow temperatures to shoot past 1.5 degrees, every single nation atl these talks will have hell to pay. But at the moment, we are on track to shoot well past 3 degrees.”[3]
15 year old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, were also in attendance wearing Extinction Rebellion pins.
Towards International Rebellion Day April 2019
Beginning 15th April 2019 Extinction Rebellion is planning International Extinction Rebellion Week. People are asked to put the date in their diaries, to book time off work and free up their time. For more details and to get involved as Extinction Rebellion builds up to international rebellion see https://rebellion.earth/get-active/.
It is time to rebel for life on earth. An emergency deserves an emergency response.
Notes
- Climate Factsheet for Rebels https://rebellion.earth/the-climate-factsheet-for-rebels/
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2018/oct/08/ipcc-climate-change-report-urgent-action-fossil-fuels-live; https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/research-news/2017-07-02-three-years-to-safeguard-our-climate.html
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-climate-emergency-carbon-neutral-2219477
- President Nasheed of the Maldives
Emergency Coalition press conference
16.00-16.30 14th December 2019
Introduction
“We have called this press conference because we are not at all happy with the way these talks are going. The Maldives, representing AOSIS, and Ethiopia, representing the LDCs, and others, are not happy at all. We are well over 100 countries, are we are deeply unhappy with the lack of progress. We all understand the dangers that climate change poses. The IPCC Special Report on 1.5°C is clear: if we allow temperatures to shoot past 1.5 degrees, every single nation at these talks will have hell to pay. But at the moment, we are on track to shoot well past 3 degrees.
“For some of us, on the frontlines of climate change, we face extinction. Extinction not just of our coral reefs, or our ecosystems… but of our entire homelands. We are not prepared to allow that to happen. We are rebelling against extinction. And if necessary, we will rebel against these talks.
“Specifically, we want to see the following:
“Firstly, COP 24 must accept the findings of the Special Report and identify a way forward for Parties to translate its science into action. The reason is very simple: you can’t cut a deal with the laws of physics, and we don’t intend to try.
“Secondly, we want to see countries commit to strong, new NDCs, so we catch up with what the science demands of us. This Conference needs to lay the groundwork, to enable countries to increase mitigation efforts. We need a clear COP decision, stating that COP24 is committed to a process to strengthen the NDCs.
“And thirdly, we need to mobilize finance for developing countries, especially SIDS and LDCs, who are on the climate frontlines and already reeling under the impacts of warmer world.
“The science is clear. At these talks, we must show that we are responding to the science.
“We are not prepared to allow the UNFCCC process, to put small islands and vulnerable countries on a pathway to extinction. With that, my friends and colleagues on the panel will be happy to answer your questions.
- About Extinction Rebellion
Time has almost entirely run out to address the ecological crisis which is upon us, including the 6th mass species extinction and abrupt, runaway climate change. Societal collapse and mass death are seen as inevitable by scientists and other credible voices, with human extinction also a possibility, if rapid action is not taken.
Extinction Rebellion believes it is a citizen’s duty to rebel, using peaceful civil disobedience, when faced with criminal inactivity by its Government.
The group’s key demands are:
- The Government must tell the truth about the ecological emergency, reverse inconsistent policies and work alongside the media to communicate with citizens
- The Government must enact legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025 and to reduce consumption levels
- A national Citizen’s Assembly to oversee the changes, as part of creating a democracy fit for purpose.
Website: https://risingup.org.uk/XR/; facebook https://www.facebook.com/ExtinctionRebellion/; twitter https://twitter.com/ExtinctionR; hashtag #extinctionrebellion
Declaration of Rebellion: https://rebellion.earth/declaration/
- About RisingUp
Extinction Rebellion is an initiative of the RisingUp network, which promotes a fundamental change of our political and economic system to one which maximises well-being and minimises harm. Change needs to be nurtured in a culture of reverence, gratitude and inclusion; whilst the tools of civil disobedience and direct action are used to express our collective power.
Website http://www.risingup.org.uk/; facebook https://www.facebook.com/RisingUpUK/; twitter https://twitter.com/RisingUpUK