Email:         press@risingup.org.uk
Phone:       +44(0)7904735749 / +44(0)7919828770 / +44(0)7986671716 /  +44(0)7804743058/ +44(0)7760280443 / +44(0)7986671716

• Today, the newly-formed Extinction Rebellion Youth will occupy Westminster Bridge from 2-4pm for an ‘after-party’. Traffic will be stopped, all are invited

• Party will celebrate youth-led action as thousands of school children and students in the UK and across the world join the Global Strike for Climate

• Next month Extinction Rebellion will have its International Rebellion beginning Monday 15 April. They say: ‘Come to stay’ and ‘Take two weeks off work’.

In support of the Global Strike for Climate, today the newly-formed Extinction Rebellion Youth will occupy Westminster Bridge from 2-4pm (immediately after the march) for an ‘after-party’, with speakers and music celebrating the youth-led campaign. Traffic will be stopped.

The news comes as children and young people in the UK and around the world are set to make history as they walk out of schools and universities demanding the governments everywhere tell the truth about the climate and ecological emergency, and act on it immediately.

Extinction Rebellion Youth said: “We’ll hook up a big rig, get the music on and basically have a party in celebration of the incredible school strikes around the world – so, come join us, get your friends along and let’s get the bridge pumping! If you aren’t in London, find your closest climate strike at Youth Strike 4 Climate! (<– love these guys). Friday is looking like it’s going to be huge – let’s make it massive!!”

The newly formed Extinction Rebellion Youth fully supports the strike. Robin Ellis-Cockroft, 24, one of the national coordinators of Extinction Rebellion Youth, said: “Young people the world over are waking up to their power, to the influence their voice can have and the unique importance of their generation in the fight against the climate crisis – Friday will be a moment of history, but it is only the beginning, what’s truly exciting is what comes next!”

In the UK, students will be striking in more than 50 locations from Truro to Glasgow. Organised by local young people, each strike will be run differently. All aim to protest outside local governmental offices and to be highly visible to the public. Nationally, UK Student Climate Network and Youth Strike 4 Climate are acting as coordinators.

Youth Strike 4 Climate say: “We are choosing to rise up and take direct action where older generations have failed. We are already facing devastating and irreversible impacts around the world. This is our final chance to fight for our futures, and our ages will not be what stop us.”

Many of the strikers are not yet old enough to vote. Felix Ottaway O’Mahony, 14, says: “We will be the ones to suffer most from climate breakdown. By the time our generation take over, it will be too late to save our future. We need our politicians to fight for us and act now.”

Since Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg started her school strike in August 2018, young people in over 70 countries have got involved. This is now a global campaign supported by thousands of parents and teachers, as well as the students themselves.

Tim Jones, 34, a teacher who recently helped organise a protest calling on the Department for Education to teach the truth, commented: “I’m a teacher because I care about the future of our kids. What is the point of slaving away over lesson plans if my pupils are going to inherit a world of environmental devastation. I will be on the streets with them.”

Coming up

• Extinction Rebellion Youth is developing a talk for young people, by young people, about ‘Heading for Extinction and what to do about it’. More news shortly.
• Weekend 16 to 17 March, Bristol – Extinction’s Rebellion’s first festival, Spring Uprising. Extinction Rebellion is throwing a large indoor festival at Motion Bristol with live music, non violent direct action training for up 1000 people at a time, art exhibitions, workshops and a solution zone showcasing local and national solutions to the crisis. Let’s get together, get trained, get organised and have a damn good time doing it!
• Friday 29 March – Extinction Rebellion Youth’s Sound the Alarm – A newly created event, in an act of civil disobedience we invite you to pull the alarms of major institutions to alert everyone about the existential threat humans and species now face. This is a decentralised action and can be taken anywhere across the world – actions are currently planned in Bristol, Leeds and Manchester. Please contact xryouth@gmail.com if you want to get involved
• Saturday 30 March – No Food on a Dead Planet: Dover Blockade – On 30 March, Extinction Rebellion is calling for hundreds of brave people, regardless of age or background, to do their duty: for our children, for our communities and for this great nation. Together we will peacefully and non-violently block the motorway out of Dover. They say: “The Dover road block will highlight the extreme vulnerability of the British people to food insecurity and underline the need for the Government to take emergency action on the climate and ecological crisis.”
• From Monday 1 April – Paint the Streets Worldwide: Disobey to Tell the Truth – Global. Calling rebels willing to join a week of mass flyposting, using non-violent civil disobedience to tell the truth on climate breakdown and ecological collapse. We will use stickers, posters, banners and more, covering the streets with our messages, to shake awake our fellow human beings who are sleepwalking into disaster.
• 15 April – International Rebellion – Extinction Rebellion activists in the UK and around the world are calling for a full-scale international rebellion: to demand decisive action on the climate and ecological collapse from governments around the world. Come to stay and book time off work. Extinction Rebellion Youth will be coordinating a Youth Rebellion as part of this. Facebook event here.
• Lots more protests and events! There are many other actions and events happening now in London and around the UK due to Extinction Rebellion’s decentralised structure (too many to list here). For the latest news, see the website https://rebellion.earth/events/ plus also check out the facebook https://www.facebook.com/ExtinctionRebellion/events/.

Notes to editors

Website:     www.rebellion.earth
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ExtinctionRebellion/
Twitter:       https://twitter.com/ExtinctionR; #ExtinctionRebellion #RebelForLife #YouthRebellion
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/extinctionrebellion/
Photos/videos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1m1v7Cs8JFkDM1gHp45OF-NwwhLzPZJO8

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.

Extinction Rebellion’s topline demands:

• The Government must admit the truth about the ecological emergency, reverse all policies inconsistent with addressing climate change, and work alongside the media to communicate with citizens

• The Government must enact policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025 and to reduce consumption levels
• A national Citizen’s Assembly must be created, to oversee the changes, as part of creating a democracy fit for purpose.

Declaration of Rebellion: https://rebellion.earth/declaration/

The Extinction Rebellion Climate Factsheet for Rebels

https://rebellion.earth/the-climate-factsheet-for-rebels/

Get involved in Extinction Rebellion’s other events

• In the UK, come to one of our events, join the Rebellion Network and let us know how you can help out
• Start a group where you are – locally in the UK or in your country around the world
• Find your local group: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=11jUqqjTHMThksd4KbvGGzb3I3Cr3PkBl&usp=sharing
• Check out the International XR website, with links to the French, German, Italian and UK websites
• We are holding Collaborative Leadership Calls to help coach people to improve their leadership skills and capacities
• And while your time and energy are the most important things, if you are financially able to donate money, see our Fundrazr crowdfunder.