Email: press@risingup.org.uk

Phone: +447305700176, +447804743058, +447944894190; +447561098449; +447549766448; +447904735749; +447986671716; +447918165046; +447479234522

Website: https://rebellion.earth/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExtinctionRebellion/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExtinctionR  #ExtinctionRebellion

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/extinctionrebellion/

Photos/videos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1m1v7Cs8JFkDM1gHp45OF-NwwhLzPZJO8

NEW – What emergency? https://rebellion.earth/the-truth/the-emergency/  

Extinction Rebellion statement on the Committee on Climate Change report

“2050 condemns us to a bleak future. We may as well not have a target at all. Others are already dying around the world thanks to inaction and far off target setting.

“In 1962 John F. Kennedy announced that there would be a man on the moon by the end of the decade. He said ‘We choose to go to the Moon’. It wasn’t possible then, but with ambition, unity of purpose and courage, it made it so. It was a choice.

“It is time to stop thinking about what is ‘feasible’ – now is the time to do what is necessary. We are at a pivotal moment for human civilisation. We say: “We choose to save our home, the Earth’.

The issue isn’t going away, neither are we. We call all to find their power and to act.”

Lorna Greenwood of Extinction Rebellion

With the UK Parliament yesterday declaring an Environment and Climate Emergency – two days after Scotland and Wales – it is clear that understanding about the existential threat posed by the climate and ecological emergency has changed. The truth is beginning to be spoken.

The Committee on Climate Change report addresses an old reality. That reality has changed dramatically in the last two weeks thanks to the thousands of people who put their bodies on the line for Extinction Rebellion’s International Rebellion, with more than 1,000 people willingly arrested to raise the alarm on this cause.

Other events big and small are contributing to this change – from the conversations in pubs and disrupted buses – to Greta Thunberg’s visit to the UK, the Youth Strikes, and David Attenborough’s recent programmes, Our Planet on Netflix and Climate Change – The Facts on the BBC. We’ve also seen nearly 100 councils around the UK declaring climate emergencies plus the launch of Culture Declares where more than 190 institutions and people from arts and culture declaring that we are living in a climate emergency.

Time to think big

The Committee on Climate Change report:

• Gives us only a 50% chance of staying within 1.5C degrees even if we follow all its recommendations. This is reckless. Because of the colossal shift in public attitudes within the last fortnight, it is now politically realistic to push much harder towards a date far closer to 2025, than to 2050.
• The targets in the CCC report are not ambitious enough and they pass the burden of holding the world to 1.5C onto the shoulders of the least developed nations. If the UK doesn’t take on our responsibility for what needed to reach 1.5C how can we can’t expect other countries to. We must do our fair share, and trust that others will follow.
• Business as usual with a greener tinge still spells the collapse of our society – The report acknowledges the urgency and that current plans are not sufficient to even reach the previous target of 80% reduction by 2050. However, the report is still not ambitious enough, and pursuing a 100% reduction for the same cost envelope as before sounds rather a lot like business as usual.
• Climate AND ecological emergency – Committing to ‘net zero carbon’ is a step in the right direction, but just a step. The ecological and biodiversity disaster we are facing must also be given prominence. One without the other will not work.

Sarah Greenfield Clarke, 36, mother of two and spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said: “The report suggests we can achieve all the changes necessary with a 1-2% investment of GDP over the next 30 years. Are we really only willing to pay 2% to avoid disaster when we could afford to pay more and go much faster? During war time periods we have invested much more in mobilising efforts. A commensurate response to this emergency is needed.

“The question we must all ask ourselves when looking in the mirror is: if it was highly likely my home would burn down in the future, with all my family in it, how much would I invest now to ensure that didn’t happen?”

Notes to editors

About Extinction Rebellion:

Time has almost entirely run out to address the ecological crisis which is upon us, including the 6th mass species extinction, global pollution, 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 their Government.

Extinction Rebellion’s key demands are:

1. Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.
2. Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
3. Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.

UK website: https://rebellion.earth/

International website: https://xrebellion.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExtinctionRebellion/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExtinctionR hashtag #ExtinctionRebellion

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

Get involved

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 of most importance, if you are financially able to donate money, see our Fundrazr crowdfunder.

About Rising Up!

Extinction Rebellion is an initiative of the Rising Up! 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