Email: press@risingup.org.uk

Phone: +44(0)7986671716, +44(0)7561098449, +44(0)7479234522, +44(0)7878535968

Website: https://rebellion.earth/

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

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

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

Content drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lpbBFcgw8MfD2yVV5CA_5CvXNBQ0C6-I

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

Extinction Rebellion in Numbers – https://docs.google.com/document/d/11E9MUhXWyxweCDKwJqBRZEDLGam268iwUqVAAUG8dus/edit#heading=h.ozg3b8yfa3rm

Will Theresa May leave a legacy or pass down a death sentence?

Given that it is now agreed it is not just possible but necessary to reach carbon neutrality, why are we waiting until 2050? The targets – which were set out in the CCC report – pass the burden of holding the world to 1.5C on to the shoulders of the poorest countries who did the least to cause the problem. [1] Every year that goes by before emissions get to zero, increases the risk of triggering catastrophic tipping points in the climate system.

Greta Thunberg says the house is on fire. The PM says we will put it out in 30 years. If Theresa May wants to have a legacy we say think bigger. We need to take action now – not next year, next decade, not by 2050.

Politicians only seem able to contemplate action on climate change when thinking about their legacy. If the current system encourages politicians to suppress their true feelings about ambitious action, then that is going to require systemic solutions. Let’s reform democracy and listen to the people: we desperately need a citizens’ assembly on climate and ecological justice.

Get-out clause

The 2050 target is based on spending just 1-2% of GDP to decarbonise our economy over 30 years (with a nice get out clause to the legally binding target – thank you Treasury. Let’s see what the 2019 budget holds, we all know that where the money goes, is where the action happens).

That’s not an emergency response. Is that really all we are prepared to invest in protecting our futures from calamity? From the perspective of young people, it is an outrage that those who make the decisions won’t be around to experience the consequences.

Let’s not mince words, 2050 is a death sentence: people are already dying and this will only get worse with far off dates.

Were we to put our minds to it and do what is required to mobilise society to address the threat with the seriousness it deserves, the UK could embrace transformative change and decarbonise in years not decades.

We welcome that the Prime Minister is finally talking about the emergency. This is a testament to the public pressure – including the more than 1,000 people willingly arrested for this cause – that is forcing politicians to confront the existential reality of the climate and ecological emergency. But it is not nearly enough.

Notes to editors

[1] https://rebellion.earth/2019/05/02/statement-on-the-committee-on-climate-change-report-we-choose-to-save-our-home-the-earth/

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.

Get involved

• 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
• Check out the International XR website, with links to the French, German, Italian and UK websites
• And while your time and energy are of most importance, if you are financially able to donate money, see our Fundrazr crowdfunder.