Campaigners call out political leaders for failing to meet climate commitments, as performers stage a symbolic action in central London.

London — Saturday 20 December
Whitehall is flooded with darkness by Extinction Rebellion performers
Ministry Of Defence — House of Lords — 55 Tufton Street

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XRUK Press Contact on site:  Jennifer (+44) 7756 136396
media@extinctionrebellion.co.uk

Apocalypse Theatrics’s Oil Slick performers glided in triangular formation through Whitehall this morning, pausing at key entrances to mark what they describe as a critical turning point: the passing of the 1.5°C Paris climate goal.

To mark the first phase in XRUK’s Trilogy campaign the Oil Slicks paused at the entrances of three influential establishments, symbolically closing the door on institutions they say have failed to act on scientific warnings.

Outreach teams spoke with passers-by about what must come next; a people-powered shift toward community resilience, climate honesty, and a future built from cooperation rather than extraction.

Banners carried the messages:
“TELL THE TRUTH”, “A BETTER WORLD IS POSSIBLE” and “1.5°C IS DEAD”

Climate risk warnings still not widely shared

Seven years after XRUK first called for urgent climate action, a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, and citizen-led decision-making, none of those demands has been met, and the window to keep global heating below 1.5°C has now passed. Campaigners say the government has failed to communicate the scale of the crisis, while approving new oil projects and restricting climate protest.

Just weeks ago, the National Emergency Briefing (NEB) delivered one of the starkest climate risk assessments presented to political leaders.
It warned that the climate and ecological crisis now threatens:

• food security
• national health
• infrastructure stability
• UK national security

Despite this, the briefing was barely attended by MPs, received minimal media coverage, and has been effectively kept from the public.

Even the government’s own Joint Intelligence Committee has warned that climate breakdown poses escalating security risks — yet these warnings have been quietly filed away, not shared openly.

David MacMillan, a retired IT Project Manager and participant from Bath said:

“We raised the alarm seven years ago. Now the National Emergency Briefing and climate security experts are saying the same things but the public aren’t being told. Instead of telling the truth, our political leaders are doubling down on oil and keeping the real risks behind closed doors.”

Rosebank: Labour reopens a door that should have stayed shut

In the recent Budget, the Labour Government ignored years of campaigning by climate scientists and activists, re-opening the door to the Rosebank oil field. Rosebank alone contains around 300 million barrels of oil, the burning of which would add millions of tonnes of CO₂ into a world already beyond safe limits. 

Rosebank is just one example. Instead of closing doors on fossil fuels, ministers have propped them wide open — even as communities across Britain face escalating floods, heatwaves, crop failures and food insecurity.

Marion, apiarist, age 71 was present, she said:

“We’re not talking about a line on a graph here, we’re talking about the safety of the British people. Our best chance has gone. Ordinary folk will pay the price as more heatwaves make travel, work and classrooms unsafe, more floods damage homes and our farmers can’t grow the food we need to survive.

Crossing 1.5°C won’t mean the world will end tomorrow, but it does mean an increasingly unstable and less predictable climate and the systems we rely on are placed under increasing strain.”

Closing this door to open another: An invitation, not an ending

During these dark days of midwinter, XRUK invites the public to recognise that the old path is over.

This is not a moment of despair, but a moment of clarity.

1.5°C is dead.
But humanity is not.
Will you walk through with us and rebel for life?

Notes for Editors

1. Extinction Rebellion UK:
   XRUK emerged in 2018 in response to growing scientific warnings about climate breakdown. Since then, thousands of people across the UK have taken part in nonviolent direct actions, community organising, and public outreach aimed at pushing climate risk into the public conversation. The movement has played a visible role in shaping debate around climate honesty, government accountability, and the social impacts of a rapidly warming world. https://extinctionrebellion.uk/about/
2. The Oil Slicks: Apocalypse Theatric’s Oil Slicks are a performance group who highlight the dangers of oil spills to wildlife, the dangers of burning fossil fuels to all life on Earth, and the need for urgent action to keep fossil fuels in the ground to save lives. Oil Slicks are tragic and mournful, angry and reluctant to come out of the ground. #KeepItInTheGround
3. XRUK’s Three Demands (2018–present): 
   – Tell the Truth: Declare a climate and ecological emergency and communicate the scale of the crisis. 
   – Act Now: Reduce emissions to net zero by 2025 and halt biodiversity loss. 
   – Decide Together: The creation of a Citizens’ Assembly on Climate and Ecological Justice to guide decision-making. 
4. 1.5°C Has Been Surpassed:
   Multiple scientific bodies, including the Met Office and the WMO, have confirmed that global heating has exceeded 1.5°C across multiple annual periods. 2024 was the first full year on record in which the global average temperature was more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. https://www.wri.org/insights/1-5-degrees-c-target-explained 
5. The National Emergency Briefing (NEB):
   The NEB is a cross-sector body bringing together scientists, resilience experts, emergency planners, business leaders, councils, and civil society to warn of escalating climate risks.
   Their recent Open Letter called for truth-telling, urgent action, and community-led planning. https://www.nebriefing.org/
6. Joint Intelligence Committee:
   The UK Joint Intelligence Committee has repeatedly identified climate breakdown as a critical national security risk, warning of destabilisation, food shocks, migration pressures, and systemic threats to UK infrastructure. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/08/national-security-threatened-climate-crisis-uk-defence-chiefs-warn 
7. Rosebank and New Oil:
   Rosebank is the UK’s largest undeveloped oil field. Labour’s Budget reopened pathways for the field’s development despite scientific consensus that new oil and gas projects are incompatible with climate safety. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0r9gyjkky0o   https://www.carbonbrief.org/uk-budget-2025-key-climate-and-energy-announcements/