Today, 15 July: Extinction Rebellion is causing disruption across 5 UK cities calling on Government to ACT NOW!
July 15, 2019 by Extinction Rebellion
Email: press@risingup.org.uk
Bristol, South West England: +44(0)7432 677696, +44(0)7722062502, +44(0)7527669942
Cardiff, Wales: +44(0)7580189876, +44 (0)7591800795
Glasgow, Scotland: +44(0)7904591052
Leeds, North England: +44(0)7964072879, +44(0)7376457438
London, Central and South England: +44(0)7561098449, +44(0)7944894190
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What emergency? | Extinction Rebellion in Numbers
Trailer video for Summer Uprising – ACT NOW
Hashtags #SummerUprising #ActNow #ExtinctionRebellion
- Thousands of people across the UK to cause disruption across 5 cities – Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds and London
- Each city reveals its own large, coloured boat painted with the message ‘ACT NOW!’, now an iconic symbol of the rebellion
- Each city will coordinate their own unique protests drawing attention to different elements of the climate and ecological crisis: rising sea levels, floods, wildfires, extreme weather and crop failures taking place around the world
- The coalition of five UK cities are calling on the government to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
- Hundreds of ordinary citizens willing to be arrested by blocking roads, dropping banners, staging die-ins and more to draw attention to the ecological and climate emergency
The Summer Uprising is here…
TODAY from 9AM, Extinction Rebellion’s Summer Uprising begins today across 5 UK cities – Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds and London. This emergency mobilisation of ordinary citizens, driven to action by the threat of climate breakdown and ecological collapse, will demand the government take immediate action to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gases to net zero by 2025.
Through a host of non-violent protests, communities around the UK will be coming together to stage a series of creative acts of civil-disobedience – blocking specific locations, bridges and roads – while also holding talks, workshops, trainings, family friendly activities, peoples’ assemblies and more.
Last spring thousands gathered in cities around the world in beautiful, united resistance, marking the beginning of our first International Rebellion against criminal Government inaction on the climate and ecological emergency.
Berta Cáceres – Tell the Truth
The Berta Cáceres, a pink boat named after the Honduran environmental activist and indigenous leader murdered in 2016, took centre stage in Oxford Circus with our first demand TELL THE TRUTH emblazoned on its side.
ACT NOW
Today, there will not just be one boat blocking streets and raising the alarm. There will be five, one for each city taking part, as our movement grows stronger and people begin taking action in their communities. Each boat – now a recognisable symbol of rebellion and human survival – will bear the words of our second demand – ACT NOW – and each will be named after a climate activist, either living or passed, who have risked everything in defence of the future of our planet:
- Bristol: Jeanette Kawas – Honduran environmental activist murdered in 1995 for opposing planting oil palm in protected areas and illegal logging. She is known as the first environmental martyr of Honduras and for her role in saving more than 400 species of flora and fauna. [1]
- Cardiff: Margoth Escobar – Ecuadorian environmental and indigenous rights defender working since the 1970s in the promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples from the Amazon region. On 29 September 2018, an arson attack was carried out at her home in Puyo, Ecuador. [2]
- Glasgow: Amal Gous – A Sudanese tea seller murdered during the authorities’ violent dispersal of the sit-in in front of the army general command in the Sudanese capital on June 3. [3]
- Leeds: Mia Mascarinas-Green – Philippine environmental lawyer, who specialised in investigating crimes against the environment. Killed in 2017, her death deepened concerns that the Philippines is one of the world’s most dangerous places for environmental campaigners, with more than 100 killed over the previous 15 years. [4]
- London: Polly Higgins – Environmental lawyer who died earlier this year of cancer. She dedicated her life to fighting to create ecocide law that would make corporate executives and government ministers criminally liable for the damage they do to ecosystems.
We invite everyone to make their way to their nearest city and join us:
Sea Levels Are Rising and So Are We – Bristol (Extinction Rebellion South-West England)
In Bristol more than 22,300 homes are threatened with flooding if oceans continue to rise…
WHERE: Bristol Bridge
WHEN: Monday 15 July, 9AM
WHAT: Over 1,200 people from South West England will be converging on Bristol for five days of action. Rebels will disrupt multiple sites in the city for five days, starting with Bristol Bridge on Monday morning. The protest will peacefully escalate on Tuesday to disrupt Bristol Council, where Extinction Rebellion Youth will hold College Green. Wednesday will feature a Critical Mass Bike Ride, which will visit the five areas of the city with the worst air pollution. Extinction Rebellion Bristol will be encouraging people to consider the effects on their lives of droughts, storms and rising water. There will also be music, workshops, peoples’ assemblies, actions, and solutions zones.
Extinction Rebellion Youth rebel Frances, 18
“We are facing the sixth mass extinction. To save the futures of myself and those I love and care about, I will be taking to the streets in protest this week. For too long the youth have been denied a voice in politics and I will not stop until this changes. If there was one thing I could say to our government it would be: Act Now. Our lives are in your hands.”
For updates on Bristol, follow Extinction Rebellion Bristol on facebook, twitter and website.
The Sixth Mass Extinction is Already Here – Cardiff (XR Wales)
A mass extinction event, only the sixth in roughly 540 million years, is underway…
WHERE: Cardiff National Museum
WHEN: Monday 15 July, 9AM
WHAT: Cardiff will be transformed by the arrival of concerned citizens from across Wales who are determined to highlight the need for the Welsh Government to dramatically accelerate its actions in tackling the climate crisis and ecological emergency. Meeting outside the Cardiff National Museum, rebels will disrupt central space in Cardiff dressed in yellow to represent the dead canaries coal miners used as an advanced warning of danger. The Uprising in Cardiff will also feature live music, poetry and spoken word, peoples’ assemblies, storytelling and talks.
Staci Sylvan, 40, mother of two young children, Extinction Rebellion Wales
“Wales is a rural country which is already suffering the effects of climate breakdown. In Carmarthen, where I live, we suffered a massive flood last October, we have never seen anything like it before. Out of a population of about 10,000, 100 were displaced or made homeless. Some of these people have been rehomed, but some still have no home. This has affected people on low incomes the most as there are no more houses available for them. Also there are some businesses who have not yet managed to reopen, maybe they never will.
“To me this is an issue about my children’s future but also about equality, it is always the poorest people who suffer most from climate related disasters. I want the government to do something about it now, not wait for more disasters and more people to suffer.”
For updates on Cardiff, follow Extinction Rebellion Cardiff on facebook and their twitter.
The Future You Fear is Already Here: Glasgow (XR Scotland) #Justice4ClimateRefugees
“Tens of millions of people will be forced from their homes by climate change in the next decade, creating the biggest refugee crisis the world has ever seen…” – The Guardian
WHERE: Trongate
WHEN: Monday 15 July, 8AM
WHAT: The Uprising in Glasgow will kick off on Monday with rebels from across Scotland standing in solidarity with climate refugees. They will highlight the reality that millions of people in the Global South/Majority World are already living: floods, hurricanes, food shortages, droughts and resulting conflicts. The future effects of the Climate and Ecological Emergency that we in the UK are terrified about are not distant threats: all around the world people are already being displaced and dying. Glasgow will also have family-friendly activities with Wee Rebellion as well as live music, a ceilidh, speakers on climate justice and refugee solidarity.
Susana Hotham, 26, Extinction Rebellion Scotland
“Climate change is here now and will continue to devastate people all over the world, affecting crop yields and droughts leading to the mass displacement of people. Inaction on the part of the Government is robbing people all over the world of the human rights we claim to have at the forefront of our ideals.”
For updates on Glasgow, follow Extinction Rebellion Scotland on facebook and their twitter.
Planet Before Profit: Leeds (XR North England)
Our current systems of governance is compromised by a focus on profits and economic growth…
WHERE: Leeds City Square
WHEN: Monday 15 July, 10AM
WHAT: Rebels from across the North of England will cause disruption in the heart of Leeds’ financial district, which is the biggest and fastest growing outside London, drawing attention to the links between banking and the climate and ecological emergency. Rebels will demand that the finance industry changes course to be on the right side of history, and invest in renewable energy and green solutions, rather than adding fuel to the fire. As well as disruption, the Leeds group have music, performers and talks planned.
Alex Evans, 43, Extinction Rebellion Leeds
“As a parent with young children, I’m deeply scared about the kind of future our kids will inherit. It feels like we’ve had decades of everyone waiting for someone else to do something about climate change – now we’re out of time and can all see the signs of climate breakdown all around us. I’m involved in Extinction Rebellion because I want government, big banks and businesses to recognise that this is an emergency and act now.”
For updates on Leeds, follow Extinction Rebellion Leeds on facebook and their twitter.
We Are Nature Defending Itself: London (Extinction Rebellion South-East England and National)
When government and the law fail to provide any adequate protection of and security of its people’s well-being, it becomes not only our right, but our sacred duty to rebel…
WHERE: Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand, London
WHEN: Monday 15, 9AM
WHAT: People will be gathering outside the Royal Courts of Justice to demand the legal system take responsibility in this crisis, and ensure the safety of future generations by making ecocide law. We also stand in solidarity with climate activists around the world who are sacrificing their freedom to fight for climate justice. This protest comes as the courts in the UK gear up to prosecute over 1000 people who were arrested during our International Rebellion in April. We are calling on the Met and Crown Prosecution Service to drop all prosecutions.
Jayne Forbes, 63 mother of two, Extinction Rebellion London
“I was arrested during the International Rebellion in April because it is so important to stand up and challenge a government who is not even performing its primary function of providing our security for the future. I therefore believe we have a duty to engage in civil disobedience to promote the need for action now for climate and ecological justice. And yet the government may want to prosecute me for taking a stand to protect our future.”
For updates on London, follow Extinction Rebellion London on facebook, twitter and their website.
If not now, then when? If not us, then who?
Time is running out to take action on the climate and ecological crisis we are in so the faster we act the better. We are already too late to prevent massive destruction and loss of life.
Climate-breakdown-induced droughts, floods, wildfires, typhoons and cyclones are already destroying communities and killing people all over the world. The question now is whether we can act in time to limit the damage – and hopefully avoid a runaway warming that could result in human extinction.
We invite all to join us for this Uprising and demand the Government take immediate action on the Climate and Ecological Emergency. Because we don’t just need the Government to act; We need everyone to act. If this is going to work we need every principled and peaceful citizen to rise with us.
For our children, for yours: ACT NOW!
Business as Usual = Death
Parliament has announced a climate emergency, but the government is not taking the necessary decisive actions required by the crisis. Their 2050 net zero target is an alarmingly insufficient response for halting climate breakdown and biodiversity loss. By then it will be too late.
Our current ecocidal economic system rewards the exploitation of people and planet. Our house is on fire. Politicians are ignoring the science as they encourage airport expansions, HS2, fracking, oil drilling and exploration while putting billions into new roads and subsidising investment into fossil fuels. Meanwhile, they block onshore wind installations and tax sustainable alternatives, but refuse to put ecocide into law.
It is only by thinking big, by adopting meaningful measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025, protecting biodiversity, and making ecocide law, that the Government can show itself to be on the right side of history.
In line with the urgency of reports from the IPCC and IPBES, we remind the Government of the need to ACT NOW. If the United Kingdom, birthplace of the industrial revolution, can show leadership, the resulting chain reaction across the world will be crucial for securing the future.
A significant underlying motivation for this national action is the flawed Citizens Assembly announced by six select committees of the House of Commons, and the way in which government is continuing with business as usual, enabling corporations to profit from exploiting people and planet despite Parliament declaring a climate and ecological emergency.[6]
Learn more about Citizens’ Assemblies here…
Notes to Editors:
[1] https://ejatlas.org/conflict/jeannette-kawas-fernandez-case-honduras / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanette_Kawas
[2] https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/profile/margoth-escobar
[4] https://news.mongabay.com/2017/02/environmental-lawyer-killed-in-the-philippines/
More about Extinction Rebellion:
Extinction Rebellion’s top-line demands:
- Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.
- The government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
- The government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.
What emergency? | Extinction Rebellion in Numbers
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: in the UK or 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 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 while the tools of civil disobedience and direct action are used to express our collective power.