100 Days
From 21 April 2023 100,000 people will surround the Houses of Parliament.
In 2019 the UN released a stark warning. Around the world school children went on strike and 10,000 people came out on the streets of London. Shortly after, Parliament declared an environment and climate emergency.
Imagine what 100,000 people working together could do. Imagine you are one of them. Would it be unstoppable?
Sign up for the big one
Why will it work?
People power.
There is a threshold of numbers, human energy, above which people power cannot be stopped. That’s what the target is. That’s why you need to be there.
On 4 November 1989 hundreds of thousands of people gathered peacefully in the Alexanderplatz in what was then East Berlin and refused to move. Five days later the Berlin Wall came down. There were no arrests.
Recent history is full of examples of the power of people power … of your power. Here are just a few: Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, Manila, February 1986; Wenceslas Square, Prague, November 1989; Maidan Square, Kyiv, November 2004.
All that’s missing from the list is Parliament Square, London, April 2023.
Gathering peacefully in such large numbers at the nation’s seat of power will create a positive, irreversible, societal tipping point.
This is a moment of huge potential.
Word on the streets is that the cost of living crisis is the price of climate inaction. The government’s unlawful plans have never been so transparently flawed and widely understood.
With a winter of increasing discontent upon us, the repeated failures of COP (insert number here) and no end to political dysfunction in sight – people are desperate for change and can’t afford anything else.
It’s no surprise that across almost every sector, unions are re-energised and strikes are taking place. There is something universal about the need for fair and dignified working conditions – part of the nation lifting up together and demanding new direction.
Worsening climate conditions are already impacting global food supplies and that will only further exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis, meaning that change is not only necessary, it is inevitable.
The potency of the moment cannot be understated.
UK nature and conservation organisations are fuming and energy companies admit that mass non-payment campaigns by the public pose an “existential” threat, proving that the power is in the hands of the people.
The latest draconian attempt by the government to shut down and criminalise effective protest is only increasing public sympathy toward brave activists using their voices to stand up for justice and the loving protection of all humanity. Unsurprisingly there is a huge momentum shift.
Public opinion polls now show that support for direct action has never been higher.
This is it.
With XR’s position in the environmental space comes a responsibility to deliver an effective strategy for change. Right now all signs point toward cooperation between groups and movements. Horrified by the climate disasters unfolding around us, thousands are ready to do the work.
So, what might that look like?
Surrounding the Houses of Parliament day after day in large numbers means we can leave the locks, glue and paint behind and instead demonstrate faith in a critical mass of people to create a moment that’s impossible to ignore.
The invitation is to all humans, all movements, all organisations to come together and stay for as long as you can.
How will it work?
This will be the biggest mobilisation campaign XR has ever undertaken.
The lead up will involve holding millions of conversations with friends, family, colleagues and strangers, as well as target partner organisations across and beyond the environmental space.
A powerful targeted marketing campaign across all channels will reach new audiences with an accessible, inclusive and easy to understand invitation while simultaneously bringing in funds.
Integrated with XR’s methodical mobilisation campaign Project 3.5, thousands of people with a shared purpose will build bridges of inclusion and cooperation, and through revitalised engagement and a calendar of local actions will grow in numbers whilst building resilience and trust.
Everyday people are way ahead of those in power, from organising locally, showing up, to donations and everything in between everyone has a part to play.
Smart, decentralised social infrastructure co-designed in the planning phase between now and April might look like many things. There is creative work to do, many skilled groups and people – like you – and time to come up with the solutions together.