Public awareness of the challenges and the issues associated with climate change are not where they are supposed to be. A dangerous number of people are still oblivious to the challenges they will be facing in the near future as a result of their lack of knowledge about the issue. A study conducted on a number of European countries has shown that public perception of climate change is threatening. The findings say that 6% of Germans and 14% of British were sceptical about human activity as a cause for climate change or did not believe that climate change occurs at all. On the other hand, less than 3% in both countries listed “climate change” as one of the toughest challenges their country will face in the next 20 years (Steentjes et al. 2017). Furthermore, in America, over half of the population believe that climate change is not a result of human activity but due to natural causes (31%). Others say there is no solid evidence of warming (20%) (Funk and Kennedy 2016). For this reasons, the burden of educating and opening people’s eyes to the issues lies on the shoulders of first scientists, who are obligated to help inform the general audience about their findings, researches and associated implications and second bloggers who have the responsibility of translating and communicating the scientific findings in the simplest way possible for the general public in order to raise awareness and get more people to take the full responsibility of their actions that cause harm to mother earth.
Why talking about climate change is crucial :
Big Change Begins with Small Talk
Talking about climate change is the first step to the big change. It allows others to learn key facts about climate change and the threats it imposes on humans and earth. They’re also more likely to learn about the clear scientific consensus that climate change is real and human-caused. You might be wondering why scientific consensus is such an important thing? Well, It allows people to believe that climate change is happening and it’s actually human-caused and therefore they should act up as soon as possible and take full responsibility for their action which will in a way or another pave the way for the real change, in other words, save the earth from the damage caused by us, Humans. Once the belief is planted within the public, it will gradually encourage discussion of the issue, which starts the cycle again. More discussion. Greater belief. A greater concern, greater change.
Why blogs are such a valuable communication channel for the general public about climate change :
First, it serves as an intermediate between the scientists and their findings and people. Topics around climate change are complex and too complicated especially when explained using all the scientific terms and explanations; therefore, blogs serve as the appropriate medium to deliver those information in an easy and simple way. Furthermore, it allows for depth and range. A blog can be as short as a couple of hundred words or as long as several thousand to explain a topic in the simplest terms so it reaches as much audience as possible. In addition to this, they are an informal and easily accessible mode of communications whether it’s a youtube video, an article or a 140-character tweet. Even researchers and scientists can use those communication tools as a platform to engage with a broader audience allowing for collaboration and networking due to the quick and timely discussions that can take place. Activists can also use blogs as a direct channel with the general public to raise awareness and educate people about the topic. It allows them to communicate directly with people interested and get more people to become more interested in the topic since blogs can be a great tool to reach more audience. There are even services that help you reach the right audience for your cause, take for example Acheter des Followers Instagram which have been used by several activists to grow their exposure on social media and reach more audience
In Fact, blogs have more potential to reach a broad audience than academic and research communities. They are available and accessible to everyone whether it be youngsters, adults, men or women. They also allow for exclusive and timely publication without the need for going through the review lag time.
The environment is a gift that an individual has from nature. It renders a lot many things in hand and is one of the assets that is irreplaceable. Several activities directly or indirectly are adversely affecting the Earth. It is also leaving a drastic impact on the climate and making it haphazard. Looking around and researching the changes, these activities are diminishing the purity of the space one lives. As people realize this folly, they are also actively working together to form a human chain to protect the environment for leading a pious life. One such group is the climate activist who contributes to climate safety. They understand the ways human activity is affecting the climate and ways to correct it.
Does climate change affect us?
Over time, climate change has slowly begun and explicitly puts up its impact on several things. It mainly affects the resources that people use and the environment. The temperature rise, change in the quality, and other climate factors affect the following:
Water
Water is a primary and basic necessity for an individual’s living. Due to the change in the climate, several parts of the world are experiencing droughts. It also affects the snow caps by either melting them or forming a lesser accumulation of snow. All of it is collectively leading to a water crisis, arising issues for humans.
Wildlife
The entire ecosystem on the Earth is interdependent. The activities like deforestation have to lead to an increase in the pollutants in the environment, affecting the climate. The heat and the rise in temperature due to various activities also lead to natural fires in the forest. It leads to the destruction of the forest and the wildlife cover.
Food
The availability of a specific food around the world depends upon climatic factors and weather conditions. Although there are several ways of altering the conditions artificially and meeting the needs, the factors like temperature rise, water availability, moisture, etc., can still affect the portion one gets on the table.
Health
Health and wellbeing are vital assets that an individual has in hand. The drastic climate change affects the health of all living organisms around the world. It leads to a new and variety of health issues and diseases that may or may not have a cure. As it affects the health of plants, animals, and humans, it affects the living as a whole.
Environment
The activities of the environment are dependent on the climate. A slight change in it affects the habitats and the wildlife living, disrupting the peace of the humans and unbalancing the ecosystem. Climate change also accompanies a change in gas levels like carbon dioxide, nitrogen. It also affects the activities of the ocean.
Calamities
The change in the environmental and climatic factors also leads to increasing the frequency of natural calamities. It includes global trouble by hurricanes, storms, droughts, floods, and many more. It also tends to increase the intensity and the damage it brings to the people. Bringing destruction causes the climate to balance a bit.
Climate Activist – An insight!
Climate activists are people who come from a non-government organization for activism against climate change issues. They work for a cleaner, greener, stable, and more security of the Earth. They pick up problems that lead to the change in the climate and make people aware of making a difference. The work of activists begins with creating a chain and representing it at a global level for addressing the actual cause. The activism for climate change finds its roots in the 1900s to discuss the changing climate, its framework, the measures for correction, and much more. Climate activists keep themselves active on social media, including platforms like Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and much more. They tend to bring in the power of the public to mitigate the damages and problems in society as a whole. Making the people aware, they also contribute to the global meeting for climate change. It helps them to work together regardless of the country for bringing the change. As per the climate activists, one has the power to bring change and settle for the best.
Climate Activists – The role!
The role of climate activists does not restrict to any specifics. It includes a lot many things that combine to maintain the equilibrium for sustainability. The following are the primary roles:
• Addressing the various causes for climate change and picking up one such issue to bring it before the public.
• Searching and finding solutions to the existing climate problems and creating ripples for the difference.
• To create a human chain, rallies, posters, and other means of communication with the public.
• Using social media platforms to spread the message of securing climate change all over the globe.
• Educating and training youths for taking part in demonstrations that help to save the climate change.
Trail of issues
There are a variety of problems that lead to climatic change around the world. These are the issues that the climate activists are trying to hold and make a change. They are the following:
• Global warming: Several human activities like the emission of greenhouse gasses, etc., lead to higher absorption of heat by Earth. It leads to a rise in temperature and disbalances the climate. It also causes a shift in seasons.
• Burning fossil Fuel: Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources. They take a lot of time to form, and their use contributes majorly to the environmental and climatic changes. It also leads to depleting resources that are vital for balance.
• Ozone layer depletion: Ozone is one of the protection around the Earth’s surface. As human activities are depleting the layer, it fails to stop the UV rays strength that contributes to global warming and other problems for health.
• Vanishing forest cover: Forest covers and trees, in general, are responsible for keeping the balance between the gasses in the air. As deforestation is a recent issue, it leads to disrupting the balance, causing habitat changes, and much more.
• Air pollution: Due to industrial pollutants, the use of vehicles that emit harmful gasses, etc., the statistics of air pollution are changing. With an increase in air pollution, the climate sees a turn, hence contributing to many effects.
• Human needs: The use of coolants, fire-extinguishers, sprays, pesticides, and others that make use of F-gases are also a cause of climatic change. A few of them have less impact, but several keep affecting the environment for decades.
• Carbon emission: The presence of carbon in the environment is one of the first factors that affect the climate. It does not just affect human health but can also accelerate the speed of melting snow tops and much more.
The new activism!
The modes and methods of activism have been changing over time. The activists started in the earlier centuries by taking out rallies, demonstrating the cause, impact, etc., to the people. It helped them to bring awareness and take them together in the activity. Over the years, the model and the medium have drastically changed. The new era of activists also caters for using social media to reach out to billions using it. The various options and the benefits for the activists are:
• YouTube allows them to spread a message, create awareness, and helps them to render alternatives to the activities. Although naturally viewed, they also can youtube klicks kaufen that help them reach more people.
• The Twitter handle allows the activists to tag the authorities in the field of the cause. It renders the talk reach the ears of the people who can create a difference and address the issue on a national and global level.
• Several platforms are emerging for the generic talks that allow the activists to express themselves freely and reach a global mass. It also allows them to create awareness, and it’s considered as an alternative to demonstrations and rallies.
• A platform like Instagram, Facebook, and much more allows climate activists to publish their views and connect to the youth by creating pages. Through it, the youngsters stay updated and can also contribute and take part in the good cause.
• The world of blogs and websites also allows climate activists to render their thoughts in a better way. It caters them to reach out to the public and spread their views globally. Hence, it allows creating an impact that makes a difference.
The need and urgency of attending the climate change and the impact are well known to everyone. It takes in the notice the small changes that accumulate to create big trouble. The first step towards it comes with realizing that every individual is contributing to the change. Hence, one has the power to bring back normalcy. The climate activists have been addressing the issue and have managed to create sensitivity. Therefore, regardless of age, everyone is forming a chain of protection with a vow to protect climate change. With the utmost awareness and a sense of togetherness, everyone can contribute to the vision of the Climate activists of a place where the climate is sustainable.
It has been a huge privilege to be involved with
Extinction Rebellion, for nearly a year now. For the first time in years I feel
a growing glimmer of hope for humanity. Finally, we are seeing a mass
mobilisation of people who are not willing to die quietly. An upwelling of
people unafraid to call for the radical initiatives that we need to limit the
scope of global overheating. As a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion, I have
been among those privileged to put the case for the action of our rebels to
those in the media and in Government.
We need to be clear that there is no ‘safe’ level
of warming. ‘Even’ 2 degrees (which is now almost unachievable) means the death
of over 99% of the world’s
coral reefs – permanently defacing the ecology of our
planet, and probably means the end of ice in the northern hemisphere. The International Panel on Climate Change — which is still, contra popular belief, a relatively conservative
body — is unambiguous in its latest report (1.5 degree) that 2-degrees means
the displacement of millions of people through desertification and flooding. It
means a much greater frequency and a higher magnitude of the extreme weather
events that are increasingly blighting the world. It means an increase in
violence and war globally because of resource scarcity and hotter temperatures.
It is violence: 2 degrees is violence from the rich and stupid
against the global masses. It means increased frequency of pandemic and pestilence, with greater threats to our health and the food supply we rely
upon to nourish us. And because of the inherent unpredictability of the effects
of 2-degrees warming, it could expose us to a myriad of other threats that we cannot predict and that
could be far worse than our models suggest.
This is why Extinction Rebellion’s actions are
so important, and in particular why the call for net zero UK emissions by 2025
is vital. Our movement has been courageous by communicating with brutal honesty
exactly what is at stake over the climate emergency. There needs to be far more
of this communication within the public sphere.
In my new book, This Civilisation is Finished, co-authored with Samuel Alexander, we
attempt exactly this. We reject the ‘soft denialism’ so often present in the mainstream
discourse about the climate emergency. A discourse that seems cherry-picked to
present what is actually ecological apocalypse in as palatable and
unthreatening a way as possible. Instead, we have found that minds and hearts
are only truly concentrated when the scale and enormity of the threat to human
and non-human life is exposed in its unveiled magnitude. When this occurs,
people stare the threat in the face, the fight-or-flight response is activated
and – as there is nowhere to run – they become energised by the necessity to
battle for the survival of themselves and their children.
This is no exaggeration. The stakes of course are very, very high, here, because the climate crisis and the broader ecological emergency of which it is only the most urgent part puts the whole of what we know as civilisation at risk. By ‘this civilisation’ I mean the hegemonic civilisation of globalised industrial growth capitalism— sometimes called ‘Empire’—which today governs the vast majority of human life on Earth.
As I see things, there are three broad possible
futures that lie ahead:
This civilisation could
collapse utterly and terminally, as a result of
climatic instability (leading for instance to catastrophic food shortages as a
probable mechanism of collapse), or possibly sooner than that, through nuclear
war, pandemic, or financial collapse leading to mass civil breakdown. Any of
these are likely to be precipitated in part by ecological/climate instability,
as Darfur and Syria were.
Or
This civilisation (we)
will manage to seed a future successor-civilisation(s), as this one collapses.
Or
This civilisation will
somehow manage to transform itself deliberately,
radically and rapidly, in an unprecedented manner, in time to avert collapse.
The third option, at which XR aims, is by far the least
likely, though the most desirable, simply because either of the other options
will involve vast suffering and death on an unprecedented scale. In the case of
(1), we are talking the extinction or near-extinction of humanity. In the case
of (2) we are talking at minimum multiple megadeaths. But (2) would obviously
be hugely preferable to (1), and thus the ultimate importance for us of getting
our societies not only to mitigate but also to adapt, deeply.
The second option is very difficult to
envisage clearly, but is, I now believe, very likely. Unless we are incredibly
lucky or incredibly determined and brilliant (or almost certainly both) then we
are facing, almost certainly, changes around the world which are going to bring
an end to this civilisation. So we need to think about what comes after it. We
need to think about it now, and we need to start to work toward it; because
there are many sub-possibilities within possibility two, and some of them are
very ugly.
One of the reasons I wrote the book with Sam is so that we can talk about how we can prepare the way for (2). I think that there has been criminally little of that preparation, to date. Virtually everyone in the broader environmental movement has been fixated on the third option, unwilling to consider anything less. I strongly believe now that that stance is no longer viable. And, encouragingly, I am not quite alone in that belief.
The first option might soon be as likely as the second. It leaves little to talk about.
Any of these three
options will involve a transformation of such extreme magnitude that what
emerges will no longer in any meaningful sense be this civilisation: the
change will be the kind of extreme conceptual and existential magnitude that
Thomas Kuhn, the philosopher of ‘paradigm-shifts’, calls ‘revolutionary’. Thus,
one way or another, this civilisation is finished. It may well run in
the air, suspended over the edge of a cliff, for a while longer. But it will
then either crash to complete chaos and catastrophe (Option 1); or seed
something radically different from itself from within its dying body (Option
2); or somehow get back to safety on the cliff-edge (Option 3). Managing to do that
miraculous thing would involve such extraordinary and utterly unprecedented
change, that what came back to safety would still no longer in any
meaningful sense be this civilisation.
That, in short, is
what I mean by saying that this civilisation is finished.
Extinction Rebellion
is key to transforming the civilisation we have into something that will allow
us to maintain human life either in the third option or in arming our global
consciousness with the understanding of the need for deep adaptation in the
face of the second option.
If not, we are left
only with terminal collapse.
I hope that this
book, in which I discuss XR at some length, will help us in these difficult and
necessary thought-and-feeling—processes.
By John Ames 47 years ago, in 1972, an incredibly influential report was released by the group of scientists and professionals known as the Club of Rome. Working with MIT, they commissioned a group of modellers and systems analysts to describe the global system as deeply as possible. Together they built World3, and showed clear evidence of how the combinations of population growth and resource use would strain our planet. The natural end result would be huge ecological damage limiting the earth’s ability to support life – both animal and human.
It caused serious alarm, and many promises were made by the world. The obvious catastrophe laid out in the book was the foolishness of expecting infinite growth on a finite planet. We were warned to change our economic goals, and soon, to prevent environmental (and societal) collapse. Their projections suggested rising material wealth until the first quarter of the 21st century, after which the damage to the environment would become so severe as to severely impact our way of life. Their projections have been shown to be highly accurate. They did not need to know exactly what technologies would be invented to show roughly how capital and human numbers would expand, and the damage that would inevitably cause.
Around this time, Big Oil started two campaigns. One was to study the science of climate change, with internal communications and published journals showing they knew full well the dangers of huge greenhouse gas emissions. The second was to try to cast doubt on the science, and convince the public that it was not a real issue. Unfortunately, they were largely successful. 20 years later, and 27 year years ago, in 1992, the world’s leaders met for the Earth Summit in Brazil, and signed the Rio Convention. 190 countries agreed to reduce their emissions and treat climate change with the seriousness it required. They agreed on the precautionary principle , a principle stating that when some science is still needed to prove something beyond a doubt, but there was clear evidence of risk, the cautious option would always be chosen. This principle is invoked for keeping GMOs out of Europe, for instance. The economic (and political) sacrifices from cutting emissions proved to be too much for most countries though, and the following Kyoto protocol has fallen victim to the moral hazard of “whoever cuts first, loses; whoever cuts last, wins”, prompting foot dragging and withdrawals from many countries..
In 2004, they published an updated Limits to Growth… the 30 year update. World3 was further refined, the previous projections compared to the observed trends, demonstrating clearly the general accuracy of their thesis. They highlighted possible future scenarios where we started strong emission cuts at different time points and severity. Starting directly and strongly at 2004 would have led to the best future scenario. For every year we waited, the future we were giving to our children, grandchildren, fellow citizens and nature itself became ever darker.
They emphasised that we must begin immediately. We still did not.
In 2015, world leaders met again, and following lengthy discussions and concessions, the Paris Agreement was undersigned by 195 countries. The limits originally decided have since been clearly shown to be wholly inadequate for keeping warming below 2 degrees, even if they are faithfully implemented. So far, they have not been.
Four years later, we are still planning policy that goes in the wrong direction. New runways, coal power stations and other counterproductive things. And now the UN and IPCC are both screaming warnings as loud as they can. That is why we are now rebelling. Finally. There is no doubt in the science. There is no doubt in our broad understanding of the systems and mechanisms. The only surprise for scientists is how much quicker it is now progressing. We are seeing feedback loops we had never expected – As the global system gets worse, a result of that damage is to then speed up the future rate of damage. Therefore we are not seeing linear growth in temperature with rising CO2 concentrations, we are seeing an increasing rate of temperature rise and system damage.
Many systems have tipping points in them, points where we lose control of the problem after a certain point. After we cut down enough rainforest, the microclimate to sustain such forests will not exist any more, and we will turn our planet’s lungs into savannah. After we heat up the tundra enough, we will release huge quantities of methane, a gas around 50 times better at trapping the sun’s energy than CO2, causing even faster warming. These events would seriously undermine our chances of a happy ending.
What is the solution from those in power? They nibble at the edges of the problem. Rearranging the tablecloth and silverware while our house is on fire. Rearranging the deckchairs while the iceberg slowly emerges from the darkness.
These are not bad people. There are greedy people changing the dialogue for their short-term survival. There are stupid people who believe the free market signals and human ingenuity can fix all problems, including super wicked ones like climate change. There are people who silenced their doubts and concerns with the reassuring lies and misinformation of vested interests. But there are no bad people.
The fact remains. The 10th biggest polluter in Germany is Ryanair, and air travel industry expands 6-8% globally per year. The rainforest in Brazil is being cut down at an alarming rate again. 95% of the things we buy are no longer in use 6 months after we buy them. GDP growth is still the greatest and only goal for every government in power.
Realistically, their behaviour is rational. Fighting against this will require sacrifices. We must consume less, and submit to less convenience. No politician wants to give that news to their voters. They only want to maximise the current “happiness”, ie GDP growth, now, and ignore anything that will happen beyond the next election. This “short termism” saps political will for meaningful change, and we have listened to their “beautiful words” for too long. How can we expect them to commit radical solutions without our clear support and understanding?
The Fridays for Future movement was originally written off as “Young and naive”. The media and politicians helpfully informed us that they don’t understand how the world really works. Alternatively, perhaps it is we that are “old and cynical”; we that lack vision and imagination, we that are not willing to fight for the world we and our children deserve. Seeing they needed support, scientists founded their own group, ScientistsforFuture, to show that there is no more doubt in academia. And also, supporting the same movement, is Extinction Rebellion; a group of concerned citizens, hoping we can follow in Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela’s footsteps. We believe we can finally force the issue with non-violent and creative demonstrations, using peaceful disobedience as our best weapon.
We need to acknowledge the global state of emergency for what it is. How many more “hottest summer since records began”s do you need to be convinced? This is bigger than normal politics. This is not a matter of supporting left or right, the only important direction is forwards. Only through working together with all the countries of the world do we have a chance. We cannot wait for other people to do this for us anymore, it is time we took control. We need the courage to really try to change our direction, with bold new economic organisation. We need the courage to be the global leaders in this, and to lead by example. And we need to rebel until our governments make that happen.
I will leave you with a slightly adapted speech from a timeless movie… “We know things are bad – worse than bad. They’re crazy. It’s like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don’t go out any more. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is: ‘Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my Netflix and my steak and my cheap Ryanair flights and I won’t say anything. Just leave us alone.’ Well, I’m not going to leave you alone. I want you to get MAD! You’ve got to say: ‘I’m a human being, god-dammit! My life has value!” (From “Network”, 1976).
I recently came across the online comicHitler Denialby Australian artist Stuart McMillan. Two panels are shown below as a taster.
The whole comic is definitely worth reading, please visit Stuart’s site to see it! I would discuss it further, but don’t want to give away the whole thing. What I would mention is that I’m cautious about glorifying war time leaders like Winston Churchill; although he was indeed successful in fighting Nazi Germany,it was at the cost of presiding over a terrible famine in India which killed millions.
Nonetheless, I think the parallel with the second world war and the ‘war footing’ that the entire world economy needs to be put on to in order to fight climate change is a worthwhile one to make.
I hear swathes of positivity from all the groups with success and expansion on many fronts. To quote Regen, there is a ‘flowering’ of support everywhere with a reaching out to countries outside the UK. XR is happy to work within and alongside Europe!
Huge thanks to everyone who sent in up-to-date news from the groups. I know how frantically busy you all are as we move towards April’s Mighty Big Push. My hunch is to keep reports here short and informative, as you have done in this issue, so it’s not another dreaded job to do. Think of it as joining the inner dots. Can you also please send photos and images to pretty-up the text.
Along the same lines, I query including an essay here. I’m not convinced it’s the right place as this is primarily a catch-up briefing. I’d welcome your thoughts. This time around, I’ve adopted Matthew’s suggestion of adding a few inspiring quotes, in tune with the mood for April.
I sign off with some about-time good news from the media: ‘The Guardian will now publish the Mauna Loa carbon count, the global benchmark, on the weather page of the paper every day.’
And the Guardian asks: ‘Were you inspired by XR?
The next internal newsletter will be out after April 15th. Now that will be an exciting issue!
Onwards.
Lynn
Accommodation
The people of London have come through for us massively and we have ~250 spaces for rebels in London being hosted by other activists scattered throughout the two weeks, if you are wanting for accommodation with a personal touch hit us up. On the open spaces front we have finalized 7 free locations of various sizes ranging from 10-100 capacity in London, but only for evening sleeping space.
We are still looking for spaces for day time respite for our brave overnight blockaders! We won’t stop till we we do!
Land & Respite:
This subgroup of Regen is really flowering. We now have close to 70 Open Homes as part of our network, willing to take activists on respite for a few days and in many cases, provide food. On the Land side, we are making excellent links with social farms around London, and the national Permaculture Association. After April L & R will split into two subgroups. Contact: xr-landandrespite@protonmail.com
XR Blog:
The original renegade international blog has retained its identity separate from the main XR websites, and we are now pleased to announce that we are in the process of expanding outward to other global movements such as Earthstrike, Youth Strike, Earth First and Reclaim The Power. We will henceforward be an international mass civil disobedience blog. Please bear with us during this transition phase, which will at some point include a name change. Interim Contact: matthew.xr@protonmail.com
Newsletter
The newsletter team has continued to enjoy its long-awaited regular output schedule: sending an issue every Wednesday has allowed us to find a steady rhythm in terms of content-writing. We’ve recently added a short new section called ‘Act Now’, the idea of which is to encourage our wonderful readers into taking small and immediate actions which will (theoretically) lead to bigger ones. We’re also working on a plan for how best to deal with the daily pace of news beginning from the 15th. All of which will hopefully be made lots easier by the addition of four new friendly faces to the team!
Press
The press team is working on all cylinders to cover the build-up to International Rebellion, and also to develop a game-plan for the 15th onwards. We’re building relationships with journalists as ever (but even more hurriedly!), and are liaising with the rest of the M&M team to ensure we have a presence at all of the Rebellion’s locations. We should have some fairly big coverage coming out towards the end of this week to set the scene.
International Support Team
The international support team have been working on facilitating conversations among different national XR teams in different countries, to build more connections across the international network. We’re working on twinning city/local groups and bringing representatives from specific work areas such as media and messaging together with similar national working groups in other countries, to ensure that folks internationally are as up to date as possible with one another.
On the weekend of 30th March, XR rebels from over eleven different countries came together in Brussels for a weekend gathering of workshops, discussions and delicious vegan food. Some were familiar with each other from months of online calls, many were meeting face-to-face for the first time, and others were completely new to the movement!
We sang, danced, did theatre workshops, chatted about biodiversity, regenerative culture and internationalist solidarity, and ended the weekend together by joining the climate march and announcing rebellion week on stage, much to the crowds enjoyment! It was a truly wonderful weekend, connecting many different groups and sharing experiences and stories.
Legal
The rebellion is near – get yourself trained up now! Green and Black Cross (GBC) have provided three more Legal Observer trainings before April 15th:
6th April – Birmingham
7th April – Exeter
13th April – Manchester
The Legal working group is also offering two Online Arrest Watch trainings on Saturday, 6th April, 6-9.30pm (register here), and on Thursday, 11th April, 6-9.30pm (register here). Arrest Watch trainings are not the same as Legal Observer trainings and are not meant to replace them. They are much more about providing rebels with insight into the full arrestee support system (rather than just what’s going on at an action) and showing them how they can become part of it. You can find more information here.
We’re still in urgent need of more legal observers (LOs) and back office supporters for the rebellion! If you can help us out, even if only for one shift, please sign up on our rota. Only people who attended the full 5-hour GBC LO training should sign up for legal observing. Anyone can help out in the back office but it’s preferable that you attend an Arrest Watch training beforehand.
Talks and Trainings
Rather excitingly, we have developed an XR meeting facilitation training together with a bunch of professional facilitators, including a lot of input from Seeds for Change (thanks to you guys!). This training is now being trialled for the first time. It introduces rebels to facilitation techniques as well as XR meeting culture. If you are a facilitation trainer and would like to deliver this format in your local area, please get in touch with xr.talks.trainings@gmail.com . There is a massive demand for this kind of training so don’t be shy!
To end on a very high note:
So far there’s confirmation for over 70 Affinity Groups attending next week’s rebellion, which means we’ve got an absolute minimum of 700 highly trained and motivated people joining us on Monday.
And here’s an article just published by James Westcott in Impakter:
And a podcast
by Marianne, editor of Resurgence & Ecologist magazine, interviewing Mothiur Rahman about XR.
Quotes for April
(I’ll try to find more obscure ones next time!)
“There’s one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other, and that is the urgent threat of climate change.”
Barack Obama
“It’s a collective endeavor, it’s collective accountability and it may not be too late.”
Christine Lagarde
“We have a single mission: to protect and hand on the planet to the next generation.”
Francois Hollande
“People of conscience need to break their ties with corporations financing the injustice of climate change.
With the clock ticking down to International Rebellion starting 15th April, XR’s Earth Marchers may have blisters on their feet, but spirits are soaring as they approach the capital from north, south, east and west.
70-year-old Jackie Dash from Truro was among those who kicked off Extinction Rebellion’s‘Earth March: A Pilgrimage for the Planet’ last month.
“Our cause, like those of our predecessors who
have marched in order to be heard and witnessed before us, is founded in an
urgent plea to those in positions of power and control to listen to the voice
of the People. We are marching for the future of the land beneath our feet, our
winding rivers, our shorelines, the oceans and the very air we breathe.”
Since
the Cornwall contingent set off, more than a thousand people from across the country have joined groups from in
Brighton, Colchester, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Ashdown
Forest and other urban centres, buoyed by the enthusiasm and generosity of friends
and strangers along the way who offered food, accommodation and moral support.
The Cornwall group continued through Bruton, stopping
by Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh’s office, while the Bath and Bristol group passed
through Bradford on Avon and Devizes:
Other groups started out from Cardiff, Manchester, Peterborough, Cambridge and Brighton, meeting curiosity, support and goodwill en route. Rosie Jones reports that those who joined from Wales now “have blisters on their blisters” and shared this photo of Bed Time, Earth March style:
“We march for our children who, unless we are
heard, might not live to know the Natural World, the richness and diversity of
this ‘Blue Planet’ as we have been privileged to know it: these lush, green
Islands as they are today. We march for the millions around the world already
suffering the cruel and destructive effects of this ecological emergency.” – Jackie Dash.
The send-off in Stroud
IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO JOIN IN!
See here for a developing map of Earth
March routes.
And if you’re already in London on
the 14th of April, please consider coming to support our incredible Earth Marchers. They will be
staying at sites around the edge of London over the night of the 13th, and on
the 14th will be greeted by a welcome reception at Hyde Park which will include
speeches, music, dancing and food. Marchers and rebels alike are encouraged to
set up tents to stay in Hyde Park overnight, ready to join the rebellion as
soon as they rise in the morning.
Cornwall: On March 12th around seventy people turned out at Land’s End at the southernmost tip of the British Isles to march to London in protest against the government’s failure to legislate against climate chaos and ecocide.
Between Land’s End and St Buryan the pilgrims made a detour past a primary school –
where the headteacher turned the march into a “teachable moment” by bringing all the children out to bear witness.
“It was moving for us all, especially since it is their future and those who come after them that we are fighting.”
On arrival in Penzance the pilgrims were welcomed with cheers, mugs of tea, good Cornish ale – and a contingent of new recruits.
The next day the weather did its worst – but after a pub lunch by a roaring fire, the sky brightened and they continued. Local police joined them briefly: though supportive and friendly, they were clearly on a fishing expedition – from which they left empty-handed. In the afternoon the wind picked up and the marchers were caught in a hailstorm, but they laughed their way through and were treated to a rainbow in its aftermath. Most of the walk was on B roads with no pavements outside of the villages, which meant meeting many drivers who were forced to slow down.
“What’s surprising and enormously pleasing is how many were supportive, with waves, tooting horns and thumbs up.”
They arrived at Praze an Beeble exhausted but happy – thoughnext time an XR march comes to your town, can you please make sure the pub is open?
Day Three was sunny but windy. The marchers met the local labour candidate who “made all the right noises” – but the highlight of the day was meeting some alpacas in a field.
“The dog didn’t know what to do as they all came over to see us at the gate. Perfect selfie opportunity, with all those funny faces – theirs or mine?”
The group stopped at Four Lanes for soup, home-made bread and vegan flapjacks provided by Suzy of Falmouth XR, then walked along old paths and bridleways to Lanner, then up the hill to Cusgarne Organic Farm.
On Day 4 they gathered on Lemon Quay at the head of The Truro River, where there was a good turn-out of supporters: more than a dozen extra Rebels joined the march along with Youth Strikers on their way to County Hall for their monthly protest.
“They are all our futures and there were some warm and mutual exchanges between us.”
The first hitch of the day was on the way to Pencalenick, when the group’s support vehicle couldn’t make it under the low tramway bridge and was forced to make a 27-point turn in the narrow lane. Here the wind gave three of the pilgrims some kite-surfing experience when their Big Black Banner billowed so forcefully it was a fight to reel it in. Then Mike, a stubbornly independent and intrepid wheelchair-user who joined them earlier in the day, found his nearside wheel nut jammed between a concrete post and a stone wall. A local couple came to the rescue with a crowbar and the group was on its way again.
Five days in, with a little regrouping, the contingent was on its way to Grampound in the middle of Cornwall, looking ahead to the A39 and some easier stretches off-road, and onward to St Austell.
“I learnt about and tasted 3 varieties of foraged wild greens as well as getting advice on how to collect and include seaweed in my diet. I thoroughly recommend joining them for as long as you can manage even if it’s just for a day.”
On Day Six they travelled from St Austell to Lostwithiel: by now bad weather and ill health had taken its toll but the group enjoyed an unexpected tea break on a farm, spectacular views back of St Blazey and the sea, and a couple of unsolicited donations from a passing motorist and some pedestrians in Lostwithiel.
Some days later the group set off from Liskeard after making its presence felt outside the office of of MP Sherryl Morgan, who was in need of a green wake-up call. Rebels in Callington, Calstock, Liskeard Gunnislake and Tavistock gave warmth, hospitality and commitment as they continued on their route to Westminster.
As they were about to cross the Tamar into West Devon, The Western Morning News – a key newspaper for Devon and Cornwall – asked for an interview.
“Things have been going well on the media front and this felt like another step in the right direction. The article looks pretty good in this morning’s paper”
On March 20th the group walked along the A390, using the cycle path and pavements, flying its striking black and white banner on the high ground above the Tamar Estuary. Approaching the river at Gunnislake was a demanding hike but they reached the bridge in high spirits – only to encounter new hazards on the other side, in the form of speeding cars.
Once out of the gorge, the walking group continued along a mixture of roads and stony track-ways and were welcomed by local supporters in Bedford Square, Tavistock, where the Quaker Friends laid on food and the Tavistock Times sent two reporters.
Here some Rebels had to leave the group after crossing the 90-mile length of Cornwall on foot.
“Sad to see them go, but good to know that they would be joining us once again as we approach Westminster….People are just so kind and we give gratitude for all that Community and Friendship is giving to this Pilgrimage for The Planet.”
On day 10, the wild expanse of Dartmoor lay ahead, and an intrepid group of Rebels set off up the hills out of Tavistock. Once on the moor, the fog closed in, shrouding everything in a ghostly grey mist. After an overnight stop at Powder Mills, the group struck out for Moretonhampstead on the Eastern side of the Moor, where they were again joined by Keith Rossiter, the environmental editor of the Western Morning News, who had already published one article on XR and was ready for an update.
“That is one of the main drivers for Earth March; to be seen and heard locally as we travel the country, contacting media groups ahead, so that we are given Local News coverage…the only thing that travels faster than the wildfires we have witnessed burning across the World is local news, gossip and conversation in the community and this is what we’re tapping in to!”
Meanwhile on the Swansea to Cardiff leg of the march, Rebels – including an 87-year-old – were en route in glorious sunshine, supported by the local schoolchildren and hundreds of car-honks and thumbs-ups from passing drivers.
“I won’t say anything about the negative comments we received, like “So what?” , “Who cares” and “There’s no such thing as Climate Change”, and I won’t mention at all about BBC Wales who locked us out / locked themselves in at BBC studios Reception!! Were we really that scary??!”
Maddy Adams
“How amazing will it be when all the walks from all over the U.K. join up, and march into London on 15th April for XR International Rebellion Week and occupy the bridges there for a week, to demand the Government acts on the Climate Crisis…. before it’s too late.
Be a part of the change! Start walking today!”
The Earth March continues, and is open to anyone wanting to join, for however long or short a journey – and don’t forget to send us your stories, from wherever you are marching! You can check out the routes here:
Click on an icon to see info about that leg of the march. Use the control top right to change background map. Use the arrow button to plan a route to save to a GPX file for use in electronic navigation devices, and ideally email them to rebel@rebellionearth.uk so they can be added to the map.
The last few weeks have been frantic, frenetic and fabulous. The groundswell of awareness and support for XR continues to grow exponentially. Well done, Team XR!
XR is full of admiration and respect for the children and young people who skipped school to make their voices heard across the globe on Friday, March 15th. They are so right and so justified to shout about the state of the planet they will inherit. The numbers who turned out were staggering. We salute and support you! More in the main newsletter.
And so we move towards the upcoming Dover blockade on 30th March, described in the main newsletter as ‘one of their most turbulent actions to date to highlight the extreme vulnerability of the British people to our food insecurity.’ Climate change will without doubt induce famine – something barely touched on in the mainstream media.
To more practical matters… we have a useful new form – Integration’s latest way for working groups to ask for more volunteers (replacing the old method which involved writing a role description) which will be put on this page.
There are also rumours that the tech team, after weeks of hard work, will be unveiling a new XR website in the near future.
Online Meetings
Does your working group use online meetings?
Do you sometimes struggle to find room for a meeting-slot in the Goto calendar?
Have you ever had your meeting cancelled by another group who wants your slot?
If you’ve experienced any of these problems, please be aware that as well as the Goto Meeting account, XR also has 4 separate Zoom accounts which can be used for working group meetings. If you’d like to have the login details for one of these accounts, please email tech@rebellion.earth
The legal team has spent quite some time producing this; a document that contains valuable expert advice and information about your legal rights if you are arrested. Do read it if you are thinking of direct action and are wondering what to do – and what you need to know – if you are arrested.
From Lynn Michell:
I’m the enthusiastic novice now in charge of this newsletter, replacing the overworked Doug. I’d love each group to nominate someone to be responsible for communicating with me and for getting reports and longer pieces in. Some photos and artwork to go with your pieces would be very welcome to make the newsletter as buzzy as your real life activity.
My sincere thanks to all who’ve found time between the planning and the plotting and the protests to send in reports for Inside XR #4, even as we move with passion toward April’s momentous events. It’s important we all keep in touch.
Thank you for reading this.
Internal news
Actions, Art and Logistics
Actions
Art
This is what we’ve been up to:
Rolling out a very serious flag manufacturing program and new patches
Producing 100s of thousands of beautiful new poster and flyer designs for promotion of April’s rebellion!
Finishing the new website – almost there!
Arts and cultural groups are expanding, putting pressure on institutions to declare emergency and hosting workshops to train ready for a performative rebellon.
M&M
Social media
We’ve passed 70k followers onFacebook, and over 55k onTwitter – thanks for your support! We’ve also shot up to over 40k onInstagram, partly thanks to interest from the schoolstrikes and a shoutout from Jack Harries, a filmmaker and influencer who was arrested with the #Petroleum9 for blockading International Petroleum Week in London.
NEW EVENT UP! We’re kick-starting the callout for aworldwide week of MASS FLYPOSTING to tell the truth on the climate emergency and ecological collapse, starting from March 30th in the lead up to International Rebellion.
Over 10,000 Rebels are already listed as Going or Interested to the Facebook event forInternational Rebellion event starting April 15th – but we want MORE, so invite all your friends! This takes two minutes, but it could be the most important thing you ever do on social media, so please do it. Together we change the world!
Press
The press team is working hard to keep up with covering the many events now happening and upcoming. Alongside the usual writing of press releases and liaising with journalists, we’re also looking to place features in publications outside of our normal audience, so that we can reach out to and bring as many people on-side as possible before we get into April.
Blog
Calling Affinity Groups to share their stories for the international XR Blog and beyond.
Are you part of an affinity group that has participated in direct action? We ask for your stories of courage, struggle, compassion and collaboration, of whatever you have experienced together, from when you first formed to where you are now. This is an offshoot of the #HumansofXR project, to show the world that this movement is their moment too, and demystify NVDA to encourage more to get involved. Creative writing and mixed media all considered. Please email xrblog@protonmail.com with your A.G. name in the subject line.
If you are interested in being a photographer/videographer of your affinity group’s ongoing story, particularly in April, please email francesca.xr.media@gmail.com
Please get permission from all AG members before printing names publicly, or choose pseudonyms.
Additional blog news: we are considering expanding our remit to cover more than just XR, to be a blog space that brings together all radical nonviolent civil disobedience movements that are happening internationally, to promote greater solidarity and revolutionary cohesion moving forward. Get in touch to give your views on this either way, as we are yet undecided.
Note that the international blog is separate from the main XR websites, so we have a lot of freedom and tactical manoeuvrability. (What a great word!)
Newsletter
Through the amazing work of those who’ve joined us, the external newsletter team is excited to be on the very cusp of regular weekly output. We’re also really happy with our new International Highlights section which showcases the sometimes under-appreciated global magnitude of XR. Going forward, we’re hoping to grow the team to include a role focussing on readership growth. If you’d like to include an announcement in the next newsletter, please email xr-newsletter@protonmail.com.
Regen
A sanctuary space is now ready in our London offices, hosting regenerative workshops, massages and healing sessions. Our kitchen is also opening up on Wednesday with an inaugural pot of soup! Any London-based healers/space holders/therapists/masseuses/cooks wanting to get involved, please contact Iain on xlaieounr@protonmail.com
Land and Respite
The UK network of respite hosts continues to grow. We continue to receive enquiries from individuals, places and organisations who want to support Rebels. It is also nice to see more requests for respite coming in. Please keep them coming. Look after yourselves! Please get in touch at xr-landandrespite@protonmail.com if you know anyone/where that would be interested in growing this network, or if you would like some respite time in an XR person’s house, resting up and being fed. We have hosts all over the country, including near London.
In preparation for April and all future Actions/Work, the team is building a new database of Land Support around London. This will include all common land, parks, open spaces, land squats (or potential), farms and private holdings where Rebels are free to roam, organise, take respite and engage in civil disobedience. Longer-term into the autumn and into 2020, this City Support Belt could potentially provide a larger strategic role. This is just our intuition, so it’s up to all of you, especially strategy people, to think of how this could be useful, if we’re right!
We are also exploring which sites around the city could welcome Earth Marchers on their way into the centre.
Watch this space as we develop a Land Support map for London for all Rebels to use.
We are reaching out to the horse-drawn community, to see if any would join the Earth Marches to provide support (carry bags/food/tents/people) and perhaps join us in the middle of London mid-April. We have put a call out, but if any of you have direct links, please get in touch. Wouldn’t you like to see a bunch of horses and wagons in London? And a big pile of horse-shit in Parliament Square? Help us make it happen!
Finally, we urgently seek a techy person to maintain our Land and Respite map of the UK, and to begin and maintain a Land Support map for London. This is a new volunteer role. Please get in touch if you can help.
Legal
Please come to our Arrest Watch Training this Sunday 24th March
It will give you the skills to prepare you and your group for arrests at actions. It will be a day of skilling up so that the next time you are out on the streets and someone gets arrested next to you, you’ll be able to support them. It’s also about skills for the action day so that there’s a framework in place to support arrestees on the day itself and to get ready for post arrest. Please send 1-2 representative(s) from your local XR group down to this training so they can skill their local rebels up in how to watch arrests. There is a lot we need to get through so prepare yourselves for a full-day training.
Bring some food so we can have a shared lunch together – we’re looking forward to training with you!
Talks and Trainings
In February, Events Organisation has helped to set up 36 talks and 22 NVDAs. In March they organised 41 talks and 20 NVDAs. And these are only the ones we know about… which is pretty amazing!
If anyone else is organising speaker trainings or NVDA Train the Trainers, please do get in touch with eventsxr@gmail.com so that we can put them into our calendar and get as many attendees as possible.
Festivals group has confirmed 8 festivals over this summer. We’ll be there with our Rebel Rebel tent including Noisily, Shindig, Glastonbury, Byline, BlueDot, Wilderness, and Boomtown!
We are looking for more volunteers to join our Events Organisation team from different regions.
Other than that, we’ve finalised our new talks and workshop scripts in time for April, and now we’re ready to go on all fronts! We are looking to decentralise even more by helping to support more Talks & Trainings working groups of Local groups, all thanks to Robin’s new Local Links idea.
Communities
Regional Development
The regional development is pleased to welcome aboard a raft of new super proactive regional coordinators in the South East, South West and the North! We are now setting up regional art factories across the UK to ensure that the rebellion is fully equipped and colourful in April. Local groups are now preparing themselves for April by gearing up with more talks and NVDA trainings. We are still looking for regional coordinators in the Midlands so if you are keen and prepared to give just a few hours a week then please contact us at xr-regionaldevelopment@protonmail.com.
Integration
The main priority within Integration is bringing in committed volunteers with regular availability into key organising roles for the International Rebellion. We’ve advertised loudly for new volunteers and are inviting working group coordinators to update us on current requirements using THIS online form.
Tech
The Tech group has been working on a number of projects including bringing a new ticketing system online for tech support requests at tech@rebellion.earth, bringing our Basecamp system more in line with the Self-Organising System structure, getting our new website up to production standard, and increasing security and data protection across the XR organism. Talk about a busy month for Tech!
International Support
The International Support team has been working on facilitating conversations among different national XR teams in different countries and to build more connections across the international network. We’re working on twinning city/local groups and bringing representatives from specific work areas such as Media and Messaging together with similar national working groups in other countries to make sure that folks internationally are as up to date as possible with one another.
A European gathering has been organised for the 30-31st March in Brussels, bringing several national teams from across Europe together for the first time in the same space to meet face-to-face.
Finance and Fundraising
“Calling All Rebels” at the beginning of March gave a huge boost to our Crowdfunding campaign: an extra £40,000 in 10 days. But we are not there yet. Tell people around you that we have a rebellion to fund!
For donations, click here
This is an extract of what donors wrote: “Extinction Rebellion is the Earth’s last best chance – so there’s just no choice – we’re donating what we can afford and will be in London for the 2 weeks” – Jenny
“inspirational work – gives us all hope! Thank you to everyone who puts themselves out there to change hearts and minds” – Margaret
Self Organising System
We have a wonderful new, visual version of the XR Organism which shows who is a coordinator in different working groups. Check it out here.
Recently our recommendations for an XR Constitution were approved by the Anchor Circle. An exciting step towards a functioning Self Organising System! Curious about what the Anchor Circle is? Check out our explanation post here.
We are delighted to have a few new members on the team who will be looking at how we can share the SOS system with local groups, general trainings and to structure our debrief/feedback systems.
Please make sure you send us all the key documents and videos for your group to add to this spreadsheet. Info on how to do this here.
If you need help setting up the SOS system in your group please get in touch with xrmandates@gmail.com
SOS out!
Briefing: What’s faith got to do with Extinction? Learning to hold the world in our hearts
We live in a secular society where, for the last few hundred years, affairs of the heart and spirit have been firmly kept separate from the “worldly” affairs of power and politics. And yet many are longing for a deeper connection to one another and enlisting in actions of civil disobedience. This demonstrates that the craft of civil disobedience as a powerful force for societal transformation when held from the heart and with the intention of non-violence (see in particular Mark & Paul Engel’s book “This is an Uprising”).
We’re a group of people who practice our faith in many different ways: Jewish, Christian, Muslim, shamanic, healing practices, meditation, humanist and ‘nothing in particular’, to name a few. We have already developed several strands of action. Our first activity was to support a civil disobedience action, the ‘Blood of our Children’ on 9 March when some of our group held space at the beginning of the procession and helped hold the “field of intention” as we all gathered to hear the children and youth speak their truth.
One comment on the event: “This was an extremely moving event – more than I imagined, to be honest. And in part to this holding of sacred space.”
Creating “sacred space” may be no more than just telling people to put a hand on one another’s shoulder as we gather together, a remembrance of touch and togetherness uncommon in our atomised culture, the “sacredness” coming through an alignment of intentions through an action that, in its own small way, opens the heart.
We also now have an online “intention field” Facebook group, “Holding the World in our Hearts”, which we invite you to join. Together we hold the intention to move through our planetary crisis with “love in action” and “love in stillness”. We lean into the riches of our imagination and curiosity and through our hearts into leadership. Please join us and dedicate your sacred practices to this vision. We are planning regular ‘virtual meetups’ where we can contribute our love, our intentions and our spiritual and heart-led capacities for creating a more beautiful world. Please join us!
As we move towards International Rebellion, we intend to build our supportive capacities for working with civil disobedience action. We are also reaching out to faith communities in their churches, synagogues, mosques and other spiritual centres to invite them to the International Rebellion, to demonstrate “love in action” from each of their perspectives and help XR become a fractal pattern of the dynamic diversity we need to be. We are also supporting XR through creating materials to help in the transmission of “XR’s DNA”. We gave a taster of what we hope to bring to such DNA transmission training at the Spring Rebellion. There are plans for this to be rolled out as a “train the trainer” set of materials.
One member of our group is a professional who is not of any particular faith and said he felt a little bit excluded by many in our group who are on “journeys” of spiritual transformation. When he heard the statement below he felt it spoke to him, an ordinary guy in a job he liked and wanted to keep, but who felt fear at what he was hearing, wanted to protect his children and wanted to be reminded of what was important in life as it was easy to forget in a busy and stressed life. So finally, we would like to hear your thoughts on this: Does this speak to you, would you like to hear it read out at the beginning of the Regen Statement for XR meetings?
If you could please take 1 minute to answer “yes/no/yes with minor amendments” in this poll that would be AMAZING:
A Collective Intention:
Let us take a moment, this moment, to consider why we are here.
Let’s recall our love for the whole of humanity, in all corners of the world.
Let’s remember our love for this beautiful planet that feeds, nourishes and sustains us.
Let’s recollect our sincere desire to protect all this, for ourselves, for all living beings and for generations to come.
As we act today, may we find the courage to bring this sense of peace and appreciation to everyone we encounter, to every word we speak and to every action we make.
Thank you for turning up.
If you would like to be involved in this group’s activities please contact one of the coordinators, Mothiur or Skeena, or join the Basecamp group click here.
We went to the radical climate group’s offices to hear their plans for civil disobedience.
A coffin inside XR’s temporary headquarters. Photos: Jake Lewis
On Tuesday, as temperatures in London spiked at 21.2C – the warmest winter day on record – Extinction Rebellion (XR) gathered national media to lay out their next steps.
At the climate activism group’s temporary headquarters near Euston railway station, members spoke to the audience as brilliant February sunshine poured through the windows, as if to serve as a troubling reminder of why radical action is necessary. In XR’s case, that means mass civil disobedience as a way to force the government into actually doing something about our rapidly degrading environment – and if that ends in them being arrested, so be it.
XR co-founder Gail Bradbrook was fresh from an appearance at Westminster Magistrates Court. She and five others had been charged with criminal damage – Bradbrook allegedly spray-painted “frack off” on a government building – and all had pleaded not guilty. It had been an emotional day, not least because the judge was, coincidentally, sending them for trial on the 16th of April, a day after XR begin their full-scale international rebellion with coordinated actions on the 15th.
Gail Bradbrook
At times, Bradbrook appeared upset as she delivered an abridged version of XR’s frank and profound talk on the appalling state of the climate. We heard how when it comes to damage control, all we have done to date is “rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic”, and were repeatedly reminded of how “fucked” we all are. But Bradbrook offered nuggets of optimism too, and issued a call to arms to help restore our world.
Hope at XR comes in the form of action. “We can’t just leave it to the COP, we can’t just leave it to the Climate Change Committee’s review of the UK’s long-term target to sort it out,” insisted Farhana Yamin, a climate change lawyer and XR activist. “Because the entire system is out of kilter, out of touch, and it is certainly not working fast enough.”
Farhana Yamin
XR is planning a relentless campaign of disruptive yet peaceful civil disobedience ahead of the dawn of the sustained rebellion in April, when it is expected that tens of thousands of people will shut down London indefinitely, until the government takes meaningful action over what XR call the “environment emergency”. Multiple actions over the coming weeks will serve as a means to “normalise” mass uprisings, but are also designed to educate and entertain. Some, however, will perhaps trigger shock and even alarm.
A torrent of symbolic, artificial blood will flood Downing Street to create “a sea of red” on the 9th of March, when hundreds of XR members say they are prepared to be arrested as part of The Blood of our Children protest. The idea is to make the gravity of the climate crisis viscerally clear.
Banners in the temporary XR headquarters
“There will be parents and children, as well as people taking on arrestable roles, like me, who want to make a point about intergenerational injustice,” said Paolo, an XR member. “The idea is to find that sweet spot where the police are obliged to arrest you, but it’s totally non-violent and peaceful. The people who’ve committed criminal damage will sit on the ground and wait to be arrested.”
Young people who have “inherited” the climate crisis are also mobilising among themselves. An XR youth faction was formed just days ago and now has eight members. Robin is 24 and a founding member of XR Youth. He joked that it’s his mum’s 60th birthday soon and that he might not be around for it if he’s arrested.
“We want to represent the youth voice,” he told me outside XR HQ, where he was about to lead a non-violent direct action training session for a group of young people. “If you were born in 1990 or later, you’ve never experienced a normal climate, so we’ve set that as our age range. We are the generation of fucked up climate, and we are the generation that’s going to take it forward.”
The temporary XR headquarters
Training people in peaceful rebellion is key to XR’s mission. Workshops are held most days of the week in local groups across the country, but next month will see the movement stage “mass rebellion training for thousands, with a festival atmosphere” at its Spring Uprising in Bristol.
More than a dozen music acts are confirmed, and there will be an art factory, a regenerative sanctuary and solution-focused talks. Alongside the training, this party element of the weekend event is key, said XR member and festival organiser Tiana Jacout, who was introduced to me as the “brains behind the bridges occupation”, i.e. the action in November of 2018 when thousands of XR members blockaded five bridges in central London.
The temporary XR headquarters
But perhaps the most effective way to seize people’s attention is by going after the very thing that is consuming the nation: Brexit. Although XR does not take a view on leaving the European Union, it is gathering hundreds of people to block the motorway out of Dover as part of its No Brexit on a Dead Planet event on the 30th of March. The action is designed to demonstrate that we could be looking at rioting on the streets if food supplies collapse, not because of Brexit, but climate change.
“It’s phenomenal that while your house is on fire, all the government can do is squabble about getting a slightly shittier trade deal with their closest allies,” said Jacout. “People are squabbling over how food will get to England and not looking at the larger picture of whether there is food available to come to here in the first place.”
