“It’s maintaining hope in people because people are feeling so worn out by the inaction,” said Steven from Cardiff, who joined the summer uprising in the city in July. How did they come so far, so quickly? The Observer has watched the movement at work in city centres, at festivals and meetings across the UK to try to find out. Government has to act Jules Bywater, Cardiff protester People think going vegan and recycling will stop climate change – it won’t. In a bid to pre-empt the action, on Saturday police raided a warehouse in south London and arrested nine activists, charging them with conspiracy to cause a public nuisance and obstruct the highway.
Government buildings, airports and financial districts will all be targeted with protests aiming for maximum disruption to provoke urgent political action. There are now an estimated 485 Extinction Rebellion affiliates across the globe and, over the next fortnight, they are promising to shut down 60 cities, including London, New York, Buenos Aires, Sydney, Cape Town and Mumbai. It’s unique – I can’t think of any historically happening in that way.” “For the first time, you have ordinary people engaging with radical action.
“We have seen protest movements on climate change before, but they haven’t attracted anywhere near as many people or had as much impact,” said Clare Saunders, professor in environmental politics at Exeter University. In fewer than 12 months, Extinction Rebellion has become the fastest-growing environmental organisation in the world. The hope was to turn a national uprising into an international one by March. Last October, the journalist and activist George Monbiot introduced the group in the national press, a homegrown movement “devoted to disruptive, non-violent disobedience in protest against ecological collapse”. While its actions may seem controversial in some quarters, Extinction Rebellion’s rise and influence have undoubtedly been extraordinary, galvanising young and old across party lines. In London last week, dressed in funereal black, rebels tried to paint the Treasury red using 1,800 litres of fake blood and an old fire engine with a sign reading “stop funding climate death”. They have been accused of “ pulling 83,000 officers away from their normal duties” according to the police and costing Scotland Yard £16m.
I n the last week alone, members of Extinction Rebellion have been described as ecomaniacs ( Daily Mail), ecoradicals ignoring our economic doom ( Times), dangerous and a bloody mess ( Daily Telegraph).
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