10 May Multimedia submission – Hannah Crowe
Extinction Rebellion Brings London To A Much Needed Standstill
Extinction Rebellion Brings London To A Much Needed Standstill
Extinction Rebellion have been wreaking peaceful havoc on the capital for the last few weeks, with protests and demonstrations planned to continue in London and the rest of the UK. There have been over 1,000 arrests so far, but as Hannah Crowe argues, the group have mobilised at an important moment in history. With a government focused on Brexit, protestors are concerned the ticking time bomb of global warming is being overlooked.
The Extinction Rebellion protesters have brought major areas like Marble Arch, Waterloo and Oxford Circus to a complete standstill, prompting criticism from Conservative MP Boris Johnson who labelled protestors “Smug, irritating and disruptive”.
Disruption is a key element of the campaign’s plan of action. They say interference with public transport and daily routine is a “necessary evil” to bring about change. The campaigners list three demands on their website they want the government to implement:
- Tell the truth by declaring a climate emergency
- Act now to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2025
- Allow leadership by the Citizens Assembly on climate and ecological justice
With science on their side and public frustration over Brexit growing, many would argue that Extinction Rebellion have timed their protests with great precision.
Over the last three decades, there has been a steady rise in global temperatures. With every year warmer than the last, the implications for continued life on earth are dire – experts say the earth has warmed around 1 degree since the industrial revolution, with a recent UN report claiming humans are inching closer to irreversible damage, which would be experienced at a 2 degrees celsius rise.
“Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts.”
Because of greenhouse emissions, flooding and rainfall has seen a 50% surge this decade. These events are happening four times as frequently as they were in 1980 according to the National Climate Assessment. In discussing a new approach to predict how global temperature will respond to humans, author and McGill University physics Professor Shaun Lovejoy says that “Drastic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are needed in order to avoid catastrophic warming.” Sadly, this view hasn’t been easy to hammer home, especially when important world leaders like President Donald Trump don’t believe in climate change. Trump famously withdrew America from the Paris Climate Agreement in 2017, in a “reassertion of America’s sovereignty.”
At the protest in Oxford Circus, there was no shortage of voices from the generation likely to be hit hardest by climate change. Angyalka is a 22 year old student at Goldsmiths, who like many others here, is concerned about her future. “We can’t leave this to the people in power who do nothing. The only way we can change our future is by demanding action and causing disruption, that’s why I’m here.”
Two years ago, researchers and activists who would later form Extinction Rebellion held meetings to discuss why campaigning usually failed to implement change in the UK. They developed a plan of action to cause disruption, and breaking of laws. According to their research, this was the only way to make people listen. The group have been monumentally successful, and on Thursday the British government became the first in history to declare a national climate emergency, Extinction Rebellion’s first demand. A few days later, the United Nations published a damning report that said 1 million species are now at risk of extinction due to human activity. It appears Extinction Rebellion have risen just in the nick of time.
