The environmental group Extinction Rebellion returned to the streets of the United Kingdom today to protest against official inaction on climate change, and in solidarity with the activists arrested at last April’s demonstrations.
We are here to demand that the legal system assume its responsibility in the face of this crisis, and also to stand in solidarity with activists around the world who sacrifice their freedom to fight for climate justice, explained the environmental organization.
Unlike last April, when protests were concentrated for 11 days in London, protesters closed the streets in Cardiff, Glasgow, Bristol and Leeds, as well as the capital.
In each of these cities, Extinction Rebellion deployed boats of different colors, each named after one of its members who were arrested three months ago and must be brought to justice this week.
In the case of London, the blue boat that sailed several streets from the centre of the city to ‘anchor’ in front of the seat of the Royal Court of Justice, was named Polly Higgins, in honour of a lawyer who died last April, and who dedicated her life to fighting for ecocide to be classified as a crime.
Extinction Rebellion, which claims to have 331 branches in 49 countries and requires the British government to declare a climate emergency, announced that this time they are planning a ‘summer revolt’ of five days.
The environmental group also demands that the authorities take legally binding measures to reduce to zero the carbon emissions that cause the so-called greenhouse effect, and that they allow the citizen assemblies to approve the action plan against the environmental tragedy that is approaching.
Following last April’s protests, the House of Commons declared a climate emergency, and subsequently the Government announced that by 2050, the UK will reduce its emissions to zero.
The day before, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said, however, that the conservative executive hides the country’s true contribution to climate change by measuring only the carbon footprint associated with production and not consumption.
That is not reducing global emissions, but passing the ball to the poorest countries, said Corbyn, who said that if he came to power, his party would show real international leadership, making the United Kingdom the first world economy to measure both the emissions it imports and those it produces.
