The Extinction Rebellion (XR) climate change campaign says it will temporarily suspend its use of public disruption tactics because “little has changed.”
Over the past 12 months, protesters at XR, Insulate Britain and most recently Just Stop Oil have wreaked havoc on drivers and others on their daily commute.
Climate activists have been arrested after blocking traffic, locking and gluing locks, and spray painting buildings. But despite this, XR says, “little has changed. Emissions continue to rise and our planet is dying at an accelerated rate.”
“As we enter the new year, we will make a controversial resolution to temporarily move away from public turmoil as a key tactic,” it said. in a statement dated December 31.
“We recognize and celebrate the power of chaos to set the alarm and believe that an ever-evolving tactic is a necessary approach,” XR wrote.
“What is most needed now is to destroy the abuses and imbalances of power and bring about a transition to a just society working together to end the fossil fuel age. and bloating profits, and cannot do so without pressure.
It’s stepping up now, as “multiple crises” helped make this “time to seize the moment.”
Activists believe issues such as the cost of living crisis and ongoing strikes may help provide “a unique opportunity to mobilize and overcome traditional divisions.”
XR is calling for 100,000 people to surround the Capitol on April 21.
“Instead of leaving locks, glue and paint behind, the large crowds that surround the Capitol each day demonstrate our trust in a critical mass of people to create moments that cannot be ignored. means.”
XR is a coalition partner of the Climate Emergency Fund. The Climate Emergency Fund itself is funded by her Aileen Getty, Rebecca Rockefeller Lambert, and Peter Gill Case, billionaire oil heirs of the Getty and Rockefeller family.
Groups like XR have been accused of having “disruptive agendas.”
2019 report (pdfAccording to the Policy Exchange by ), former head of the London Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command, Richard Walton, said XR will seek to use mass civil disobedience to climate change to impose complete systemic changes on the democratic order. claimed to be a campaign.
Walton said XR calls for a “more disruptive agenda rooted in political extremism such as anarchism, eco-socialism and radical anti-capitalist environmentalism.”
In response to the report, XR said it was a “massive civil disobedience movement with non-violent principles at its core.”
law of public order
Climate action has enacted new legislation in the UK.
The government’s police, crime, sentencing and courts laws are enacted, providing more sentences to criminals convicted of committing vandalism and giving police more flexibility in how they manage protests. became.
Measures in the security bill designed to prevent guerrilla tactics by eco-activists give police powers to manage such protests.Invoice is now at the reporting stage.
The proposed Public Order Act would create new crimes that sabotage infrastructure such as oil refineries, airports, railroads and printing presses.
Such violations are punishable by up to 12 months imprisonment, unlimited fines, or both.
People can be jailed for six months or face unlimited fines for “locking on” or “equipped to lock onto” other people, things, or buildings and causing “serious disruption.” there is.
A new crime of tunneling to cause serious disruption has also been created, which can carry a maximum sentence of three years in prison and an unlimited fine.
An offense is also created to equip the tunnel.
just turn off the oil
To highlight that the climate change group Just Stop Oil, which is funded by the Climate Emergency Fund, is calling on the UK government to begin a process to phase out fossil fuel production in the country. are conducting destructive protests.
In 2022, the UK government has sent 138 Just Stop Oil supporters to prison.
and new year’s day statementJust Stop Oil said that everyone “has an obligation to participate in the civil resistance”.
“The actions taken by Just Stop Oil proponents would be unacceptable under normal circumstances, but for now the public has no choice,” he wrote.
“This is not a question of polar bears or puffins, it is a question of who eats and how they survive. We have the legal right to defend,” the group added.
PA Media and Alexander Zhang contributed to this report.
Owen Evans is a UK-based journalist with a particular interest in civil liberties and free speech, covering stories from a wide variety of countries.