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 WELCOME TO
HEADING FOR EXTINCTION
(AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT)
 WHAT
BRINGS
YOU
HERE
TODAY?
A BRIEF NOTE ABOUT EXTINCTION REBELLION

XR is a NON-VIOLENT direct action

civil protest organisation

We aim to save humanity from

extinction…
 WE NEED TO
OVERCOME
COLLECTIVE DENIAL
OF THE ECOLOGICAL CRISIS
INFORMATION IN THIS TALK MIGHT LEAD TO YOU FEELING…

• Grief
• Anger
• Denial
• Numbness
• Shock
• Relief…
AIM OF THIS TALK

PART 1 PART 2
THE TRUTH WHAT WE NEED
TO DO
AIM OF THIS TALK

PART 1
THE TRUTH
THE EARTH IS OUR ONLY LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM
WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF DESTROYING IT

WE ARE DESTROYING ITS CLIMATE

WE ARE DESTROYING ITS ECOLOGY

WE ARE DESTROYING OUR FUTURE

FIRST LET’S LOOK AT CLIMATE
 GREENHOUSE GASES KEEP EARTH WARM

CARBON DIOXIDE
SUN
METHANE

WATER VAPOUR
WE HAVE BEEN PUMPING GREENHOUSE GASES INTO THE
ATMOSPHERE AND THE EARTH IS GETTING HOTTER

SUN
CARBON DIOXIDE
METHANE
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS ARE SKYROCKETING
Industrial age began
GLOBAL TEMPERATURES ARE SKYROCKETING

Source: IPCC Special report Climate change and land use (2019)
THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC)
WHY THE FUSS ABOUT SUCH A SMALL TEMPERATURE RISE?

Cool
Frequency

Normal
Hot
Excessive heat occurs
far more often

Temperature
Because even a small change in an average temperature can produce a
large change in extreme weather events and climates
WE HAVEN’T SEEN +2°C FOR 130000 YEARS…
…and +4°C for several million years

+4° C
+2° C
HEATING IMPACTS ALREADY BEING FELT GLOBALLY
 IMPACTS ALREADY BEING FELT IN THE UK
● 2003 Heatwave killed 70000 Europe-wide
● 2014 Worst rainfall in 248 years
● 2019 Welsh village of Fairbourne to be
decommissioned due to sea level rise

● 2018: Hottest summer on record in UK

● Accident & emergency saw record numbers
● Rise in heart failure, kidney failure and dehydration
● Vegetable yields down by 50% in parts of UK
WHAT HAPPENS IF WE CARRY ON HEATING UP THE EARTH?
CONSEQUENCES FOR “BUSINESS AS USUAL”
● Accelerating sea level rise due to melting ice and
thermal expansion; coastal flooding & storm surges
● Stronger atmospheric weather systems with strong
storms, droughts, wildfires, desertification & crop failure
● Deaths due to heat stress
● Famine, water shortages, displacement of
people from their homes
● War
AMPLIFIERS THAT MAY TRIGGER FURTHER HEATING
Ice loss reducing cooling Methane release from frozen stores
MULTIPLE INTERACTING FACTORS COULD COMBINE TO CREATE
A HOTHOUSE EARTH
THAT WAS ONLY HALF OF THE PROBLEM…
WE ARE ALSO DESTROYING THE PLANET’S ECOLOGY
THE EARTH HAS LAND AND OCEAN ECOSYSTEMS
AND WE ARE DESTROYING BOTH
HIGH-INTENSITY AGRICULTURE HAS REPLACED WILDERNESS
DE-FORESTATION IS REDUCING CARBON DRAWDOWN,
BIODIVERSITY & MOISTURE RETENTION
THE END RESULT OF THESE PROCESSES IS DESERTIFICATION
OCEANS ARE EQUALLY VITAL TO OUR SURVIVAL

The oceans are a carbon sink, oxygen source

and supply much of our food
Ocean heating reduces dissolved O2, kills ecosystems,
disturbs ocean currents and melts icecaps
WE HAVE BEGUN EARTH’S 6th MASS EXTINCTION
MOST MAMMALIAN BIOMASS (FLESH) IS NO LONGER WILD

10000 years ago Today

WE INHERITED A WORLD OF RICHNESS THAT OUR
DESCENDANTS MAY NOT GET TO ENJOY
 AND BY DESTROYING OUR FOOD WEB, WE ARE
SAWING OFF THE BRANCH WE ARE STANDING ON
 TIME
FOR
REFLECTION
Break & talk to neighbour about what
you have just heard
 PART 2
WHAT WE NEED
TO DO
 MORAL OBLIGATIONS TO ACT

“Why didn’t you stop this

when you still could?”
 OUR MORAL OBLIGATIONS:

• To other living humans (ecological justice)

• To future humans (intergenerational fairness)
• To ourselves (right to rebel in self-protection)
• To the other living things that share this planet
ALSO:
Destroying this beautiful living jewel is an act of
unforgiveable vandalism
LOOKED AT LIKE THIS, THE QUESTION
BECOMES NOT:
“WHY SHOULD WE FIX THIS?”
BUT

“HOW CAN WE NOT?”

WHAT HAVE WE TRIED TO DO ALREADY?

GLOBALLY:
Several global climate summits over
several decades
• Rio • Kyoto • Paris
WHAT HAVE WE TRIED TO DO ALREADY?
LOCALLY:
Numerous approaches to making changes locally
(within each country)
• Political • Legal • Campaigning • Individual action
 NONE OF THIS HAS WORKED
Latest = 415

CO2 ppm
(parts
per million)
 WHY HASN’T IT WORKED?

Structural problems
• Short-termism of democracy
• Capitalism’s failure to cost the future
• Need for action to be collective (global)
 WE NEED A
NEW
APPROACH
“There are no rules for
keeping fossil fuel in the
ground so we cannot win
this by playing by the
rules”
Greta Thunberg
 FLOUTING THE RULES: CIVIL RESISTANCE
Non-violent direct action (NVDA)

Mahatma Gandhi Rosa Parks Martin Luther King

"Any man who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and willingly accepts the
penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community on the injustice of the
law is at that moment expressing the very highest respect for law.“
Martin Luther King
 ELEMENTS OF CIVIL RESISTANCE

• NON-VIOLENT
• A lot of people (thousands)
• Focused on the capital city where the power is
• Need to be disruptive (break law) to get attention
• Prolonged so as to inflict economic damage
• Fun
 INTRODUCING
EXTINCTION REBELLION!
• Formed in 2018 as part of the social-change
movement Rising Up
• Declaration of Rebellion in October 2018
• London Bridges blockades propelled it into
public awareness
• Has grown rapidly since
EXTINCTION REBELLION HAS NOW ACHIEVED A GLOBAL REACH
 SOME OF OUR ACHIEVEMENTS

• Declaration of rebellion • Rebellion day – 5 bridges

• Hundreds of local groups • Blood of our children
• Many actions • April London Rebellion
• Spread worldwide • And many other things!
OUR THREE DEMANDS

1. Tell the truth about the ecological crisis and

declare a climate emergency

2. Greenhouse gas net-zero & halting of

biodiversity loss by 2025

3. Citizens’ assembly on climate and ecological

justice
 WHY 2025?

500
480
460
1. Emissions are
440 Because 2050 (current skyrocketing too fast
CO2 ppm 420
(parts govt target) is too late
400
per million)
380
to prevent catastrophe 2. 2050 allows the
360 current government to
340
320
shunt responsibility onto
300 future governments
280

1600 1800 2000

YEAR
2025 means ACT NOW
Before we have driven
ourselves off the cliff
that’s in front of us
 WHY IS XR’s 3rd DEMAND FOR A

CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLY?
“A citizens’ assembly is a group of people who are brought
together to discuss an issue or issues, and reach a
conclusion about what they think should happen. The
people who take part are chosen so they reflect the wider
population – in terms of demographics (e.g. age, gender,
ethnicity, social class) and sometimes relevant attitudes
(e.g. preferences for a small or large state).”

https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees
 HOW A C.A WORKS
1 3 5
Randomly Read Draft & vote on
select citizens submissions recommendations
(sortition) from public

2 4 6
Hear from Facilitated Govt reviews &
experts, deliberation in implements
stakeholders small groups
 WHY DO WE WANT A CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLY?

● Can take the long view

● Free from corporate influences
● Truly representative of the population
● Trusted by the public
● Has been effective before (Ireland, Poland)
EXTINCTION REBELLION PRACTICALITIES – HOW WE WORK
We are
NON-VIOLENT
“When it gets down to having to use
violence, then you are playing the
system’s game… Because once they’ve
got you violent, then they know how to
handle you. The only thing they don’t
know how to handle is non-violence and
humour.”
John Lennon
We are
DE-CENTRALISED
Local groups
Affinity groups
Working groups
Coordinating groups
We have a
REGENERATIVE CULTURE
Our core activities are
ACTIONS
SOME ACTIONS ARE CONCEIVED AND PLANNED LOCALLY

“Die-in” Banner-hanging
(Yeovil) (St Albans Clock Tower)
SOME ARE CONCEIVED AND PLANNED NATIONALLY

THE APRIL 2019 LONDON REBELLION

PUBLIC SUPPORT SURGED AFTER THE APRIL REBELLION
“ARRESTABLES” ARE THE HEART OF OUR ACTIONS
But you don’t have to get arrested!

For every person who is

“arrestable” there are
20+ supportive others
HOW YOU COULD CONTRIBUTE TIME, SKILLS & TALENT
FOR EXAMPLE YOU COULD:
● Moderate a Facebook page
● Produce art
● Attend actions
● Join/coordinate a working group
● Organise/present a talk
● Start a local group
 WHY GET INVOLVED?
SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

• We’re the only game in town for radically changing course

• How will you explain inaction to your children/grandchildren?
• Positive action is therapeutic (also fun!)
• It’s a chance to meet amazing people and do something worthwhile
• It means being on the right side of history
THE AUTUMN UPRISING – STARTS OCTOBER 7
 HOW TO JOIN IN!!!
1. Fill out the form or visit
https://rebellion.earth/act-now/join-us/
GET INVOLVED
2. Find your Local group
https://rebellion.earth/act-now/local-groups/

3. Join them on Facebook to find out when/where

their next meeting is

4. Offer your time (as little or as much as you

want) and share your skills
Thank you for caring! ♥

https://rebellion.earth/act-now/join-us/