Protests Can Change Climate Crisis Politics

Rebels With A Cause; Extinction Rebellion succeeded where most climate protests fail

Akshat Rathi, May 1, 2019 (Quartz)

“…[Between 2006 and 2014, UN reports and] climate protests did not lead to a single debate in the British parliament but the UK’s Parliament just passed a motion calling] on the government to declare an environment and climate emergency…[That is] one of three demands of Extinction Rebellion, a grassroots environmental group that used civil disobedience to cause disruption on roads and public transport…Extinction Rebellion has changed the paradigm of climate protests…[For 10 days in April, it] occupied major junctions across London…Some protestors painted graffiti on the headquarters of oil giant Shell…Others glued themselves to trains, delaying commuters’ journeys. Still others blocked the entrance to the London Stock Exchange, calling on the financial industry to act…

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[Their tactics] led to more than 1,000 arrests…[and, along with naturalist David Attenborough and Swedish teen protestor Greta Thunberg,] set a new record for the number of times ‘climate change’ was mentioned in the UK press…Extinction Rebellion was launched after a UN report published in October last year…found that the world could avoid as much as $30 trillion in damages if it chose the more ambitious target set under the Paris climate agreement to keep global average temperatures from rising above 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial times…[It has shown protests can lead to legislative change.] Will groups in other countries do the same?” click here for more

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