Claire Dickson

‘This is an emergency.’ The first words one sees on the Extinction Rebellion global website are testament to its mission in uniting to protect the planet. The organisation views climate action as a moral duty, no matter the politics of the individual. Previous protesting has included disrupting roads and public transport in an effort to ‘shut down London’ and bring attention to the cause. Extinction Rebellion has also been known to use mass arrest as a tactic in gaining attention by wasting police time and disrupting others.

The organisation encourages people to participate in protest due to government inaction in not doing enough to protect its citizens, resources, biodiversity, the planet and the future in a more general sense. Differentiating themselves from other climate action groups, Extinction Rebellion advocates for Citizens’ Assemblies which governments around the world would be led by on tackling decisions politicians don’t want to. These would be set up to aid governments in coming up with solutions and systematic changes which need to be put in place alongside trying to manage this on a timescale in line with science.

But recently the organisation has made the decision to temporarily shift away from using public disruption as their primary tactic. In a statement shared on social media on January 1, 2023, Extinction Rebellion said that at a time when “speaking out and taking action are criminalised, building collective power, strengthening in number and thriving through bridge-building is a radical act.”

It can also be noted that they are placing emphasis on finding common ground and uniting to face up to a persistent rise in emissions and the planet dying at an accelerating rate. They believe this is the best way forward as it will ensure they cannot be ignored. However, this decision to stop using public disruption is only temporary and is in the lead up to the ‘Choose Your Future’ event on April 21. The event will take place at the Houses of Parliament in London and is hoping to attract 100,000 protestors to advance the cause.

A young Extinction Rebellion activist from Belfast, Anna Kernahan, commented that the event in London needs to be one which doesn’t cause disruption, because of the aim to have 100,000 people in the same place at the same time. Ensuring the event runs smoothly will allow everyone to get involved with proceedings.

However, they also added that events run by Extinction Rebellion have consistently been peaceful, never involving violence towards anyone. The difference this decision is making to the actions of Extinction Rebellion is to temporarily lessen illegal actions carried out by protestors. Intentions of Extinction Rebellion with regards to what the event hopes to persuade the government to put in place to counter climate breakdown will be revealed closer to the time. However, Kernahan also added that the vision will be closely linked to the aims of its previous global actions.

Claire Dickson is Deputy Head of The Scoop and a Politics student at Queen’s University Belfast

Extinction Rebellion's move away from public disruption