The organisers of a large-scale planned climate emergency action have said that People do not need to glue themselves to anything in order to protest about the climate crisis this weekend.
According to reports, the Big One, which is planned by a coalition of groups brought together by Extinction Rebellion to coincide with Earth Day on Saturday, will be four days of protest and events that they say will be “family-friendly” and “engaging”.
But XR has also issued two demands: that all licences, approvals and funding for fossil fuel projects must end, and that the UK government must create emergency citizens’ assemblies to lead on fair, long-term solutions. The organisation says the government must engage with the demands by 5pm on Monday, and that if it does not, “unprecedented” civil disobedience will follow.
The organisers have said that the main focus of this weekend, however, is creating a welcoming space for people to come and protest about the climate crisis, with no disruption.
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“We want to bring people together, to create a space where people feel they can make their voices heard,” said a spokesperson for XR. “This is not going to be about disruption, it’s about bringing more people and more big groups together – unions, social justice groups, environmental groups, some of whom have never worked together before. People don’t need to glue themselves to anything, just come and join us.”
Several concerns were said to have been raised over the fact that the London marathon might be interrupted. However, the organisers of both events say they have agreed to coexist peacefully, although it is still possible that smaller activist groups or individuals may choose the marathon as a target.
Environmental groups in the UK have struggled with a reputation for being dominated by white, middle-class people for a couple of decades, but XR has been partially focused on improving the diversity of the movement in the last few months.
The coalition includes unions, environment groups, social justice groups and some businesses; among the signatories are Keep Britain Tidy, Avaaz, Friends of the Earth, Ecotricity, Patagonia and Cafod.
While there will be pickets outside various government departments in Westminster on Friday, a large family-friendly march is planned for Saturday. Sunday will see action at the Home Office, and on Monday the groups plan to hold a “What’s Next” assembly.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
