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Will disruptive action help save the planet?
Is there any point throwing soup at a Van Gogh painting and mashed potato at a Monet? Two activists give their views
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Climate change activism is no longer enough – it’s time to become ‘doists’
It’s too late to wait for governments – we need to start acting, in the communities where we live, in the places where we work, to make ourselves resilient
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There should be no more Cop climate summits. We need an alternative that could actually work
Our civilisation is launching out at full pelt over a cliff. What happened recently in Glasgow – the creation of a super-leaky, near-corrupt climate market; the pledge to come back next year with better promises on emissions reduction; the weird verbal diarrhoea of “phasing down” coal – has made no difference to that fact. Our “leaders” have failed us. Some people, many of whom should know better, have set aside the failure (because, in truth, that’s what it was) of this year’s talks with assurances that we can “come back next year and try again”. My response is that it will be the same old thing – they’ve had 26…
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Why Insulate Britain needs a more positive strategy
Extinction Rebellion (XR) worked. From its launch to the end of the first Rebellion in April 2019, which precipitated meetings with the Government and its subsequent climate emergency declaration, the strategy proved to be successful. Climate-consciousness in the UK was raised, permanently – there was no going back. And yet, XR also didn’t work – in the sense that our country is still emitting deadly pollution like there’s no tomorrow, with efforts to adapt to the effects of the climate crisis nowhere to be seen. An even more radical ‘radical flank’ XR was formed as a ‘radical flank’ to existing eco-organisations, but this has evidently reached a limit. So what…
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A new way of taking on the Murdoch empire
I’ve launched a new ‘campaign’ to double-down on the consumer boycott of Murdoch papers that many of us have been participating in ever since Wapping. I am suggesting that it isn’t enough to not buy Murdoch’s media-products. We need also, those of us to whom this is relevant, to not buy into them: i.e. we need to stop being sources for them… I’ve made this gambit initially by myself. I hope others will come on board with me. Some already have; but many more will be needed if this campaign is to win. And it’s a hard ask. Writers are afraid of being black-listed. Activists are afraid of losing even…
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I’m Boycotting Murdoch Until Climate Truth is Front Page News
There’s nothing more reckless than denying the risk that our civilisation faces from the changes we are rapidly bringing about in our ecosystems and atmosphere. And there’s nothing more irresponsible than the powerful lashing out at the powerless when the powerless dare to call out that recklessness. “This is censorship of a free press” was the cry of outrage from the power elite against the blockading of Rupert Murdoch’s printworks, at the height of Extinction Rebellion’s actions recently. But some perspective is desperately needed. What XR did was to delay or block some print newspapers for oneday – to make the point that it believes the press isn’t free. It…
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Why I Was Willing to be Arrested, Protesting Against Tufton Street Climate Deniers
The climate and ecological emergency consuming the world, usually, defies the imagination. It is so life-altering yet so gradual – exploiting the human tendency to ignore things that are radically outside our own experience. Yet, thanks to the Coronavirus, we have been given a small taste of what is to come. The short COVID-19 pandemic is like an accelerated version of the long climate emergency. The UK’s vulnerability has been exposed, along with the incompetence of its Government, and the generosity of its people. So, myself and other activists have decided to use the Coronavirus crisis as impetus to boost our climate change campaigning – putting pressure on the powerful…
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A letter to real power: a letter to us
When I heard that Culture Declares emergency was organising a series of ‘Letters to Power’, I thought to myself: “Rupert, you should probably write one”. You see, I have spent much of my life attempting to talk to, persuade, even beg those with power – our elected leaders, heads of banks and businesses, big organisations or media companies, for example. I have written many, many letters to power before. Though to be frank, it’s been largely pointless; while some appear to listen, most fail to hear and even more refuse to act. Trying once again felt a bit like bashing my head against a brick wall. I felt my enthusiasm…
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Activist engagement with the 'Davos set'
One man’s promise of putting less than ten percent of his wealth towards climate action generated a lot of media attention. It sounded like it might make a difference, as he – Jeff Bezos – is the world’s richest man. Could this be the sign of things to come, as more of the world’s billionaires resist a narrow pursuit of profit, power and fame to try and save humanity from environmental disaster? If so, could seasoned activists like us find useful ways to engage these people and generate a quantum leap in impact? After all, the situation is bleak, and everything should be considered. To expolore this, we spent some…
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Friends In Need
Extinction Rebellion and Davos sound like odd bedfellows. Why would a direct-action campaign, increasingly visible in the United Kingdom for warning starkly about the climate emergency, want to rub shoulders with the global financial elite at its main annual forum in Switzerland? The answer is that robust green activism turns out, when you think it through, to be high finance’s best friend. Extinction Rebellion (XR) is a mass movement which, in the face of the climate crisis, is prepared to take any non-violent means necessary to force a truthful national and global conversation. It’s no coincidence it started in Britain. The Industrial Revolution triggered what has grown into dangerous climate…
