Extinction Rebellion

"We are facing an unprecedented global emergency. Our children and our nation face grave risk.

The planet is in ecological crisis, we are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction event this planet has experienced. Scientists believe we may have entered a period of abrupt climate breakdown.


The earth’s atmosphere is already over 1°C warmer than pre-industrial levels. The chance of staying below the 2°C warming agreed upon in the Paris agreement are tiny.
Recent projections show we are on course for 3 degrees of warming and potentially much higher.
Children alive today in the UK will face unimaginable horrors as a result of floods, wildfires, extreme weather, crop failures and the inevitable breakdown of society when the pressures are so great.
We are unprepared for the danger our future holds.

The time for denial is over - we know the truth about climate change and we know the truth about current biological annihilation.

It's time to act like that truth is real.

What does living with this truth call us to do? Will you die knowing you did all you were able to?"

 The 'Extinction Rebellion' is an intiative I happened upon from a Gaurdian article with the title: 'We have a duty to act': hundreds ready to go to jail over climate crisis.' Initially I thought this was somehow linked with recent jailing due to UK based protests over fracking, however as I read further I saw it was a new movement encouraging "repeated acts of disruptive, non-violent civil disobedience" in the face of a "political system (that) has completely failed us – it shows a total lack of urgency and is backing policies based on wishful thinking. They encourage 'self autonomy' and 'holocracy' which involves management and organization through self-structured teams, removing the hierarchical essence of project management and increasing transparency, innovation and accountability within structures and systems. Their specific aims and ethos are mapped out in a 'Decleration of Rebellion:

They also have produced a set of demands and goals for the project.

I am always slightly dubious of 'social-mobility-for-progressive-change' projects such as this, mainly due to our existence in the social media age which makes initiatives like this extremely business-viable  and fashionable. This is underlined by the fact that people like a charitable cause to get behind, and if this is combined with viral marketing techniques, fashionable branding and utilization of social media channels, many can be convinced in support of something whilst 'leaving their critical mind at the door' so to speak. A couple of great examples of this was the popularity of silicone cause-awareness wristbands during my school years wherein the bands themselves became collectibles to such an extent that true critical engagement with any of the causes involved was completely cast to the wayside. This trend was so massive it even inspired a satirical South Park episode aptly named; "A S'Cause for Applause"

Another very memorable example is of the Kony 2012 campaign which captured the hearts and minds of millions around the globe with one of the most watched viral videos in web history, a 30 minute documentary film promoted through social media channels such as Facebook. However the ethos of the company behind the initiative had questionable morals.