SHEFFIELD JOINS THE INTERNATIONAL WEEK OF REBELLION

Press Release for Action on 15th April

Sheffield Joins the International Week of Rebellion

• On Monday 15th April, Extinction Rebellion Sheffield will join the international week of

rebellion.

• Climate Rebels from all over the country will converge on London to shut the city down and demand immediate action on climate change.

• Members of Extinction Rebellion Sheffield will target the centres of power through mass participation civil disobedience actions including roadblocks, street festivals, spoken word protests and die-ins.

On Monday 15th April, Sheffield climate rebels will join those around the country in converging on London to demand immediate action on the climate emergency from our government. These demands will be made through a series of non-violent direct action protests. Roads will be blocked at four major sites, a spoken word chorus will ring out through the streets, youth protesters will flood through the city and well known musicians will perform. If the government continues to ignore our demands for action then the rebellion will have no choice but to create disruption on London’s transport systems. Meanwhile, shows of solidarity will be held outside the Peace Gardens by those who cannot travel to the capital (https://www.facebook.com/events/425576178232634/.)

The climate emergency is the greatest challenge that humanity faces. Climate change is not something that will only occur in the distant future. 17 of the 18 warmest years in the 136-year record having occurred since 2001 (https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/). In 2017, glaciers across the world lost mass for the 38th consecutive year on record. Cumulatively since 1980, this loss is equivalent to slicing 22 meters off the top of the average glacier (Blunden, J., D. S. Arndt, and G. Hartfield , Eds., 2018: State of the Climate in 2017. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 99 (8), Si- S310, doi:10.1175/2018BAMSStateoftheClimate.1. ). Climate change is damaging both the natural world and people’s lives now and poses an existential threat to our future. It is further predicted that by 2050, 2/3rds of the world population may face water stressed conditions (Gosain et al., 2006). Extinction Rebellion refuses to accept this future and recognises the government’s inaction on the climate crisis. We are, therefore, forced to choose between extinction and rebellion.

Quotes:

Jemima Perry:

“I’m going because I feel I don’t have any choice. I’m terrified about what the future holds for my daughter and I have a responsibility to do what I can to make the government change course and take serious and immediate action on climate change. Like many parents, when my daughter was born I promised to her that I would always take care of her and protect her, but by standing by and allowing our government to not act on climate change I am breaking that promise, as I know that without immediate and drastic cuts to CO2 emissions all children face a bleak and terrifying future.”

George Hume, 19, Physics and Astronomy Student, UoS:

“As a young person I feel like it is my personal obligation to go and protest in London during the international week of rebellion. I can’t stand around and do nothing when the inactivity of governments around the world is going to cause the world to become a desolate wasteland within my lifetime. The world is a beautiful place that provides everything for us and needs to be protected for us all to enjoy harmony with nature. I’m participating in this action so that the drastic change required to achieve this can hopefully happen!”

Kiri Smith:

“We’ve been asking politely for 30 years for our planet to be protected. I can’t understand why the whole world isn’t now entirely focused on how we fix our lives and economies to honour the planet and life systems that sustain us. Without it, there is nothing. There is now no time left to be polite - change has to happen now or it will be too late. I’m not going to stand by and do nothing while the ice caps melt, mass extinctions continue and the planet burns. The time for asking for change has passed: it has to happen now.” Heather Rostron: “I’m going because it seems like the best chance we have of stopping runaway climate change and ecological disaster. We don’t know how successful we will be, but we can only try our very best. I was so relieved to hear people were starting a Rebellion, after initially putting so much energy into green politics, then so many marches, petitions, etc, with so little apparent effect. We cannot let the government get away with such criminal neglect of duty over this.”

Linda Duckenfield:

“I’m going because I’m old,been trying to make headway on green issues via normal and protest politics for 50 years and have little to lose. For all our grandchildren. And XR is making action accessible,creative supportive and fun!”

ENDS

Contact Details:

• Nathan Strathdee, 07741490906, xrshefpress@gmail.com

• George Hume: xrshefpress@gmail.com

• Dr Bing Jones, 07711447306, bingportraits@gmail.com, xrsheffield@gmail.com

• Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2051317091653946/

• Twitter: @XRShef

• Instagram; @XRShef

• Website: https://xrshefpress.wixsite.com/xrsheffield

Notes to editors

Climate Factsheet for Rebels https://rebellion.earth/the-climate-factsheet-for-rebels/

About Extinction Rebellion:

Time has almost entirely run out to address the ecological crisis which is upon us, including the 6th mass species extinction and abrupt, runaway climate change. Societal collapse and mass death are seen as inevitable by scientists and other credible voices, with human extinction also a possibility, if rapid action is not taken.

Extinction Rebellion believes it is a citizen’s duty to rebel, using peaceful civil disobedience, when faced with criminal inactivity by its Government.

Extinction Rebellion’s key demands are:

• The Government must tell the truth about the ecological emergency, reverse inconsistent policies and work alongside the media to communicate with citizens

• The Government must enact legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025 and to reduce consumption levels

• A national Citizens’ Assembly to oversee the changes, as part of creating a democracy fit for purpose.

Get involved in Extinction Rebellion’s other events:

In the UK, come to one of our events, join the Rebellion Network and let us know how you can help out.

Start a group where you are - locally in the UK or in your country around the world.

Find your local group:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=11jUqqjTHMThksd4KbvGGzb3I3Cr3PkBl&usp=sharing

Check out the International XR website, with links to the French, German, Italian and UK websites. We are holding Collaborative Leadership Calls to help coach people to improve their leadership skills and capacities. And while your time and energy are the most important things, if you are financially able to donate money, see our Fundrazr crowdfunder.

UK website: https://rebellion.earth/

International website: https://xrebellion.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExtinctionRebellion/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExtinctionR hashtag #ExtinctionRebellion

Declaration of Rebellion: https://rebellion.earth/declaration/

About Rising Up!

Extinction Rebellion is an initiative of the Rising Up! network, which promotes a fundamental change of our political and economic system to one which maximises well-being and minimises harm. Change needs to be nurtured in a culture of reverence, gratitude and inclusion; whilst the tools of civil disobedience and direct action are used to express our collective power.

Website http://www.risingup.org.uk/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RisingUpUK/

Twitter https://twitter.com/RisingUpUK