The UK arm of environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion said it plans to step away from attention-grabbing tactics that have caused widespread public disruptions and instead focus on building broader support to help combat rising carbon emissions.
(Bloomberg) — The UK arm of environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion said it plans to step away from attention-grabbing tactics that have caused widespread public disruptions and instead focus on building broader support to help combat rising carbon emissions.
“As we ring in the new year, we make a controversial resolution to temporarily shift away from public disruption as a primary tactic,” the group said in an emailed statement Sunday. “This year, we prioritise attendance over arrest and relationships over roadblocks.”
Activists from Extinction Rebellion have made headlines over the past year through actions such as glueing themselves around the speaker’s chair in the the House of Commons, disrupting Shell Plc’s annual general meeting in London, blocking the city’s Tower Bridge ahead of mass climate protests and working with other environmental groups to block oil terminals owned by BP Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Esso U.K. Ltd.
The UK currently invests only a fifth of what’s annually needed to meet its net-zero targets. Britain’s climate performance is noteworthy because the country was the first to set legally binding emissions targets in 2008 and later became the first major economy to commit to a net-zero milestone.
“The conditions for change in the UK have never been more favourable,” Extinction Rebellion said in its statement. “No one can do this alone.”
–With assistance from Reed Landberg.
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