Committed citizens of planet earth super glue themselves to streets, doors and even trains. Extinction Rebellion activists who blocked key transport hubs in London for 11 days in April, are now facing prosecution as police investigates over 1,000 people. Support comes from a surprising corner.
The morning rush in Canary Wharf is over when two people climb onto a DLR train. In the heart of London’s financial district, a man and a woman dressed in black unroll a black banner. It reads, “Climate Emergency – Act Now.” Just below them, another demonstrator glues himself to the door of the train with superglue, while two more activist join the couple on the roof. The traffic on the line is down for a while, and it’s not until later in the early afternoon that the service is back on schedule.
Multiple other people try to climb another train. One of them is Lara Streel. The 41-year old teacher is pulled down the wagon by her feet by two security man. Kicking she claims that she is participating in the protest to secure the future of her teenage children. "I would rather not be here today, and I'm really sorry for the harassment we cause here, but I feel like I'm forced to do it ... The government does not do anything, we have to force them to act."
Streel and the other protesters are part of Extinction Rebellion, a group of climate activists who disrupted traffic in central London for 11 consecutive days in April. Their mission, a wake-up call to meet the zero CO2 emissions target by 2015. Starting with streets and bridges, the protest extended over to public transport in its 11th day.
For the final day a large large-scale attack on the public transport of the city was planned. The approach was controversial even among activist themselves. The argument of the critics, if public transport is seriously disrupted, the traffic in cars or taxis will shift and thus inevitably lead to additional emissions.
While sharing the passionate concerns of activists for tackling climate change, London Mayor Sadiq Khan insists that “attacking public transport in a this way will hinder all those of us who want to tackle climate change."
A few days earlier. The Easter Weekend brought many visitors into London. Around the government district traffic has come to a halt. Buses, Ubers, Allison Lee’s and other vehicles are diverted. Traffic is significantly hampered.
Many protesters had already been arrested. The police have tried to vacate individual sites and convince activists to gather at Marble Arch, north-east of Hyde Park, for their protest. At March hundreds of activists with flags, signs, and banners made their camp. A saxophonist, an accordion player and a trumpeter are heating up the crowd. From young to old, it’s a battle of the generations.
In the crowd is fashion photographer Sarah Creswell. The 32-year old came in support of Extinction Rebellion after witnessing their protest at the London Fashion Week earlier in the year. “The fashion industry is key contributor to the mess that we got ourselves into. Once I realised that I am part of the problem I had no choice than to come down myself. We can call on the government as long as we want, every single one of us needs to change if we want to save this planet.”
The traffic blocks were organised strategically, and the groups actions were quickly felt in retail. According to the New West End Company the revenue losses from the first two days of protest cost retailers twelve million pounds.
Perfectly timed for the Easter Week, when traditionally a lot of tourist roam the city, this year’s shops noticed fewer foot customers and recorded a up to 25 per cent in revenue loss. In a letter to Mayor Sadiq Khan, director of the New West End Company, complained that the protests not only kept customers away, but made deliveries considerably more complicated.
Launched in the fall of 2018, Extinction Rebellion has attracted attention with a series of actions: Activists have formed human chains to block traffic on the bridges over the Thames, poured out fake blood in front of the prime minister's office in Downing Street and blocked public broadcaster BBC.
In early April, a group of half-naked activists glued themselves to the glass in the visitor area of the parliament. Peaceful protest combined with civil disobedience is the strategy of the activists, where they expressively insist on being arrested. The protests are organsied worldwide, from Germany, France to Australia, the United States and even India, Extinction Rebellion knows no country borders. Their fight concerns the whole world afterall.
The group wants to draw attention to the fact that it is high time for measures against climate change with their actions. Officially, it calls on the government to tell the truth about climate change. The group calls for drastically reduced emissions, and the use of community groups to monitor the progress.
A number of well-known supporters have won the movement for themselves. One of them, law professor Farhana Yamin, who was involved in drafting the Paris Climate Agreement. She stuck herself to the sidewalk in front of the Shell headquarters. Another supporter of the protests, former Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican Church, Rowan Williams. And even without expressing direct support for the activist, central bank chief Mark Carney called for urgent action against climate change.
In a guest post for the Guardian on the last day of protests, the head of the Bank of England warns of the existential threat the global financial system is exposed to by the environmental destruction occurring in the world. On the day, where protests in the financial district were planned, its leader states, "as policymakers and regulators, we cannot ignore the obvious risks before our eyes." Experts are increasingly warning that banks and insurers are already directly affected by climate change. For example, insurers must repeatedly pay for the significant damage caused by storms that have increased in recent years.
Now over a month after the eleven days of protest, the police is investigating over 1000 activists that were arrested. Pressured by retailers and other protest affected businesses, the London Metropolitan police finds itself in a difficult situation. While the protesters did cause large financial costs, the peaceful approach makes it hard to prosecute them. What’s the sentence for protecting the planet anyway?
