Made famous by their more recent mid April 2019 occupation
movement in the UK, is Extinction Rebellion a “civil rights movement” for our
environment?
By: Ringo Bones
Established in the UK back in May 2018, Extinction Rebellion
got its start after one hundred academics signed a call to action involving
nonviolent resistance to protest against climate breakdown, biodiversity loss
and the risk of human extinction and ecological collapse. Named after the
Anthropocene Extinction – our current epoch where most mass extinctions and
environmental destruction are primarily caused by our collective human
industrial activity. Even though they organized protests last year, it was in
2019 that the movement gained prominence back in April 1, 2019 after a so-called
“nude protest” in the House of Commons – though a lot of people had mistaken it
as a “Brexit protest” instead of an environmentalism one. It was around the
middle of April 2019 when Extinction Rebellion occupied four prominent sites in
central London – i.e. Oxford Circus, Marble Arch, Waterloo Bridge and the area
around Parliament Square. The April’s protests more or less ended after a lot
of activists were arrested but not before world famous Swedish student climate
activist Greta Thunberg talked to the press about her support of Extinction
Rebellion.
Extinction Rebellion attracted a legion of followers since
their establishment back in 2018 largely due to their demands – something that
needed to be reiterated to the powers-that-be. It goes that “the government
must tell the truth about the climate and wider 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 to create a democracy fit for purpose.”
Despite of recent successes, Extinction Rebellion has been
criticized by some for making unrealistic demands. The Energy & Climate
Intelligence Unit, which supports the movement’s course of strong action and
demands, said that the timeframe being urged by Extinction Rebellion was “an
ambitious that technically, economically and politically has absolutely no
chance of being fulfilled.” The Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit
calculated that to go net zero by 2025, flying would need to be scrapped (only
viable in my opinion if all ongoing armed conflict is stopped and stay stopped for
the duration) and 38 million cars – both petrol and diesel – would need to be
removed from the roads. In addition 26 million gas boilers would need to be
disconnected in six years. American philosopher and animal rights advocate Gary
L. Francione criticized the movement for refusing to promote veganism as a
solution to climate change and for adopting the “personal / political”
dichotomy which he says “every progressive movement from the past 50 years has
rejected because common sense tells us that you cannot ignore the role of the
individual in creating and perpetuating social problems”.
