Image: Sean Tucker
We are the last generation with the time, opportunity and, hopefully, the power to undo some of the damage we have caused to the planet before it’s too late. Climate change is upon us, indisputably evident in wildfires, floods, melting ice caps, polar vortexes, heatwaves and mass species extinction. Yet, despite the looming threat of catastrophe, the government seems to remain focused on short term objectives, like GDP, Brexit and trade agreements, none of which will matter if the planet as we know it collapses. Frustration — a feeling that should rally every vegan, for climate change stands to decimate billions of animals — led campaigners Roger Hallam, Dr. Gail Bradbrook and many others to take action. When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report warned that we have just 12 years to stop catastrophic climate change, these campaigners formed the Extinction Rebellion (XR).
On 31st October last year, campaigners assembled at Parliament Square to announce a Declaration of Rebellion against the UK government. Hallam and Bradbrook expected a few hundred supporters — 1,500 turned up. The XR ethos was clear from the start — no matter the numbers, no matter the protest, it would always be a peaceful and non-violent civil disobedience.