by Extinction Rebellion
French activists shield themselves from police rubber-bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades during of the Battle of the Mega-Basin. Photo: @noatenjov
This issue: France’s Mega-Basin Battle | Argentina Mono-Forests | XR UK Big One
Dear rebel,
If the world’s finest scientists announced that our civilisation was in grave danger, and only radical changes made right now could save the day, you’d expect there to be a bit of a fuss.
Yet the new IPCC Report summarising a decade of climate science concluded just that, even after heavy editing by governments safeguarding the oil and meat industries, and it (at best) made news headlines for a day.
Even more amazingly, the governments most culpable for this spiralling disaster have committed to making it worse, greenlighting more fossil fuel extraction and ensuring that the drastic emission cuts that the report urgently calls for are impossible.
This IPCC graph shows how unbelievably badly our governments are doing.
Yet again, our governments and media have shown us that they cannot wield their power responsibly. Which leaves us with no choice but to rely on people power generated by civil disobedience.
In Action Highlights we cover a brutal power struggle brewing over water between the French state and its people, and we report on XR Argentina’s efforts to end monoculture forests that greenwash logging companies before bursting into flames.
For Humans of XR we hear from someone in the newest group of our rebel family, XR Zimbabwe. And in a Raveller Report (courtesy of Raveller, a new ecozine founded by former newsletter writers) we look at the oldest group, asking what XR UK’s upcoming and uniquely collaborative rebellion, The Big One, might mean for the wider movement.
Rebels in Buenos Aires protest outside the HQ of a logging company that is devastating Argentina’s most biodiverse regions. Photo: Julieta Gimenez
Overall, our situation is desperate, and it is easy to despair. But time is on our side (just), we have all the knowledge and tools we need to deal with this crisis, ecoactivism is expanding and evolving in exciting new ways, and progress - is - being - made.
As another season of rebellion begins across the globe and the future of so many hangs by a thread, now is the time to stand and be counted. If enough of us resist, then business as usual cannot continue.
What we choose to do today will resonate across our beautiful planet for thousands, perhaps millions of years. Be brave, harness that loving rage, and join your fellow rebels on the streets.