Its activists had got into the habit of sticking to roads or planes to warn about climate change. Last August, they even blocked the Tower Bridge, London’s emblematic tilting bridge. Extinction Rebellion is now considering other modes of action.
The environmental organization announced on Sunday 1er January to suspend in the United Kingdom the spectacular blocking operations which made it known. The network of activists, formed in 2018 and since famous for these civil disobedience operations, prefers to mobilize for a large demonstration, in April, against the government’s inaction.
“This year, we are prioritizing participation over arrests, relationships over roadblocks”, justified the group in a press release. It announces that for 2023 it has taken the “controversial resolution to temporarily turn away from disruptions of public space as a primary tactic”.
Controversial actions
Extinction Rebellion acknowledges “the power of disturbances to sound the alarm” but find ” necessary “ to evolve and says he wants above all “disrupt abuse of power” by putting pressure on the political class to put an end to the use of fossil fuels. The organization is therefore calling for a large demonstration on April 21 in front of the British Parliament, hoping to bring together 100,000 people.
Extinction Rebellion’s actions have often been controversial, with the group infuriating part of public opinion, conservative power and much of the press by attacking the public. Many activists were arrested during these events and the government plans to further tighten the right to demonstrate.
At the same time, Extinction Rebellion was overtaken by the emergence of even more radical groups like Just Stop Oil or Insulate Britain, which blocked London’s ring road or doused Van Gogh’s masterpiece in soup in October. Les Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London.
