Skip to main content

EXTINCTION REBELLION CARDIFF RESPONDS TO CARDIFF COUNCIL'S DECLARATION OF CLIMATE EMERGENCY: ‘AN EMERGENCY REQUIRES AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE’

Press release from Cardiff Extinction Rebellion: 

Extinction Rebellion Cardiff welcomes Cardiff Council's decision to declare a Climate Emergency, but warns that urgent action is needed more than words. An emergency requires an emergency response.

Missing from the motion is the sense of urgency the situation demands. The following amendments could have been put forward to rectify this: a). Carbon emission reduction targets are set of all emissions from the region, not just from public buildings etc, and b). A timescale for reaching carbon net-zero is set.

Many other cities and regions have committed to declaring a Climate Emergency and have strengthened their declarations by committing to a time frame within which they agree to have developed a strategy to reach their aim of reducing carbon emissions to net-zero by 2030. These include Bristol, Edinburgh, Carmarthenshire and Bath and North East Somerset, amongst others, who have all committed to reporting within six months to a year with a clear plan of action.

A large group of Extinction Rebellion members from Cardiff are currently in preparation to head to the International Rebellion to protest against the UK governments continued inaction in the face of climate and ecological breakdown in London beginning Monday 15 April when central London will face gridlock and economic disruption in several locations for at least two weeks.[1]

Liz Rosser from Extinction Rebellion Cardiff said “The solutions that are needed are radical. The point of declaring a Climate Emergency, as many other cities have already done, is not to continue down the same path as before but to adopt much more urgent and radical measures. Yes, Cardiff is making welcome progress, but it is nowhere near good enough in the present circumstances. Cardiff, as the capital city of Wales, has the opportunity and responsibility to lead the way. Scientists are clear that rapid and ongoing reductions to greenhouse emissions are urgently required. The planning and investment decisions made today are locking in our future. It is crucial therefore that action is taken immediately".

Friederike Lurken from Extinction Rebellion said: “We are living through a climate emergency because governments and industry have not shown the necessary leadership, and, so far, have not acted fast enough. Fortunately, thousands upon thousands of people are rising up with Extinction Rebellion and cultural institutions are joining with us. Dozens of local councils around the UK have already declared a climate emergency – both inspired by and through grassroots pressure from Extinction Rebellion and the global School Strike For Climate.[2]”

Notes to editors: [1] International Rebellion -https://rebellion.earth/get-active/international-rebellion-a-guide-for-participants/ https://www.facebook.com/events/126622414898833/
[2] – Youth Strikes for the Climate - https://ukscn.org/ys4c

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Radical?

When I started this blog nearly 4 years and nearly 300 posts ago one of the labels I used for it/me was "radical." Perhaps I used it a little unreflectively. Recently I've been pondering what radical means. A couple of things have made me think of this. Firstly this blog series from my friend Jeremy, which explores a distinction between "radical progressives" and "rational progressives." There is also this definition of radical, liberal and conservative from Terry Eagleton quoted at Young Anabaptist Radicals : “Radicals are those who believe that things are extremely bad with us, but they could feasibly be much improved. Conservatives believe that things are pretty bad, but that’s just the way the human animal is. And liberals believe that there’s a little bit of good and bad in all of us.” What interests me is finding a way to express the tension I feel sometimes between myself and the wider Unitarian movement. One way to express this is to say I tend

What does it mean to be non-creedal?

Steve Caldwell says "The problem here isn't humanism vs. theism for theist Unitarian Universalists -- it's the non-creedal nature of Unitarian Universalism" This is a good point. We need to think much more deeply about what it means to be a non-creedal religion. The first thing I want to say is that there is more than one possible understanding of non-creedalism. The Disciples of Christ are a non-creedal church, they say here : " Freedom of belief. Disciples are called together around one essential of faith: belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Persons are free to follow their consciences guided by the Bible, the Holy Spirit study and prayer, and are expected to extend that freedom to others." Quakers are also non-creedal and say here : Quakers have no set creed or dogma - that means we do not have any declared statements which you have to believe to be a Quaker. There are, however, some commonly held views which unite us. One accepted view is that th

What is Radical Christianity?

Radical Christianity is about encountering the God of love . It is first and foremost rooted in the discovery of a universal and unconditional source of love at the heart of reality and within each person. God is the name we give to this source of love. It is possible to have a direct and real personal encounter with this God through spiritual practice. We encounter God, and are nourished by God, through the regular practice of prayer, or contemplation.  Radical Christianity is about following a man called Jesus . It is rooted in the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish prophet living under occupation of the Roman Empire two thousand years ago. It understands that's Jesus' message was the message of liberation. His message was that when we truly encounter God, and let God's love flow through us, we begin to be liberated from the powers of empire and violence and encounter the  "realm of God" - an alternative spiritual and social reality rooted in love rather th