200 different groups came together on the streets of London this weekend for The Big One – a mass climate protest organised by Extinction Rebellion.
Thousands of climate protesters filled the streets of Westminster, building a coalition of campaigners from Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth to smaller community groups.
The action followed Extinction Rebellion’s announcement in January that they were stepping back from disruptive action as a primary tactic.
The primary demand from Extinction Rebellion is to call on the government for an immediate end to all new fossil fuel licences, however multiple groups in attendance were campaigning for their own asks, including a stop to the development of HS2, tackling river and ocean pollution and taking measures to protect and restore nature and biodiversity.
Our planet is warmer than at any point in the past 650,000 years.
— Friends of the Earth (@friends_earth) April 23, 2023
Wild species are in decline, our air and rivers are polluted, and fossil fuel companies are hiking up bills beyond belief.
These things are connected, and the solutions are the same. It's time to act. #TheBigOne pic.twitter.com/7kS8FxtIiG
Protest action took place outside several government departments, including DEFRA,the Home Office, the Department of Health and Social Care and Parliament Square.
350 members of campaign group Business Declares took to the streets outside the Department of Energy to highlight the important role of businesses in tackling the climate emergency, and call upon the government to show more ambition in their climate policies and give businesses the confidence to invest in their own net zero journey.
We're powerful together???? Friday & all weekend business leaders are joining thousands on the streets to call for an end to fossil fuel licensing to unlock a thriving future. We’re there with @BizDeclares & you can hear our message to government here ???? pic.twitter.com/FSNZwZYo5L
— Rubber Republic ????????® (@Rubber_Republic) April 23, 2023
The protest, which over 30,000 people registered to attend, visibly boosted the spirits of the climate campaigning community and highlighted the wide reaching and interconnected nature of the climate emergency, nature depletion and humanitarian issues such as health and security.
However, the majority of the campaigning took place on days when the House of Commons was not sitting (including Friday). Despite their political demands, it’s unlikely that many MPs were in London to witness the events.
At a time when more disruptive protests by other groups, including Just Stop Oil, are garnering media headlines and seeing activists arrested, the peaceful and collaborative nature of The Big One attracted climate protesters who haven’t previously engaged in public action.
But as the mainstream media have given the protest little to no coverage, and it has yet to be acknowledged by the government, it remains to be seen what impact the weekend’s events will have beyond the eco echo-chamber.
Extinction Rebellion has given the government a deadline of 5pm on Monday 24 April to engage with their demands for climate action, with an agreement to create a plan to deliver their demands, or they will have “no choice but to unquit”.
Speaking in a press conference before The Big One, XR said that they “will be taking more radical action” if the deadline is missed or their demands aren’t met.
According to YouGov, 7 in 10 Britons believe that changes to the climate are caused by human activity, and overall worry about the impact of climate change has remained largely consistent since the record UK heatwave last summer.
What is clear from this weekend’s protests is that campaigners across the country are ready to be heard, frustrated with the government’s lack of inaction, and keen to add their voice to a call for change.
????THE BIG ONE JUST GOT BIGGER
— Extinction Rebellion UK ???? (@XRebellionUK) April 22, 2023
Day 2 of #TheBigOne was BIG. Over 60,000 people gathered at the Houses of Parliament on #EarthDay today, uniting for nature. pic.twitter.com/0WkZl7lDJv
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