From 7 to 13 October, in over 60 countries, Extinction Rebellion activists are staging demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience to push governments to act against the climate crisis: this is the international rebellion.
Today our species must confront the greatest threat it has ever faced: climate change. The ongoing ecological and climate crisis can no longer be addressed in a moderate fashion, as though it were not, in every respect, an emergency. It demands radical action — yet most governments do not appear willing to take it. We can no longer passively accept decisions that could rob our children of their future and condemn the biosphere. It is time to rebel, and one effective way to do so is to carry out acts of civil disobedience. Throughout history, civil disobedience — that driving force which has led countless people to oppose injustice with courage and without violence — has produced extraordinary achievements.
Non-violent resistance is one of the cornerstones of the strategy of Extinction Rebellion (XR), the environmentalist movement founded in the United Kingdom almost a year ago, which has organised the international rebellion week. "Starting on 7 October we will launch an international rebellion — the movement's website reads — we will shut down cities and in doing so we will disrupt the daily routines that are destroying our future." The aim of the protest, which will involve over 60 countries across all continents and tens of thousands of people, is to bring as many people as possible onto the streets, to peacefully occupy the centres of power, and to put pressure on governments to acknowledge the state of crisis and act accordingly.
XR has underlined, once again, the need for broad public participation, because the time to act — given the inaction of institutions and businesses — has almost run out. "If not you, who? If not now, when?", the protest organisers urged. Every initiative taken to date to prevent environmental collapse has failed, life on Earth faces an unprecedented global crisis, and climate apartheid has already begun for millions of people. "History, however, teaches us that there is an effective and democratic way to advance social change — XR's website states — non-violent civil disobedience."
In London, where the movement founded by Roger Hallam and Gail Bradbrook took its first steps and achieved its first significant milestones, the rebellion will continue for almost two weeks, until 19 October, during which activists will peacefully occupy Westminster, the heart of the English capital. "We will peacefully close all roads to Westminster until the British government takes meaningful and decisive action on the climate and ecological emergency — the organisers explained. Other non-violent actions will be directed at companies, ministries and infrastructure that sustain our toxic system."
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Ahead of the protests, specially trained police units will be deployed in London to manage demonstrators who will attempt to block buildings and public transport. More than 80,000 officers will be deployed — not even the 2017 London Bridge terrorist attack prompted such a show of force. "We appeal to the humanity of the government and the authorities to remember that we are non-violent protesters — an XR spokesperson declared. We appeal to their humanity to remember that we are facing an unprecedented global emergency. Many are already losing their lives and, as human beings, we are called to act now."
In Italy too, where the movement began to take root at the start of this year, numerous demonstrations are planned from 7 to 13 October. Activists from several cities — including Milan, Bologna and Mestre — will pour into the streets of Rome to push the Italian government to embrace XR's demands and declare a climate and ecological emergency.
"There will be no permanent occupation, no roadblock — we are not yet numerous enough," Marco Bertaglia, Italy's first Extinction Rebellion activist, explained to Internazionale. "We are imagining actions that can be adapted depending on how many of us there are. In capitals there are the politicians who make decisions: that is where laws are made, that is the centre of police and military violence. And that is where we will take our non-violent message." On 12 October, among other initiatives, the mass cycle ride Rebel Ride will take place. "Together we will reach the seats of power and with all our energy we will bring XR's three demands," reads the event's Facebook page.
On 8 October, the Global climate hunger strike will also begin — organised by the eponymous group affiliated with XR — a week-long collective worldwide hunger strike to offer a symbolic demonstration of the real risk posed by the ecological and climate crisis: famine, resource scarcity and, as a consequence, hunger. "The hunger strike is an extreme act, because extreme is the ecological and climate emergency in which the entire human race finds itself, together with all other species, and absolutely inadequate and insufficient are the responses adopted so far," reads the website of Extinction Rebellion Italia. In Rome too there will be a group of activists taking part in the hunger strike, which will take place in Piazza Montecitorio.
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"The hunger strike does not only aim to influence government policy — the organisers said. It intends to provoke a debate about where society is heading and what it means to care for the world, its species and our children." This tactic, of undeniable power, has already borne fruit in Italy. Filippo Guerrini, an activist from XR's Bologna branch, after seven days on hunger strike secured the attention of the Environment councillor of Bologna city council, who officially invited an XR delegation to come to his office to discuss together the points contained in the movement's proposal.
XR's international protest follows, just days later, the third global climate strike, which took place from 20 to 27 September. On that occasion, around 7.6 million people of all ages staged the largest environmental demonstration ever organised and sent an unequivocal message that governments can no longer ignore. Extinction Rebellion activists also took part, naturally, in the Climate action week organised by Fridays for Future. "Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion are united by a desire for climate and social justice, for truth, for breaking the veil of silence and denial maintained by the media and governments," reads an XR statement.
In less than a year, the XR symbol — in which the circle represents the planet, while the hourglass inside it reminds us that time is running out rapidly for many species — has become a symbol of hope for thousands of people. In the name of this hope, many people, from teenagers to retirees, are willing to be arrested in order to draw attention to the climate breakdown under way and to defend life itself, because, as one of XR's slogans goes, "respect existence or expect resistance."
"In the end we have to realise that we will all be alone on our deathbed and ask ourselves whether we have led a life worth living," declared Roger Hallam, one of XR's two founders. "For this generation, the climate crisis is the prevailing existential challenge. There are no guarantees, but doing nothing, not trying, is not an option."
"I'm not doing this to protect my own life or the future of my children," explained Gail Bradbrook, a molecular biophysics scholar who co-founded the movement with Hallam. "I feel a deep need to know that I have been a good ancestor to future generations, to know that I did my best when the great challenge arrived." Today's society has, for too long, favoured individualism and competition, ending up fragmenting the social fabric and the idea of shared interests. Extinction Rebellion, by contrast, believes that solving collective problems requires the commitment of everyone, and recognises cooperation among human beings as the only way to take a different path.
