THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD WANT EMERGENCY CLIMATE ACTION, we are here to give it to them

THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD WANT EMERGENCY CLIMATE ACTION, we are here to give it to them

Extinction Rebellion Australia - Mass Mobilisation Project, 8 Feb 2021

1.2 million people answered the largest global survey on climate change ever conducted. The results are that 64 per cent of people believe that it is an “emergency” and must be addressed urgently, but just 10 per cent believe world leaders are doing enough (1).

And Australians care deeply (despite what you may perceive at the local shopping mall!)

The climate of the Nation report from October 2020 found that, even with Covid, concern has never been higher about the climate. In Australia:

  • 82% are concerned about climate change
  • 68% support ambition climate targets
  • 71% want Australia to be a global leader (2)

So why the F**k is nothing happening?

You know the answer – our political system is corrupt and broken, and the fossil fuel corporations and their supportive media allies have the DIRTY power right now. We need to grow our power.

What can we do about it?

  1. TALK ABOUT IT

Our job is to go out there and talk to the people of Australia – our neighbours, our baristas, our publicans and our friends. We need to bridge the gap and connect over our shared and unvoiced concern for the climate and our future. You aren’t alone – we aren’t alone. And in your conversations, when that question inevitably arises, “yes it’s bad, yes the politicians aren’t doing anything, oh well – what can we do about it?” We have the answer: join Extinction Rebellion and realise your power as part of the global movement committed to action. This is the global movement that has looked to history, to what makes change happen and fast – and realised that civil disobedience is the appropriate response to force those in power to listen to us. And we know it works. When thousands of people converged on the streets of London in April 2019 for 11 days of nonviolent disruption – the world began to change.  When we organised the Spring rebellion in every city in Australia in 2019, Australia heard us.

  1. GET INVOLVED, AND NOW

We know you care so deeply for this planet, for its diversity and beauty, for its children and future generations. And we know it is all at massive risk – we are at around 1.1 degree C of warming now and ecosystems are already dying along with humans all over the world, and we are on track for 4+ degrees C of warming by the end of this century.

The Paris Agreement is a joke, a myth, a deception of safety which in fact imperils us all. It is deceit. There is only one moral and scientifically sound course – we need to get to zero emissions and halt biodiversity loss as fast as possible, in emergency mode, and in a way that is determined by the deliberative democracy of Citizens’ Assemblies. (Sound familiar – these are XR’s core demands).

But how do we get our demands met?We need to become powerful. Our power is a result of two things – our numbers and our willingness to disrupt and make sacrifices. So, whether or not you are able to sacrifice your liberty and risk arrest or not is only part of the story – we need to build our numbers. We need to mobilise the people that care, that we know are all around us, into action. We need mass mobilisation. And we know how to do this.

A) We set the date.  March 22nd is the day that the next round of nationally coordinated disruptive actions will begin in each state capital.  Have you booked the week off of work to be there? Have you invited all your friends and told them how important it is? RSVP and share the event with your network.

B) We need to do the most effective tasks possible to get people prepared to come to the streets, we need to mobilise the masses.   This means door knocking, holding stalls, running Heading for extinction talks and phoning up our database.  Check out the events page or your state FB page to find where the closest meeting or next state mobilisation meeting is happening. And come to the next national Mass Mobilisation gathering occurring on the first Sunday of every month to hear inspiring stories and get connected with your state teams. Register here.

Sources:

  1. Radmilla Suleymanova, 2021, https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/1/27/64-of-people-surveyed-say-climate-change-calls-for-urgent-action

  2. Australian Institute, 2020, https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/climate-of-the-nation-climate-change-concern-hits-82/