Extinction Rebellion Lewisham

Briefly, Extinction Rebellion is an international apolitical network using non-violent direct action to persuade governments to act on the Climate and Ecological Emergency.

Welcome to the Rebellion — a video from some of XR’s founders

It was impossible to miss the media coverage and buzz surrounding our first major Rebellion this April. We occupied four major sites across London for a total of 11 days, asking the British government to meet our three demands (see below). Groups from around the country blocked roads by swarming or sit down protests, alongside many other disruptive and healing activities, with performances, visual art, learning sessions and tours.

Now, we’re planning to repeat that success with another series of actions and occupations, again spread throughout Central London. These will have slightly different themes and activities but the core format will be the same: tens of thousands of committed Rebels will take to the streets, camping out and disrupting ‘Business as Usual’.

Every one of us in XR is now busy organising in preparation for October 7th. Training is taking place across the country; local groups are carrying out smaller actions to build experience and numbers; logistics teams are readying themselves for the work that is to come. While some of us are prepared and willing to be arrested during the Rebellion, it’s important to know that you can participate in many different kinds of roles which don’t require you to risk arrest. These range from being a legal observer to streaming the event for social media.

We call the scale of the climate and ecological emergency that faces us The Truth. If you need a refresher, our page on The Emergency is crammed with facts, figures and links to further reading. It’s scary reading, but we live in scary times.

Want to know more? Come to one of our Heading for Extinction and What to Do About It talks, held regularly all around London.

If you’ve got this far, we’ll assume that you believe in the Truth and agree that the climate emergency must be stopped. However, you may be less convinced of XR’s approach — after all, doesn’t direct action inconvenience ordinary people? Isn’t it just middle-class hypocrites making themselves look silly?

As a (very) quick refresher, here’s why we believe non-violent, direct action that genuinely disrupts daily life is the best way of achieving change:

We are in an ecological crisis and the window for change is narrow — a matter of months — and though difficult, many of the necessary changes will make our lives better.

Our Government’s inaction makes them criminally complicit, so it is our right and our duty to follow our conscience and rebel through peaceful civil disobedience.

Extensive research shows conclusively that if just 3.5% of the population in any country actively engages in sustained resistance over a concentrated period of time, governments inevitably concede or collapse under the pressure.

All of our actions are designed to interrupt ‘business as usual’ — whether that’s the car traffic choking our streets and lungs, or oil executives heading to work for another day of burning away our beautiful planet. We believe that — far from being radical — direct action is proportionate and necessary if we’re to avoid much worse outcomes in the very near future.

Q***r Party for the Amazon at the Brazilian Embassy. Photo: Terry Matthews📷 📷

We are Rebels with a cause! We have three demands of the UK government. They’re central to everything we do and much of the October Rebellion will be themed around these three statements:

Tell the Truth. The UK government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.

Act Now. The Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.

Beyond Politics. Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.

XR is designed to hand power back to the people. We welcome everyone who shares our principles and values, and anyone who follows them can take action in our name. So it’s vitally important to reflect on the following ten core XR principles — and whether they align with your own — before deciding to join us in October.

We have a shared vision of change: creating a world that is fit for generations to come.

We set our mission on what is necessary: mobilising 3.5% of the population to achieve system change

We need a regenerative culture which is healthy, resilient and adaptable.

We openly challenge ourselves and our toxic system: leaving our comfort zones to take action for change.

We value reflecting and learning from other movements and contexts as well as our own experiences.

We welcome everyone and every part of everyone and work actively to create safer and more accessible spaces.

We actively mitigate for power. We break down hierarchies of power for more equitable participation.

We avoid blaming and shaming. While we live in a toxic system, no one individual is to blame.

We are a non-violent network. Using non-violent strategy and tactics as the most effective way to bring about change.

We are based on autonomy and decentralisation. We collectively create the structures we need to challenge power.

An XR Arts group putting on a dance performance. Photo: Vladimir Morozov📷 📷

We are working to build a movement that is participatory, decentralised, and inclusive.

Just like all XR actions, the October Rebellion will work in a structured and decentralised way based upon feedback and autonomy to get on with tasks. It’s more like a holacracy than a traditional, hierarchical democratic system. The structure aims to empower anybody to act as part of XR, so long as you agree to follow our ten core principles.

The core of our organisation is based around small groups. These groups are connected in a complex web that’s constantly evolving as we grow and learn. This structure helps us to create a balance between being able to act quickly in response to fast-changing events while still being able to draw on collective wisdom from many different perspectives when needed. You can read our Self-Organising System for more information.

There are three main types of XR group you’ll hear about:

Working Groups are focused on a specific activity — like Arts (who create beautiful installations and banners for our events), Outreach (who spread the word as far as they can), Politics (who engage with our elected representatives), Media & Messaging (who write things like the post you’re reading) and Actions & Logistics (who plan our actions, big and small)

Meanwhile, there are around 20 Local Groups across London, each of which is building its own structures with different working groups.

And we are creating a network of Affinity Groups: small teams of about 8–12 people who work together and support each other at actions, working in line with our Action Consensus.

Come along to one of our general meetings that begin with a new member induction. You can learn more about Extinction Rebellion, meet other rebels & decide how you want to get involved. We’re running one every week on Monday up until the Autumn Rebellion. See you there.

Also make sure to like & follow our page to keep up to date with the latest events & news.

Still have questions? Read our very comprehensive FAQ to find out even more.