To coincide with the day the Climate Change Committee published its annual report Devizes & Marlborough XR (Extinction Rebellion) group held a protest on the steps of the Town Hall as part of a nationwide action.
Spokesperson Jo Ripley stated that the protest was aimed at bringing attention to the report’s publication stating that “the government is not on track”.
At the core of their protest were the following points:
- that it’s crucial that they don’t make economic decisions in next few months that will lock us into higher emissions in longer-term.
- public money can’t support industries and infrastructure in ways that isn’t compatible with a net-zero economy
- if emissions are not brought down rapidly to net zero and biodiversity loss is not halted, we face catastrophic and irreversible damage and a very unstable future with all the resulting consequences.
Jo added that there was widespread recognition of the message that XR was putting across, quoting former Chief Government Scientist, Sir David King who said that Extinction Rebellion serves an “important role” in highlighting the threat from climate change, which he says is the greatest threat that humanity has had to face and that “It’s appropriate to be scared about climate change.”