The Devizes and Marlborough group of the Extinction Rebellion movement joined others today in Salisbury, complete with a samba band, for a noisy protest against a Salisbury-based company, Rockhopper.
Why? Rockhopper is an international oil and gas exploration and production company who are now suing the Italian government for their decision to stop offshore oil drilling.
In joining this action, Devizes and Marlborough XR is part of an international campaign to reject the option for companies to challenge governments’ commitment to climate action. A number of countries are also seeking to reject the system that currently enables this.
“It’s completely mad” said Jo Ripley, Marlborough-based XR activist. “That this is a thing – at a time of more and more extreme weather-related events across the world and with time running out to try and put the brakes on climate breakdown”.
She said they were handing out leaflets and talking with the public who were overwhelmingly supportive of the need for change and “pretty horrified that companies could do this”.
Great Green Bedwyn… how the community is helping solve climate change
