Extinction Rebellion Te Whanganui-a-Tara Kick-Off Event “A Gathering of Rebels”
International Week of Action against climate change and the 6th mass extinction
(April 15 – 20, 2019)
On Monday, April 15th 2019, Extinction Rebellion’s (XR) international week of action will kick off in Aotearoa. XR Wellington has invited speakers from some of our country’s major environmental groups and organisations to “a Gathering of Rebels (for life)”. It will take place at 7pm in Rutherford House, Lecture Theatre 1, Pipitea Campus.
Dr Sea Rotmann, Wellington XR spokesperson and facilitator of the event says, “We are so lucky to have so many wonderful groups in Aotearoa that are fighting against climate change and the 6th mass extinction. We are thrilled to have speakers from 350, Greenpeace, School Strikes 4 Climate, the Cycling Action Network, Generation Zero, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Organise Aotearoa and Forest & Bird as well as our most outstanding climate change scientist and communicator, Professor James Renwick.”
She continues, “Each speaker will have a few minutes to discuss their (organisation’s) WHY, the motivation of why they are doing what they are doing; their HOW which is about the process and methods they use to get their message out; and their WHAT which is about the impact they are hoping to achieve. We will take audience questions and comments and have a discussion about our many overlaps, but also some of the barriers and pain points we may encounter with our various approaches to this most urgent of topics.
“Ultimately, we are hoping to tease out how and where Extinction Rebellion can add value and help other groups to remove or overcome these obstacles and barriers.”
Given the shocking events in Christchurch one month ago today, Extinction Rebellion Te Whanganui-a-Tara wants to express clearly that we are an inclusive organisation with a firm commitment to non-violence.
Dr Sea Rotmann explains, “We were all shocked by the events of 15th March. We were so inspired by the leadership shown by youth here and overseas, in the School Strike 4 Climate protests which happened on the same day as the shooting. We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. And we are leaving them our mess to clean up. Basically, we have borrowed a high interest loan from future generations and other species, and we have no way to make the repayments on time.
“Climate & environmental scientists tell us that action is urgent – we are looking at runaway climate change feedback loops and have kicked off the 6th mass extinction event. Parliament, with cross-party support, passed gun laws within a month of the Christchurch shootings. This has shown us what can be done if there is political will and the situation is taken seriously. But twenty times more lives were lost in last month’s cyclone in Mozambique and Zimbabwe alone. Even if they did not die in our backyard, they are also us, and we all must stand up to combat this global threat, together.
“Racism in New Zealand is as real as climate change and we don’t do ourselves any favours by pretending that there are no problems in this country. That Friday a month ago displayed two things we can expect more of in the future: As the effects of climate change become increasingly real, people will take increasingly stronger stands for meaningful action. And as a country, we will need to take on more and more refugees and migrants, particularly from our Pacific neighbours. We must expect a xenophobic response to this. Racist and ignorant language will rise and we need to be prepared for, and fight this. We have shown so much leadership in our response to this horrible event. Let’s continue to show the world leadership on both climate change and an inclusive society.”
Extinction Rebellion Te Whanganui-a-Tara demands that our Government:
- Tells the truth about the climate and ecological crisis
- Takes the necessary steps (declaring a state of emergency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025) to address it, and
- Creates Participatory Democracy to oversee the process.
