On Monday 15 April, environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellion (XR) launched an international week of action, with thousands of people coming out around the world to demand action in the face of the climate crisis. Some of the most significant protests were in London, where XR activists set up road blocks and protest camps at five sites in central London – Marble Arch, Oxford Circus, Parliament Square, Waterloo Bridge and Piccadilly Circus. Many of these sites were held by thousands of people for more than a week, with XR agreeing to end their occupations for now on Thursday 25 April.
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RCG comrades have been actively involved in the XR protests since the beginning, and at XR’s first major protest in October 2018 we noted that the movement was a welcome contrast to the tightly controlled events of the British left, which seek to channel all resistance into the Labour Party and trade union movement. All week RCG comrades have been participating in the occupations and protests in London, bringing the message that only an anti-capitalist movement can build a real fight against climate change, and the imperialist system that causes it. We have been talking to people about the alternative shown by socialist Cuba, recognised by the WWF Living Planet Report 2006 to be leading the world when it comes to sustainable development. We have found the participants in the XR protests very open to this anti-capitalist, socialist message.
We salute the XR movement, which has mobilised huge numbers of people to take action against climate change, and begun to lay the foundations for a new movement which can fight for real political and social change. RCG comrades will continue to participate in protests and meetings organised by XR, and other environmental campaign groups, in an effort to build this movement and push it towards a revolutionary direction.
Capitalism is extinction! Socialism is survival!
Read our analysis of the new environmental movements here
