Extinction Rebellion launches the biggest climate hunger strike in history
- Global hunger strike against political inaction in the face of the Climatic Crisis
- More than 400 rebels in 27 countries around the world went on hunger strike yesterday November 18
- This action highlights the devastating impact on global food supplies of the climate and ecological crisis
November 18th, 2019 (Madrid)
Members of Extinction Rebellion in Barcelona, Jaén, Madrid, Vigo joined the global hunger strike against political inaction in the face of the climate emergency launched on November 18. They will remain fasting for at least a week. Five of the strikers, from XR Barcelona, have approached the Palau de la Generalitat to highlight the determination of their actions before the regional government. In the United States, at the same time, members of XR Washington have occupied the office of the chamber’s spokeswoman at the congress, Nancy Pelosi, while rebels in London demonstrated at the headquarters of the main political parties. They do it in solidarity with people who are starving because of the climate and ecological crisis with no other option, and who will be more and more victims.
According to the Ministry of Environment, Spain runs the risk of having 80% of its land desertified by 2100, which would imply that Spain would be among the countries of the world that suffer from famine on a regular basis that, along with many other developed countries, would increase the rate of people suffering hunger. Currently the WHO (World Health Organization) reports that there are 820 million people suffering from hunger today. Failure to listen to the scientific community and implement rapid and urgent measures with transversal impact, humanity faces “a suffering … without equal” as highlighted by more than 11,000 scientists in a manifesto recently published in the specialized journal BioScience. There is no greater crime than not responding to an ecological and civilizational crisis that, in case of continuing its course, will mean the death of billions of people, if not the complete extinction of the human species, in addition to the irreplaceable extinction of millions of species, which could have unpredictable consequences for life on Earth, due to the complex ecosystem relationships.
Trying to avoid this disaster and the collapse of our civilization Extinction Rebellion demands that:
- Governments must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency of change.
- Governments must act now to stop the loss of biodiversity and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
- Governments must create and be guided by the decisions of a Citizen Assembly advised by experts, focused on climate and ecological justice.
Lova and rage,
XR Barcelona
Download the declarations of the rebels
