News Editor Tamara Greatrix writes about Extinction Rebellion’s upcoming protest in Birmingham. Following a wave of recent protests in London, protesters are expected to descend on Birmingham next week, campaigning for insurers to cease funding fossil fuel operations
Extinction Rebellion announced yesterday that it plans to launch another wave of protests similar to the high-profile protests seen in recent years. This time, the protests are expected to be across Birmingham. The group calls for urgent action as ‘climate disasters worsen’ and demands that the insurance industry ‘dump the fossil fuel criminals setting the world on fire.’
Extinction Rebellion stated insurers’ important role in the industry, claiming that ‘without insurance, new oil, coal, and gas projects can’t go ahead.’ They believe this puts insurers in a ‘unique position’ regarding transitions towards clean energy.
Nici from XR Birmingham stated, ‘We know this approach works because we’ve seen it work in the past. Companies like Zurich have already committed to change under public pressure’, referring to the global insurers Zurich, who announced they would no longer insure new gas and oil projects, following repeated mass visits to the offices in the City of London and towns and cities all across the UK.
For three days, during the week commencing 28th October, thousands of people supporting XR’s Insure Our Survival campaign plan to take action within the City of London, using high-profile protests to call insurers to stop insuring these new oil, gas, and coal projects. Following this week of action in London, it is expected that activists will gather in Birmingham on the 1st of November to participate in a ‘peaceful mass protest.’ It is planned to take place in the city’s famous St Philip’s Cathedral Grounds, commonly referred to as ‘Pigeon Park.’ This event follows on from similar action in February, when hundreds of activists took to the streets of Birmingham, claiming they would be back if sufficient action was not taken to cease insurers’ funding of fossil fuel projects. Staying true to their word, the activists plan to descend on the city next week.
The protest will begin at Pigeon Park at 12:30 p.m. Hundreds of activists plan to march to the offices of major insurance companies. They plan to be accompanied by imagery of floods and fire to symbolise the ‘increasing risks these insurers are supporting by continuing to underwrite new fossil fuel projects.’
The activist group promises that this latest protest will be even larger and more determined than the previous ones.
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