Extinction Rebellion Tube protest: Why are activists targeting London Underground?

Commuter chaos struck London’s transport network this morning as Extinction Rebellion took its protests to the London Underground.

The climate change activists struck Jubilee and DLR services at peak time on Thursday, gluing themselves to trains and sparking heated tussles with passengers.

The British Transport Police said four arrests were made shortly after 7am, hours after the protesters confirmed their plans to cause travel disruption.

But why are they targeting the London Underground? And what do they hope to achieve?

Why are XR disrupting the tube?

The group said they were “peacefully disrupting the London Underground” because they need to alert the public to the Climate and Ecological Emergency by “disrupting their daily lives".

“As many people who work in central London get there by tube, disrupting this will have a substantial impact upon business within the capital,” they said in a statement this morning.

“Actions of this scale are commensurate to the task of creating change on a societal level.

The protesters are trying to convince the Government to agree to their three key demands: to “tell the truth” about the climate crisis, to act now to “halt biodiversity loss” and reduce green house gas emissions to net zero by 2025, and to create a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.

The activists say the Government’s current net zero target of 2050 is “far too late”, and urgent action needs to be taken now.

Spokesperson Valerie Milner-Brown said: “This is disruption with a purpose since we will all encounter far greater disruption in the future if we don’t radically change our society.

“We can already see the horrifying early effects of the Climate and Ecological Emergency in parts of the Global South and it’s clear that this will be coming our way soon."

What’s been the Government’s response to this morning’s Underground chaos?

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan strongly criticised the protests, saying: “I strongly condemn the Extinction Rebellion protestors who have targeted the London Underground and DLR this morning.

“This illegal action is extremely dangerous, counterproductive and is causing unacceptable disruption to Londoners who use public transport to get to work.

“It is also an unfair burden on our already overstretched police officers. I urge demonstrators to protest peacefully and within the boundaries of the law.”

Environment minister Zac Goldsmith said: “Stopping people getting to work via public transport is a startlingly foolish tactic.

“Unless the crazy end of extinction rebellion is trying to repel as many people as possible from the environmental cause. If so, they are going about it the right way.”

Who are Extinction Rebellion?

Extinction Rebellion is a protest movement for climate change activists. Formed in the UK in May last year, the group held its first protests in London in October.

The group uses non-violent civil disobedience to campaign on environmental issues such as climate breakdown, biodiversity loss and ecological collapse.

It says climate change threatens all life on Earth and is calling for "radical change in order to minimise the risk of human extinction and ecological collapse" because "our leaders are failing in their duty".

So far demonstrations have taken place all over the world, and have included a semi-naked protest in the House of Commons along with the current two-week disruption.

From a grass roots campaign, it has now grown into an international movement with chapters across the world backed by celebrities, academics and writers.

It is calling upon the Government to meet three key points, which are:

• To “tell the truth” by declaring a climate and ecological emergency.

• To “act now” with means to “halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net by 2025”.

• To create a citizen’s assembly on climate change and ecological justice which would lead Government action.

What does Extinction Rebellion want?

The group says direct action is needed to force governments to act urgently on climate change and wildlife declines and halt a "sixth mass extinction".

It is calling for an ecological emergency to be declared, greenhouse gases to be brought to net zero by 2025, and the creation of a citizens' assembly to lead action on the environment.

XR says the systems propping up "modern consumer-focused lifestyles" will lead to mass water shortages, crop failures, sea level rises and the displacement of millions.

"Only a peaceful planet-wide mobilisation of the scale of the Second World War will give us a chance to avoid the worst-case scenarios," it says.

What are its methods?

XR uses what is calls "non-violent civil disobedience" as the world has "run out of the luxury of time to react incrementally".

Demonstrations include blocking busy roads and bridges and spray-painting government buildings.

Activists have also chained and glued themselves to buildings, including the gates of Buckingham Palace.

A colourful catwalk show took over London's busy Oxford Circus junction earlier this year to highlight the environmental impact of the fashion industry, while semi-naked activists glued themselves to windows in the public gallery of the House of Commons during a Brexit debate.

More recently, the group tried to shut down London City Airport for three days before abandoning their plans after just one, and they have blockaded the BBC in an attempt to shut it down.

Recent demonstrations are part of a wider protest movement intended to shut down London for two weeks. This involves occupying buildings, blocking roads and attaching themselves to buildings, vehicles and roads in an attempt to draw attention to the climate change crisis.

Extinction Rebellion says it wants ecocide, the deliberate destruction of the natural environment, to be listed alongside crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and crimes of aggression.

How did it build momentum?

In its first protest on October 31 last year, the group assembled a protest on Parliament Square in London, expecting a "couple of hundred people" - before 1,500 showed up.

The group said: "The energy was contagious! The next few weeks were a whirlwind.

"Six thousand of us converged on London to peacefully block five major bridges across the Thames."

Chapters now exist in dozens of countries including the US, the Solomon Islands, Australia, Spain, South Africa and India, it said.

Protests in London began in April with campaigners saying at the time they wanted to bring the capital to a standstill.

Activists in at least 80 cities in more than 33 countries held similar demonstrations on environmental issues.

They are currently embarking on two weeks of protests in London in an attempt to shut down the city.

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