News

Statement on Extinction Rebellion

Posted in: News
Date posted: 20 November 2018

1. Operation Noah agrees with the reasons behind the Extinction Rebellion, i.e. that:

• We are facing an unprecedented global emergency. Our children and our nation face grave risk.
• The planet is in ecological crisis. We are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction event this planet has experienced. Scientists believe we may have entered a period of abrupt climate breakdown.
• The earth’s atmosphere is already over 1°C warmer than pre-industrial levels. The chances of staying below the 2°C warming agreed upon in the Paris agreement are tiny.
• Recent projections show we are on course for 3 degrees of warming and potentially much higher. Children alive today in the UK will face unimaginable horrors as a result of floods, wildfires, extreme weather, crop failures and the inevitable breakdown of society, when the pressures are so great.
• We are unprepared for the danger our future holds.
• The time for denial is over – we know the truth about climate change and we know the truth about current biological annihilation.

2. ON acknowledges the Extinction Rebellion has some important supporters, including 94 academics, one of whom is former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.

3. As a charity, we cannot officially support the civil disobedience that the Extinction Rebellion proposes. However, we do support those individuals who are joining the rebellion, many of whom are people of faith. Some of our board members, as individuals, are participating in the Extinction Rebellion as members of the non-violent direct action group, Christian Climate Action.

4. Practically, this will mean that we inform our supporters about the activities of the Extinction Rebellion, and Christian Climate Action in particular, so that they can pray for and support them if they would like to.