BREAKING: Extinction Rebellion Scotland climb Holyrood and drop banner ‘Choose Oil or Choose Life: Act Now’ Over Entrance

October 08, 2020

BREAKING: Extinction Rebellion Scotland climb Holyrood and drop banner ‘Choose Oil or Choose Life: Act Now’ Over Entrance

Press release: 7am, 8th October 2020, Scotland UK

Extinction Rebellion Scotland begins ‘Make The Connections’ campaign with three activists climbing the Scottish Parliament and dropping a banner reading ‘Choose Oil or Choose Life: Act Now’ over the entrance.
Activists aim to remain in place until First Minister’s Questions ends at 2pm
Choose Oil or Choose Life: the government is currently co-opted by the fossil fuel industry, leading us towards catastrophe, but there is still a choice

We are hurtling towards the breakdown of the support systems we rely on for life. This has not happened by accident, we have known the science and the solutions for decades.

Wilful obstruction by finance and fossil fuel companies have led to our Government implementing weak climate change policy which shores up the profits of these companies, while putting all of our lives at risk.

In the words of Ban Ki-Moon, Former UN Secretary-General “This is an emergency and for emergency situations we need emergency action.”

XR Scotland are taking this direct action today to make the connections between these facts clear and demand that the Scottish Government Choose Oil or Choose Life.

‘Choose Your Future, Choose Life’ bus stop advertising boards have also appeared in Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Stirling overnight.

These actions are part of a series of actions happening throughout October highlighting the collusion between fossil fuel companies, the finance sector and government in locking us into a future marred by climate and ecological breakdown.

One climber, Myke Hall, 33, a writer from Leith commented; “If the Scottish Government really wants to be world leaders on the climate emergency they need to stop pretending that big fossil fuel companies are part of the solution. These corporations have known about ecological breakdown for decades and have only drilled deeper. They serve the bank accounts of billionaire shareholders, not the workers, not the people of Scotland, and certainly not those suffering today in the areas most affected.”

Another climber, Meg Peyton Jones, a biologist from Edinburgh commented; “Scotland is financially and politically tied to a destructive and dying industry: this does not have to be the case, and we call on the government for a just transition away from oil, led by the workers rather than corporations. A 2019 survey by a coalition of green charities showed nearly 70% of British people want urgent political action on climate change. The 2020 Offshore survey of oil and gas workers in Scotland showed that 81% would consider moving industries, with over half saying they would move to renewables given the chance. The Scottish Government must choose oil or choose life.”

The civil disobedience campaign titled ‘Make the Connections’ aims to highlight collusion between the finance sector, both Scottish Government and UK Government, and the fossil fuel industry, in particular North Sea oil and gas.

The global finance sector has invested more than £2.2 trillion in fossil fuels exploration and extraction since the Paris Agreement. [1] 43% of offshore North Sea oil and gas workers have been furloughed or made redundant since March and 81% said they would consider leaving the oil and gas industry to work in another sector. [2] However, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said “our primary aim is to maximise economic recovery of [oil and gas] reserves”, stating a hope that a further 20 billion barrels of oil will be extracted. [3]

Each week will focus on one of these three ‘pillars’, culminating on 26th October, the day Scottish Parliament reconvene after their October recess, when synchronised creative protests will take place in several locations simultaneously.

5 – 11th October – Government
12 – 18th October – Finance
19 – 25th October – Fossil Fuels
26 October – ‘Make the Connections’ – synchronised day of action

Ends

Notes

[1] Study: global banks ‘failing miserably’ on climate crisis by funneling trillions into fossil fuels https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/18/global-banks-climate-crisis-finance-fossil-fuels

[2] Offshore: Oil and gas workers’ views on industry conditions and the energy transition https://foe.scot/resource/offshore-oil-and-gas-workers-views/

[3] Oil and Gas UK Conference 2017: First Minister’s speech https://www.gov.scot/publications/oil-gas-uk-conference-2017-first-ministers-speech/

[4] Scotland Rebellion 2020 https://xrscotland.org/rebellion/scotland-rebellion-2020/

About Extinction Rebellion Scotland

Extinction Rebellion Scotland is a non-violent direct-action movement formed to take urgent action in the face of climate emergency and ecological catastrophe, as part of the global justice movement.

Our demands, issued as a Declaration of Rebellion to the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government on 24th November 2018, are as follows;

That the Scottish Government tell the truth about the climate and wider ecological emergency, acknowledge and reverse any policies that help drive the climate crisis, and commit to enabling a rapid and just transition to a sustainable and fair society.
That the Scottish Government enact legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025, including by replacing a system based on accelerating consumption with one based on ensuring the wellbeing of all.
The creation of a legally binding Scottish Climate Citizens’ Assembly to oversee the changes, as part of creating a democracy fit for purpose and a society that cares for all.

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