Oxford students joined thousands of climate protestors by gathering outside the Houses of Parliament last weekend to demand the Government cease all new fossil fuels searches immediately. The mass demonstration dubbed “The Big One” involved over 200 different groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth and has been led by Extinction Rebellion (XR).
It has been 4 years since the group brought the capital to a standstill by parking a pink boat in Oxford Circus and causing the UK Parliament to declare a “climate emergency”. It is also the first major demonstration since the group announced in January that it would no longer use disruption tactics in demonstrations (something it, and other climate groups, have been criticised for doing in the past).
The coalition had two demands from the government: the immediate halting of all new fossil fuel projects and the establishment of emergency citizens’ assemblies to “let the people decide how to end the fossil fuel era quickly and fairly”. The deadline for a response was set for Monday 5pm where protestors gathered in Parliament square. The failure of the government to respond led XR co-founder, Clare Farrel, to vow to step up campaigning and action across the country.
Student Rebellion Oxford, part of XR Oxford, hoped to have 100 students participate in the protest. They claim this was probably not met, especially with the demonstration coinciding with Collections weekend. Oliver Sworder, a spokesperson for Student Rebellion Oxford and biologist at Keble, told Cherwell: “Although we didn’t make the target, nearly 500 rebels went along from Oxfordshire and we hope mobilisation may make more students come next time.”
He continues: “I left genuinely hopeful. Not that that government would heed the demand, but hopeful that somewhere between 20,000-50,000 people showed up- all with a common goal.
“It felt almost like a festival; children played in the streets, music was performed, volunteers gave out free food, talks about proportional representation, as well as on the state of the climate, or veganism, or people’s experiences were given, by MPs, normal people, and even celebrities such as Carice van Houten from Game of Thrones.”
XR Oxford organised a coach to London and XR Youth went via train. Other individuals made their own way there but coincidentally caught many of the same trains or buses. Hertford’s Environment and Ethics rep, Beatrice McWilliams, echoed sentiments of hope and how protests can help cure eco-anxiety, telling Cherwell that “calling out [the lack of action] with thousands of others in the heart of London was a very valuable experience.”
Other students have criticised the protesters’ decision to make their way to London rather than staging protests in local areas. Some see this as hypocrisy as protesters will have inevitably caused emissions through fossil fuel-based transport. However, Sworder has rebutted these claims: “When we live in a society of no alternative, and when the government right now is extremely centralised, I think it is unfair in the absence of realistic alternatives that would still have the same impact.”
He notes that the protest was designed to “gather people together to foster conversation and connection, so doing so outside parliament is the best way of doing so, although there may be plans for more localised ones in the future.”
Regarding Oxford-specific climate action, Student Rebellion Oxford welcomes the new traffic measures but argues that the University can do more, with continued acceptance of donations from dirty companies and the careers service promoting students down the career pipeline into “industries profiting off the destruction of our future”.
