Code Red: Global Climate Strike

Details on the event below.

The recent IPCC report is a terrifying read. The crucial target of 1.5 degrees Celsius now seems – damningly for our politicians – beyond reach. Even in a ‘do everything right scenario’ (spoiler: not going to happen) we would still breach this target, if only temporarily. Yet, a more careful reading of the report would reveal something else. The 1.5 degree target is beyond reach because our current political and economic systems are incapable of dealing with a crisis of this scale.

Faced with a crisis of monumental proportions that requires a systemic response, our politicians are only capable of incremental and tokenistic solutions. These assumptions have been built into the IPCC report’s models itself, as the report is not only a synthesis of existing scholarship, but also one that must be approved by all governments (though scientists can veto any suggestions that are politically convenient, but scientifically illiterate).

Incremental change is not how you deal with an emergency. What we need is system change.

If we continue down our current path, Malta will definitely become a desert. Malta will become uninhabitable, impossible to grow crops, and the heatwaves we experienced this summer will become a permanent seasonal feature. And it will only get worse.

Nowhere is our politicians’ disconnect with reality clearer than in how our Minister for the Environment, Hon. Aaron Farrugia, bragged about down-negotiating our emissions target to 19% by 2030. Let’s be clear. A 19% reduction in emissions by 2030 (if followed by other countries) would mean the death of millions, perhaps billions of people. This is a target over which governments elsewhere have been taken to court on human rights grounds, and lost.

In the climate and ecological crisis, five centuries of colonialism have finally come to their pitiful, logical and terrifying end. Europeans have not only conquered, subdued and destroyed other human cultures – we have also conquered and destroyed nature itself.

But we are part of nature, not separate from it. In destroying nature, we also destroy ourselves. In defending nature, however, we defend ourselves. Every fraction of a degree matters, and it is not too late to turn things around.

Thus, on the 18th of September, ‘Extinction Rebellion Malta’ will be protesting in solidarity with the rest of the global climate strike movement and asking our politicians to treat this crisis like the emergency it is. The only way to make our politicians act on this existential threat is to force them to. This means protests and other tactics of civil disobedience to make our voices heard. Together, we must force them into action. Join them!

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Details on the event

Lead by: Extinction Rebellion Malta

Date: 18th September 2021

Time: 17:00 – 18:15

Place: Pjazza Kastilja, Valletta

Basic COVID regulations apply, wear a mask and remain socially distanced throughout the duration of the event.

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The Demands

Short Version:

Rapid Decarbonisation: full decarbonisation by 2030

The science is clear. NGOs, academics, and experts have already outlined how rapid decarbonisation would be achieved. What is currently lacking is the political will to enact this.

Reversal of Biodiversity Loss

The IPCC and IPBES have made it clear that the climate and ecological crises need to be tackled together. So far, many environmental interventions by the government have been either inappropriate or remain utterly insignificant.

An end to ‘business as usual’ and Shift to a Wellbeing Economy

We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. Our current economic and political systems are set up neither to protect the environment nor to safeguard our collective well-being.

Promoting Sustainable Mobility and Moving Away from Car Dependency

There is an unequivocal need to shift away from a car-dependent transport strategy. All new road projects should be immediately dropped with the focus directed towards improving cycling and public transport infrastructure, and pedestrianisation.

Solidarity with Most Affected Peoples and Areas

In the same way that not everyone contributed equally to the climate and ecological crisis, not everyone will be affected by it in the same way. Climate justice must be accompanied by social justice, otherwise it would not be worth pursuing.

A Citizens Assembly on Climate

Citizens’ Assemblies tackle issues which politicians are unwilling or afraid to confront. Citizens’ Assemblies bring together people from all walks of life to investigate, discuss, recommend, and create legislation. This would constitute a much-needed exercise in democratisation.

Check out the detailed list of demands here.

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Code Red: Global Climate Strike is endorsed by ‘A Bird’s Eye View’.