Extinction Rebellion and Chris Packham set to join forces to ‘unite for nature’

Extinction Rebellion, BBC wildlife legend Chris Packham, and tens of thousands of members of the public will ‘unite for nature’ by joining a legal and family-friendly demonstration on the streets of central London on Saturday 22 June 2024. They will have a simple demand of all political parties: ‘Restore Nature Now‘.

This legal demonstration aims to be the biggest gathering of people for nature and climate that the UK has seen. It will be both a celebration of UK nature and a protest for urgent political action on the biodiversity crisis and climate crisis.

Restore Nature Now: Chris Packham joins Extinction Rebellion

The Restore Nature Now march will be a peaceful, inclusive and family-friendly event.

It is supported by Extinction Rebellion and a diverse range of the country’s biggest and best-known wildlife and environmental organisations. These include the:

• RSPB.
• Wildlife Trusts.
• Climate Coalition.
• WWF-UK.
• National Trust.
• Rewilding Britain.

TV broadcaster and wildlife campaigner Chris Packham will also be joining the Restore Nature Now march.

Together they will warn that the general election must be a turning point for nature before it is too late.

Chris Packham said:

As conservationists and environmental groups we have to accept that the dire state of nature – both in the UK and globally – has happened on our watch. So now’s the time for bolder action, stronger demands, braver tactics and a new way of working… together.

Ticking a box, signing a petition, sharing a post-  it’s simply not enough when we are facing the collapse of our living systems. It’s time for all of us to take to the streets, shoulder to shoulder, whoever we are and demand our leaders Restore Nature Now.

A biodiversity crisis gripping the UK

The UK is ranked as one of the worst countries in the world for nature loss, with one in six wildlife species at risk of extinction in Great Britain.

UK policies have also been rated as inadequate to the scale of the nature and climate crisis. In its annual progress report , the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) said that the UK is:

largely off track to meet its environmental ambitions, and must speed up and scale up its efforts in order to achieve them.

And the Committee on Climate Change has analysed UK action as insufficient to meet emission reduction targets, and reported that the UK is no longer seen as a climate leader.

Polls have revealed that the British public is highly concerned over inadequate UK climate and nature action.

Results from two UK-wide surveys conducted by the Wildlife Trusts showed that irrespective of voting choice, nature matters to people across the electorate, with 93% of voters reporting that they believe nature loss is a serious threat to humanity.

Recent YouGov UK polling on behalf of WWF-UK also showed that the majority of people (70%) think it’s possible to avoid the worst effects of climate change but more than half (58%) think it’s only possible with more drastic action.

Bringing the ‘fight to the mainstream’

Etienne Stott MBE, Olympian and Extinction Rebellion UK spokesperson said:

I’m really excited that Extinction Rebellion UK is going to be out on the streets with such a great variety of friends and allies who are all passionate about protecting and restoring nature.

Biodiversity loss, habitat destruction and climate breakdown are now at breaking point. I’m deeply worried and I know huge numbers of others are too. The only way we are going to do anything about it is if we all come together and pull in the same direction.

This demonstration, a follow up from The Big One last year, is a start to bringing this fight to the mainstream and getting everyone who cares about our planet and all life on earth to bring about radical and urgent change.

Restoring nature will be a key consideration for the increasingly vital citizens’ assembly on the climate and nature emergencies that we have been demanding from the government since 2019.

Politicians must take action now to Restore Nature Now

The Restore Nature Now demonstration will show a joint voice across the nature and climate sectors, uniting to tell all political parties that the following actions must be taken to restore nature now:

• A pay rise for nature – Farmers manage 70% of UK land and have a huge role to play in supporting environmental recovery. But they need more support. We want to see the nature and climate-friendly farming budget doubled.
• Make polluters pay – Big businesses – from water, to retail, to energy – all contribute to environmental decline. We want new rules to make them contribute to nature and climate recovery, and an end to new fossil fuels.
• More space for nature – Just 3% of English land and 8% of waters are properly protected for nature and wildlife. To meet UK nature and climate commitments we need to expand and improve protected areas, and ensure public land and National Parks contribute more to recovery.
• A right to a healthy environment – Limited access to nature, and pollution in the air and water, affects everyone’s health. We’re calling for a commitment to an Environmental Rights Bill, which would drive better decisions for nature, improve public health and access to high-quality nature.
• Fair and effective climate action – We cannot save nature without solving the climate crisis. We want to see investment in warm homes and lower bills by increasing home energy efficiency, supporting active travel and public transport, and replacing polluting fossil fuels with affordable renewables to ensure we at least halve UK emissions by 2030.

There is still hope

Beccy Speight, RSPB CEO said:

Here in the UK, we care deeply about nature. But last year’s State of Nature report laid out a grim picture, finding that there’s been no let-up in the decline of our wildlife over recent decades, with one in six species now at risk of being lost from our shores.

But there is hope: while we know the threats, we also know the solutions. But we simply aren’t acting fast enough or at a big enough scale to tackle the nature and climate crisis.

We’re calling for urgent action and a much stronger commitment to nature’s recovery from politicians of all parties, because we cannot afford to wait any longer.

More details about the Restore Nature Now demonstration will be released in the coming weeks.

Supporters can find out more about the Restore Nature Now demonstration here. You can donate to support the organisation of the demonstration here.

Featured image via Extinction Rebellion