Red alert: How Extinction Rebellion woke the world up to the climate crisis

In October, the journalist and activist George Monbiot introduced Extinction Rebellion to the British press as a homegrown movement  “devoted to disruptive, non-violent disobedience in protest against ecological collapse”. The hope was to turn a national uprising into an international one by March. 

In fewer than 12 months, Extinction Rebellion has become the fastest-growing environmental organization in the world. There are now an estimated 485 Extinction Rebellion affiliates across the globe and, over the next fortnight, they are promising to shut down 60 cities, including London, New York, Buenos Aires, Sydney, Cape Town, and Mumbai. Government buildings, airports, and financial districts will all be targeted with protests aiming for maximum disruption to provoke urgent political action. These are steps that go far beyond what people tend to associate with environmentalism—such as recycling or going vegan—and they have proven effective before. 

Earlier this year, Extinction Rebellion’s protests in London…
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