Welcome to Newsletter XTRA, where everything we couldn’t fit into the main Global Newsletter has its moment to shine. This month we cover actions in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Norway, Italy, Senegal, USA, Rwanda, Spain, and more…
3 DEC | Kinshasha, DRC: Rebels urge the world to agree a new global biodiversity framework at COP15 and their government to mirror its key objectives around habitat conservation and restoration.
5 DEC | Trondheim, Norway: 15 scientist activists with Scientist Rebellion are banned from the city and 2 are arrested after a roadblock in solidarity with Stopp Oljeletinga who are calling on the Norwegian government to end all oil exploration.
5 JAN | Germany: While the excavators of energy company RWE are being defied in Lützerath (left), a tiny town being wiped out for a new coal mine, people gathered across Germany to protest against the destruction of their future. Rallies were held in Berlin (right), Leipzig, Hamburg, and many more cities across Germany.
Police prepare to dismantle a tripod blocking an approach road to Lützerath.
21 DEC | Düsseldorf, Germany: 14 scientists and students block the entrance to a regional Ministry of Economic Affairs in Düsseldorf in solidarity with Lützerath. They spread charcoal across its entrance and pasted scientific studies of the climate crisis on its walls. “If Lützerath falls, Germany will break its climate targets and continue on the highway to climate hell. If Lützerath stays, it could be the beginning of the end of the destructive fossil fuel combustion system.”
12 DEC | London, UK: Ocean Rebellion rebels welcome delegates of the Marine Environment Protection Committee, which was meeting at the UN International Maritime Organisation (IMO). The IMO continues to allow cargo ships and oil tankers to burn Heavy Fuel Oil at sea, which is extremely toxic. Photo: João Daniel Pereira
12 DEC | Stockholm, Sweden: 12 rebels were charged at the Stockholm District Court for a peaceful sit-in in a Volvo showroom where they demanded an end to fossil fuel subsidies. In a double irony, Volvo is both facing charges for climate crimes, and joining other Swedish corporations to launch a global climate appeal.
14 DEC | Ndiarogne, Senegal: Rebels visited the village of Ndiarogne near Dakar to work with a local women’s group to teach the community permaculture, good waste management, and other cultivation techniques to ensure their gardens and local mangrove forests thrive. They also raised awareness of the climate crisis among the village youth.
15 DEC | Massachusetts, USA: Ten rebels are arrested after occupying a private jet operator for four hours.
16 DEC | Kigali, Rwanda: XR Kigali planted trees on the outskirts of the city and held a seminar on how human activity is destroying biodiversity and why we must value all life.
16 DEC | Imo, Nigeria: Rebels took to the streets and the airwaves to demand an end to ecocide. A rebel appeared on state radio to discuss the climate and ecological crisis and there was a road march through the state.
20 DEC | Valencia, Spain: Red Rebels protest a new motorway being constructed through Valencia.
23 DEC | Madrid, Spain: Activists from Futuro Vegetal protest outside a major meat processing company and block a main road in Madrid. They called for the Spanish state to stop subsidising the meat industry and promote plant-based alternatives. Futuro Vegetal also sabotaged the largest slaughterhouse in Europe, which has the capacity to kill up to 30,000 animals each day.
2 JAN | Rome, Italy: 3 rebels from Ultima Generazione are arrested for using fire extinguishers to spray orange paint over Palazzo Madama, the house of the Italian senate. The group is trying to wake up their politicians to the ongoing ecological collapse and potential genocide to come.
2 JAN | Forests of Sweden: Rebels from Oslo and Finland as well as other activists disrupt hunters killing wolves. The hunt is legal despite wolves being endangered. “We are spending several weeks making noise, flying drones, driving cars on the forest roads, going ahead of the hunters. Let's stop this madness together.”
2 JAN | Utrecht, The Netherlands: Rebels at Utrecht Central lie on the cold ground. “The world will become a place without people if we continue like this.”
8 DEC | Munich & Berlin, Germany: Air traffic comes to a standstill at two of Germany’s largest airports thanks to a group of Letzte Generation activists sticking themselves to runways and wandering through airport grounds. Police were informed in advance to ensure the safety of all involved.
21 DEC | Hamburg, Germany: Rebels block a bridge holding a banner saying "Climate protection is not a crime" in solidarity with activists from Letzte Generation (Last Generation) who are being imprisoned for non-violent resistance.
6 DEC | Torino, Italy: Rebels got to work constructing a two-metre high wall outside the entrance of the Regional Environment Department. "Climate Crisis. Closed Due to Default" was written on the bricks.
17 DEC | St Ives, UK: Three rebels dressed as crows broadcast the biodiversity message as COP15 closes. It is critical: in the past 60 years, 69% of all non-human life has gone from our planet. Photo: Gavan Goulder
