Photo: @phuerza @XRargentina
Dear rebel,
You are probably reading this newsletter in the midst of your busy schedule. In between dropping your children off at school and going to work. In between one meeting and another. While the leftovers reheat in the microwave. Nearly all of us spend our days overwhelmed by daily tasks and frustrations. Work, money, school, childcare, healthcare—these things consume and define the majority of our time. And if you’re like us, in the background is a constant hum of grief, or anxiety, because you’re aware civilians are being bombed in countless armed conflicts around the world. You’re aware that countless species are teetering on the edge of extinction, that the weather has been strange lately, and that our planet is tumbling towards a host of disastrous climate tipping points. But we can’t stop to think about that. The bills still have to be paid, and our families still need food and housing, and so we get up every morning and fight the little fires of our lives.
The result is that a mass cognitive dissonance has settled over our society like smoke. We cannot reconcile both the day-to-day and the existential, cannot hold them both in our hands. This is not shameful; it’s our natural survival instinct. But if you’re like us, even as you gulp scalding coffee on your morning commute, you feel a deep-seated despair, maybe even anger, because part of you knows you don’t have the time or security to devote yourself to activism, but you can’t watch your children grow up in this tortured world.
We’re here to tell you that there is a middle ground. Since the beginning, XR has felt strongly that there is a place for everyone in the movement, no matter your skills or constraints. That’s why this month, we are introducing a new Suggested Monthly Action in this newsletter, aimed to give all of us a chance not only at activism, but at community building and resilience. So if you’ve been feeling stuck, conflicted, or hopeless, but you have just a few more spare minutes, read on.
This newsletter is brought to you by XR Global Support, a worldwide network of rebels who help our movement grow and need money to continue this crucial work.
XR GLOBAL CLIMATE JUSTICE CAMPAIGN
Action Highlight
Photo: @XRtravelagency & @extinctionrebellionnl
22 March 2026 | XR Netherlands, Schiphol Airport
In late March, Dutch XR members protested at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport by pouring pink paint over the statues of the four founders of major Dutch airlines KLM, Transavia and Martinair. The demonstration condemns the celebration of figures who have contributed so extensively to the detriment of our environment through the crippling amounts of CO2 that plane travel releases into our atmosphere. The Instagram video posted from the action further juxtaposes these wrongly venerated figures with the “true heroes of the sky” - the winged creatures of the natural world, which are so significantly impacted by the rapidly growing aviation industry.
A key target of this protest, and others preceding it at Schiphol airport, is the “Flying Blue” programme; KLM and Air France’s loyalty programme incentivising customers to book more frequent flights to access discounts on future travel. Such profit-oriented programmes normalise excessive flying and feed into a vicious cycle of an exponential increase in passenger flights whilst discouraging people from opting for modes of transport with a lessened environmental impact, such as trains. Frequent fliers make up only a small percentage of the population, even in the world’s richest countries, yet the impact that an individual’s “flight print” can have on the environment is astronomically disproportionate. By 2050, the aviation sector could be responsible for a quarter of all emissions. Whilst flying on occasion for long-distance travel is often unavoidable, such programmes encourage and reward unethical behaviour. The “miles” accumulated through unnecessary travel should not be a currency to unlock benefits but rather a stamp of shame upon those who prioritise convenience over their ecological responsibility. Learn more and follow XR Netherlands and @XRtravelagency here.
Action Update
Photos: @phuerza @XRargentina
8 April 2026 | XR Argentina, Glacier Law Protests
Whilst the Argentinian government approved the gutting of the Glacier Law in order to allow mining companies like Barrick Gold, Glencore, Lundin Mining, BHP, Rio Tinto and Shandong Gold to access and pollute water, thousands of XR protestors continued to defend water and glaciers all around the country. This legal change jeopardizes 39 water basins, which serve more than 7 million people, and nearly 17,000 glaciers. The mining companies have been polluting the Andes Mountains for years with cyanide, mercury and heavy metals. Now, the government has authorised mega-mining on glaciers and periglacial environments. The government responded to the protests with repression and arrests. But the XR protesters will not give up because defending our water can never end. Follow the struggle @XRargentina
Action Update
Photo: Gerald R Nestor,BCN Stories
13 March 2026 | Campaign to save Bugoma Forest, Uganda
A press release issued on 11 March 2026 by Bugoma Jungle Lodge, together with tourism and environmental stakeholders, has sounded the alarm on the continued destruction of Bugoma Forest which is one of Uganda’s most ecologically significant tropical forests. Following a joint field visit, stakeholders reported extensive deforestation driven by illegal logging, charcoal production, and agricultural encroachment. As highlighted in coverage by The Cooperator News, thousands of hectares have already been lost, with the forest’s degradation further intensifying.
Beyond the immediate environmental damage, this crisis speaks to broader issues of climate justice and sustainable development. Bugoma Forest plays a vital role as a carbon sink, a biodiversity hotspot, and a source of livelihoods for surrounding communities. The forest’s destruction disproportionately affects vulnerable populations while contributing to global climate instability. For young people, this moment represents more than just a conservation issue, it is a call to action. Protecting Bugoma is about safeguarding ecosystems, holding institutions accountable, and ensuring that development pathways prioritise both people and the planet. Strengthening community-led conservation, enforcing environmental protections, and amplifying youth voices in decision-making are critical steps towards reversing this damage.
Must Read
Britain’s Leaders Are Hiding From AMOC Disaster from ZNetwork
Are you worried about AMOC? Do you even know what it is? XR’s first demand is so simple yet so difficult: Tell the truth. Mainstream media so often skips over the most important climate issues facing us. This clear article by journalist Adem Ay lays out the basics of AMOC and explains why all governments should be taking it seriously right now.
This Month's Suggested Action
Find Your Forest
One of the best ways to deal with the anxiety and grief that modern life brings is to fight back—get involved, become part of the solution, make a difference. Build hope. But we know lots of people don't know how to get started—and we understand that a lot of what XR does, a lot of what this newsletter covers, is the sort of work that risks arrest, something not everyone is able to do.
So, starting right now, each newsletter issue will include a challenge, something simple, legal, yet potentially very impactful that you can do THIS MONTH. Are you ready?
Your Mission:
Pick an open, wild-looking area in your community and find out who owns it.
That's it. Bonus points if you can also find out whether it's protected in any way and what services, if any, its wildness provides to your community. Does it improve your air quality? Filter your groundwater? Do people recreate there? Is it culturally important? But the main thing is to identify your spot and find out who owns it.
Your spot does not have to be large or pristine. It can be an empty lot or a weedy ditch. On the other hand, you could have a patch of old-growth forest or a marsh that supports migratory birds. Whatever it is, find out who owns it, who has the legal power to make decisions about it.
Why This Mission Matters:
Green spaces, even small ones, can be ecologically, historically, and culturally significant. Unfortunately, they're also often under threat. Community push-back can save them, and in fact the fight to save a local green space can be the reason the community comes together. Finding out where your green space is and who owns it is your first step towards finding out what threats may exist and what options you might have for getting involved.
Solidarity
Help a Latin American rebel fight for the glaciers
One of the XR protestors arrested in Argentina during the Glacier protests (see our Action Update above) has been charged with property damage. She wants to fight the charges and make a case for the need for civil disobedience when life itself is under threat. For her legal case she needs $4800. XR Netherlands has set up a GoFundMe for her here.
Positive Reads
China’s emissions really do look like they’ve peaked - Carbon Brief
China’s CO₂ emissions have been flat or falling for 21 months, with what looks like a 0.3% decline in 2025. Clean power met all electricity-demand growth as solar, wind and nuclear rose, pushing coal generation down 1.9%. Chemicals emissions are now the outlier, up by 12%. If this is China’s peak (still to be officially confirmed) it’s the climate story of the century. Read more here: Carbon Brief
Why sodium-ion batteries are happening now - CleanTechnica
Batteries are essential for the energy transition and it’s infuriating to think about the decades wasted researching fossil fuel extraction instead of renewables. One important distinction is between batteries using lithium (volatile prices and requires mining) and those using sodium (cheap and abundant) but sodium-ion batteries have lagged behind. Until now. Find out why here.
‘Reimagining matter’: Nobel laureate invents machine that harvests water from dry air - Guardian
Billions of people experience water scarcity and individuals living in arid and storm-prone areas have an elevated risk of lacking access to safe drinking water. Professor Omar Yaghi, the 2025 Nobel Laureate in chemistry, has developed a technology to provide people with water – from air. Yaghi’s revolutionary technology generates drinking water by pulling water from the atmosphere, even in desert environments. Learn more about Professor Yaghi and his company here.
Book Review
Eat Like a Fish by Bren Smith
Bren Smith has a vision for saving the world. It involves shellfish and sea vegetables.
The idea here is that if enough people take up what he calls restorative ocean farming, we can solve most of the dire problems we now face. He makes his case well.
In Eat Like a Fish, Smith uses a combination of engaging memoir and informative essay to explain that all the major ways most of us source food are environmental nightmares that contribute significantly to climate change, can't feed the growing human population adequately, and mostly don't pay a living wage anymore--but restorative ocean farming restores habitat, sequesters carbon, can produce a lot of food, and has a low cost of entry for new farmers. Smith even provides instructions for starting your own farm and for cooking with sea vegetables.
Of course, it's not quite that simple. Smith does over-state his case in places (for one thing, shellfish cannot feed all of humanity because some humans are either allergic or keeping kosher), but he's right that restorative ocean farming can become a big part of our solution.
Rebel with your wallet
From our Readers
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