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The government must enact legally binding policies now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030 and reach zero emissions by 2050.* It must cooperate internationally so that the global economy runs on no more than half a planet’s worth of resources per year.

The future is coming for us — faster than we imagined. Destruction that was forecast to unfold decades from now is already here. As carbon emissions and global temperatures continue to rise, extreme weather is becoming both more common and more destructive.

The science is only becoming clearer as the years pass. An ever-growing number of scientific studies prove two things: the earth is warming and the burning of fossil fuels is the cause.

We can still create a better future. But only if we urgently demonstrate to our governments that we do not accept the status quo. A status quo of irreparable harm to our collective well being and to that of future generations. A scenario in which those who can least afford it will suffer the most.

Through Extinction Rebellion’s non-violent civil disobedience, people like you are disrupting business as usual to demand deep decarbonization. Every single person who protests is increasing our chances of creating a better future. Bold actions like occupying roads, blockading bridges and creatively disrupting the work of banks which finance the climate crisis can capture government and media attention and change the conversation in ways conventional resistance hasn’t.

* XR’s original demand (2019) called for a reduction of carbon emissions to net zero by 2025, but the global temperature has only increased since then while governments have failed to act.  Six of nine planetary boundaries have already been exceeded, and irreversible tipping points loom dangerously close.

In addition, “net zero” has been co-opted into a greenwashing term by the fossil fuel industry. Net zero, also known as carbon neutrality, means that the amount of carbon dioxide produced by human activity is equal to the amount of carbon dioxide removed or "captured" by human activity. Because net zero focuses on offsetting carbon emissions rather than reducing carbon emissions, it does not address the root causes of the problem: our continued dependence on fossil fuels.

Lastly, efforts to offset carbon emissions exacerbates global and historical inequities. For more information, see https://progressive.org/latest/climate-crisis-need-real-zero-gerhardt-210626/.