Animal Rising
| Formation | June 2019 |
|---|---|
| Founded at | London |
| Purpose | Climate change mitigation, veganism |
| Headquarters | London |
| Affiliations | Extinction Rebellion |
Volunteers | 100 organisers |
| Website | www |
Animal Rebellion is an animal and climate justice movement with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action towards a plant-based food system. Their justification for the introduction of such a system is the impact of animal agriculture on climate change, species extinction and ecosystem breakdown. It has around 100 organisers and was founded in June 2019 by 12 people, including Dr Alex Lockwood of the University of Sunderland.[1][2]
Animal Rebellion was established in London and is associated with Extinction Rebellion. According to Animal Rebellion's website, its demands are the same as the demands of Extinction Rebellion, yet Extinction Rebellion does not explicitly state that a transition to a plant-based food system is necessary to avoid further climate collapse.
History
From 7 October 2019 to 19 October, Animal Rebellion organised a wave of civil disobedience in London, with groups holding protests in other places such as Berlin. Animal Rebellion protested in front of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture,[3] at Smithfield meat market,[4][5] the largest UK meat market, and Billingsgate Fish Market,[6] and at an abattoir in Farnborough, Hampshire, leading to several dozen arrests for obstruction of traffic and "obstruction or disruption of a person engaged in lawful activity".[7][8] They reported that the abattoir protest was to highlight the role the farming industry plays in the climate crisis, as well as animal welfare issues and the conditions for abattoir workers.[9]
On 16 October, Animal Rebellion protester Mr Broccoli, a man dressed up in a suit and a broccoli hat, appeared on Good Morning Britain where Piers Morgan blasted him for disrupting London while not being able to explain the science about why plant-based food has a lower greenhouse gas footprint.[10]
Context
Livestock farming accounts for 18 to 51 percent or global greenhouse gas emissions[11], depending on whether livestock food and the crowding out of forest for farm land are included in the count. According to Joseph Poore of Oxford University and Thomas Nemecek of Agroscope, avoiding meat and dairy products is the single biggest way to reduce one's individual environmental impact on the planet and can reduce the land needed for farming by over 75% globally.[12] A UN IPCC report released in 2019 also stated that intensive farming and razing forests for meat production was having a devastating impact on the environment, and by shifting to a plant-based diet progress could be made to address the climate emergency.[13]
References
- ^ Partos, Hannah (2019-09-15). "How Sunday lunch at nan's led to a vegan's battle against the climate crisis". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
- ^ "Alex Lockwood". University of Sunderland. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
- ^ "Klimaaktivisten blockieren Potsdamer Platz und Großen Stern". www.rbb24.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-10-20.
- ^ Francis, Sam (2019-10-08). "Climate activists blockade Smithfield meat market". BBC. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
- ^ Taylor, Matthew (2019-08-16). "Animal Rebellion activists to blockade UK's biggest meat market". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
- ^ "Arrests after fish market protests". 2019-10-12. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
- ^ "Arrests after fish market protests". BBC. 2019-10-12. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
- ^ "Three charged over Animal Rebellion abattoir demo". BBC. 2019-10-17. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
- ^ "Charges dropped over Animal Rebellion protest". 2019-10-18. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
- ^ "'Mr Broccoli' clashes with Piers Morgan as he touts vegan diet on GMB". Evening Standard. 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2019-10-18.
- ^ MacKay, Fiona (2009-11-16). "Looking for a Solution to Cows' Climate Problem". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
- ^ editor, Damian Carrington Environment (2018-05-31). "Avoiding meat and dairy is 'single biggest way' to reduce your impact on Earth". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
{{cite news}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ editor, Damian Carrington Environment (2019-08-08). "How climate's impact on land threatens civilisation – and how to fix it". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
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