Extinction Rebellion NYC Protests City Hall’s Inaction on Anniversary of Emergency Climate Resolution, and Joins City Hall Occupation by Vocal-NY

Climate group advocates that government “act now” and implement a “just transition” to protect frontline communities.

One year ago, on June 26, 2019, responding to pressure from a coalition of climate organizations, including Extinction Rebellion NYC and concerned constituents, the New York City Council passed a landmark resolution, 864, which calls for an immediate emergency climate mobilization. In the year since, however, the City Council and the Mayor’s office have been disturbingly slow to act on their commitment.

During this historic time, the climate and ecological emergency has claimed countless lives including superstorms in the southern U.S., the Bahamas, Japan and elsewhere, and wildfires in California, Amazonia, Siberia, and Australia. A pandemic attributed to ecological breakdown has hit the black community hardest in the US, exposing government failure and systemic oppression, while persistent acts of police violence have revealed the toll of white supremacy on people of color. The New York City Council has acknowledged that climate justice and racial justice are intertwined and it has promised to take immediate action. But time is running out.

At the west gate of City Hall on Friday afternoon, June 26, we marked the first anniversary of the declaration of the climate emergency. A community recitation of resolution 864 was read aloud by multiple voices. There were two banners: a blow up of resolution 864 with the words “Immediate Emergency Mobilization,” and a second one with the words “Climate Justice Is Racial Justice.” These encapsulate the primary demands of the action, which are to call on City Council and the Mayor's office to “Act Now,” and to demand a “Just Transition,” as we tell the truth about racial injustice and the need to protect and invest in frontline communities. In addition, the group brought to the action printouts of resolution #864, birthday cards (showing global climate destruction) and a mock birthday cake.

Extinction Rebellion NYC then joined the occupation on the north side of the City Hall complex by the statewide grassroots membership organization Vocal-NY, in active solidarity with that group. It’s time to boldly make the link between the climate crisis and racial injustice. The language of declaration 864 is bold and visionary, and it's a document we proudly share with our fellow New Yorkers and future partners.

“We’re here as climate activists because we are witnessing the disproportionate impacts of a climate crisis on Black lives,” said Kerith Creo, during her speech at the event. “We are here to stand for a system that changes the legacy that is suffocating Black communities and the planet. A year ago today, the New York City Council passed the declaration of a climate emergency. We are in the middle of a sixth mass extinction. Our species is going extinct and we’re going to continue to see the impact on Black, Brown, and Indigenous lives.”

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About Extinction Rebellion

Time has almost entirely run out to address the ecological crisis which is upon us, including the sixth mass species extinction, global pollution, and abrupt, runaway climate change. Societal collapse and mass death are seen as inevitable by scientists and other credible voices, with human extinction also a possibility, if rapid action is not taken.

Extinction Rebellion believes it is a citizen’s duty to rebel, using peaceful civil disobedience, when faced with criminal inactivity by their Government.

Extinction Rebellion’s key demands are:

Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.

Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.

Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.

Government must commit to a just transition in order to maintain a livable, just planet for all.

What Emergency? | Extinction Rebellion in Numbers |This Is Not A Drill: An Extinction Rebellion Handbook

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