Global climate action movement Extinction Rebellion to protest in Cambridge

Members of a global climate action movement will take to the streets of Cambridge this weekend to call on local authorities to declare a climate emergency.

The Cambridge arm of Extinction Rebellion will lay down in two "die-ins" at the Grafton Centre and Grand Arcade on Saturday (December 15) to protest local inaction on climate change and air pollution.

This will be followed by a go-slow road walk to Shire Hall where a tree will be planted. Traffic disruption is likely, say organisers.

Extinction Rebellion Cambridge will be calling on the county's district councils and the city council to declare a climate emergency and prepare a Green New Deal for the region with policies to cut air pollution, promote clean energy and green jobs, and restore wildlife.

Extinction Rebellion was launched in London at the end of October in response to government inaction in the face of climate change and the mass extinction of wildlife.

The group came to prominence last month when thousands of people blocked all five of central London’s major bridges for seven hours. More than one hundred people were arrested including members of Extinction Rebellion Cambridge.

This week London mayor Sadiq Khan declared a climate emergency.

Extinction Rebellion wants to see a UK-wide Green New Deal to "unleash an unprecedented wave of ingenuity and transformation, and in the process cut air pollution, restore wildlife and create millions of green jobs".