Members of Bath’s Extinction Rebellion (XR) group gathered on Southgate Street on Sunday as part of the Climate Justice Coalition’s campaign for COP30—the crucial UN climate summit where world leaders are currently updating the global response to the escalating emergency.
Using a striking representation of an ark, the group distributed leaflets highlighting the direct and immediate impacts of the climate crisis on beloved, everyday species and foods, including:
- COFFEE: Global coffee-growing areas are projected to halve by 2050 due to drought and disease.
- CHOCOLATE: Up to 90% of cacao-growing regions could become unviable by 2050.
- BANANAS: 60% of prime banana-growing land in Latin America and the Caribbean could be lost by 2080.
- BEES: Climate disruption is devastating bee populations through heat stress and habitat destruction.
Dave Searby, spokesperson for XR Bath, said: “We’re not just talking about polar bears far away; we’re talking about the food on our tables and the nature in our gardens,”. “The climate crisis is here, now, threatening the fundamentals of our lives. Our ark represents what we stand to lose if governments and banks don’t act with urgency.”
The group called on the public to take action, specifically:
1. Asking their MPs to oppose the proposed
Rosebank North Sea oilfield.
2. Calling on the public to move their bank accounts away from banks like Barclays and HSBC, which they say continue massive funding of fossil fuel expansion.
Dave Searby added: “While these banks publicly pledge to be ‘green’, they remain among the world’s top funders of fossil fuels,”. “The science is clear – funding new oil, gas, and coal is a death sentence for a liveable planet. The most powerful personal step many can take is to stop their money from fuelling this destruction using websites like bank.green.”
The action, said the group, also highlighted deep concerns about the COP30 climate summit. With a record number of fossil fuel lobbyists attending, there is a serious risk that corporate interests will once again override the urgent need for a rapid, fair phase-out of fossil fuels.
This corporate capture of the political process occurs against a backdrop of escalating climate emergency. Recent data from The Lancet Countdown report reveals that rising heat on its own is now killing one person every minute worldwide, a stark reminder of the human cost of inaction. Other effects of climate change, including flooding, hurricanes, famine and disease, will also have huge effects.
We are on a course for a disastrous 3-degree temperature rise, say the group. The government continues to approve massive airport expansion, while the City of London bankrolls climate chaos. We need a rebellion for life now more than ever. And we need everyone to join it, they added.
