Friday 29 March 2024
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Nottingham

Pictures: Arrests after climate protesters block West Bridgford and Nottingham roads

Four critical Nottingham junctions were blocked today by ‘residents expressing their fears about the lack of urgent climate action’ on the second anniversary of the government declaring a Climate Emergency.

Jack Horner, aged 45 sat at the Bridgford Road roundabout in West Bridgford.

In the town centre and Mapperley Pippa MacKeith a retired midwife, Picture-framer Tracy Neale, and Senior Animator Bertram Kemmler, also stopped traffic.

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Jack, a Business Analyst said “Politicians and corporations are still dragging their feet or making it worse. I’m here because I’m terrified and I don’t know what else to do. Estimates show we have less than a decade to make changes to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees. We will lose all of the beauty of this wonderful planet. Our descendants will not see the marvels we have seen.

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The Government’s own Committee on Climate Change said in its latest report [1] that the government has failed on 17 out of 21 of it’s own ‘progress indicators’, and that just two of 31 key ‘policy milestones’ have been met since Parliament declared emergency.

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“We are over-exploiting the land and the seas. Lots of people have seen Netflix Seaspiracy. I’m angry that the oceans are overfished in ways that leave food chains unsustainable and threaten species and ecosystems. The warming oceans are killing coral reefs and drag trawling destroys coral forests. We have to stop!” said Jack.

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Tracy Neale aged 60, from Carrington sat near the Theatre Royal. “I’m a mother of 3 and a new grandma of 2 babies born in lockdown, and I’m scared to death of what their future holds. I feel my generation is responsible for so much thoughtless destruction of nature, pollution, waste, over-consumption and plundering of resources. Maybe we weren’t aware of the consequences but we no longer have that excuse and I feel a personal responsibility to try to put some of this right.”

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Bertram Kemmler, a 49 year old from St Anns said “I really do apologize if my protest affected you. You’re absolutely right, I shouldn’t be sitting in the road. Trouble is, I believe I have to protest because of the terrible inaction of the government when it comes to the biggest threat against the living world. They’ve declared an Emergency, but it’s all words and no action.”

A member of the public joined Bertram and sat with him in the road.

In Mapperley, Pippa McKeith said “I’m frustrated, I’m angry, and I’m frightened. This is an emergency. That is why I’m sitting in the road in front of a car blocking the traffic. I know this will annoy those people I’m holding up and I’m so sorry – but I want politicians to wake up and take notice of the climate crisis. How come Prince Philip and David Attenborough have been talking about our impact on the natural world for decades yet governments are still ignoring what they’ve been saying?” The 72 from the Arboretum added “I’m sitting in the middle of the road because I’m terrified that not enough is happening. I’ve signed petitions, I’ve written letters; I just don’t know what else I can do!”

With lockdown lifting, and despite the new protest laws, concerned citizens say they have resumed action against against what the Prince of Wales Corporate Leaders Group called the UK Government’s inadequate plans to tackle the climate crisis.[2]

Jack Horner was arrested just before mid-day. He said “The government seems to have no intention of hitting the Paris Agreement targets and are plunging us further into crisis. Going home and doing the recycling is not going to make any difference. Perhaps if enough of us do this the government will take notice and start to act with the urgency they need to.”

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