The modern environmental direct action movement in the United Kingdom started in 1991 with the formation of the first UK "Earth First!" group for a protest at Dungeness nuclear power station. Within two years, there were fifty Earth First groups and activists linked with other parties in the road protest movement. There were large camps at Twyford Down and the M11 link road protest. By 1997, the Government had decided to reduce its road-building plans by two thirds.
Rupert Read is an academic and a Green Party campaigner, a former spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion, and the current director of the Climate Majority Project. He is the author of several books on Wittgenstein, philosophy, and/or climate change, most recently Why Climate Breakdown Matters, Deep Adaptation: Navigating the Realities of Climate Chaos, and Do You Want to Know the Truth? Until 2023, Read was a reader in philosophy at the University of East Anglia where he was awarded – as Principal Investigator – Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funding for two projects on "natural capital". His other major recent academic focus has been on the precautionary principle, having contributed substantially to work co-authored with Nassim Nicholas Taleb on applying the principle to questions of genetic modification of organisms. In further work, Read has theorised the utility of the precautionary principle in a wide range of areas, including: climate change, the environment, as well as financial and technology sectors.
Zion Lights is a British author and activist known for her environmental work and science communication.
Extinction Rebellion is a UK-founded global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse. Extinction Rebellion was established in Stroud in May 2018 by Gail Bradbrook, Simon Bramwell, and Roger Hallam, along with eight other co-founders from the campaign group Rising Up!
Gail Marie Bradbrook is a British environmental activist and molecular biophysicist who co-founded the environmental social movement Extinction Rebellion.
The extinction symbol represents the threat of holocene extinction on Earth; a circle represents the planet and a stylised hourglass is a warning that time is running out for many species. The symbol dates to at least 2012 and has been attributed to anonymous East London artist Goldfrog ESP. The symbol has been called "this generation's peace sign". It is used by environmental protesters, and has been incorporated in works by artists and designers such as Banksy. In 2019, the Victoria and Albert Museum acquired a digital copy of the symbol, and other artifacts featuring the symbol, for its permanent collection.
Julian Roger Hallam is a British environmental activist, a co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, cooperative federation organisation Radical Routes, the political party Burning Pink, and Just Stop Oil.
Extinction Rebellion (XR) is an international "non-violent civil disobedience" movement carrying out demonstrations worldwide to highlight governments' inaction on climate change. Since 2018, Extinction Rebellion has taken a variety of actions in Europe, the US, and rapidly elsewhere in the world, to urge political and economic forces to take action amid the climate crisis. Although, their non-violent disobedience protests are an effort to generate attention around environmental issues, XR activists have become known for civil disobedience and disruptive tactics.
Phil Kingston is a climate activist and protester with the climate groups Christian Climate Action and Extinction Rebellion.
Animal Rising is a British animal activist movement with the stated aim of compelling social change towards animal rights and a plant-based food system. They justify their actions with the impact of animal agriculture on climate change, species extinction and ecosystem breakdown.
Sophia Kianni is an Iranian-American social entrepreneur and activist. She is the founder and executive director of Climate Cardinals and youngest United Nations advisor in U.S history.
Burning Pink, also known as Beyond Politics and formally registered with the Electoral Commission as The Burning Pink Party, was a British political party with the stated goal of a political revolution by replacing the British government with citizens' assemblies in order to tackle the climate crisis and other political issues. The party was deregistered by the Electoral Commission on 11 November 2022.
Saoi O'Connor is an Irish climate activist, who began the Fridays for Future strike in Cork, Ireland in January 2019.
Mitzi Jonelle Tan is a Filipino climate justice activist. She lives in Metro Manila, Philippines.
Dominique Palmer FRSA is a British climate justice activist and student. She spoke at 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, and began her activism as one of the U.K’s leading U.K environmentalists and youth activists in the School Strike for Climate Movement.
Impossible Rebellion was a series of nonviolent climate change protests in the United Kingdom organised by Extinction Rebellion (XR), from 23 August 2021 to 4 September 2021. The protests particularly targeted the City of London to raise awareness of the role of the financial sector in climate change. Protesters during the Impossible Rebellion demanded that the UK government cease new investments in the fossil fuel industry. XR also demand that the government declare a climate emergency, reach net zero carbon emissions by 2025 and create a citizens' assembly on climate change.
A series of protests by the group Insulate Britain involving traffic obstruction began on 13 September 2021. The group blockaded the M25 and other motorways in the United Kingdom, as well as roads in London and the Port of Dover.
Tori Tsui is a Hong Kong climate justice activist and writer who currently resides in Bristol, England.
Scientist Rebellion is an international scientists' environmentalist group that campaigns for degrowth, climate justice, and more effective climate change mitigation.
Raeesah Noor-Mahomed is a South African climate action activist based in Cape Town. She is the founder of Stage for Change.
