Intro to XR

Hello and Welcome

Great to have you here!

The science is clear: we're facing a climate and ecological emergency that threatens the future of life on Earth. Governments know this and they're not doing enough.

That's where Extinction Rebellion comes in.

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XR is a global, nonviolent movement of ordinary people - not just activists. We are demanding that governments tell the truth about the crisis, act now to halt biodiversity loss and reach net zero, and hand decision-making power to citizens' assemblies so that real, fair solutions can be shaped by all of us.

You don't need to have all the answers, you just need to show up. Whether that's attending a local meeting, joining a peaceful action, or simply spreading the word. Every person who steps forward makes the movement harder to ignore.

History shows us that when enough ordinary people refuse to accept the unacceptable, things change. The time for watching is over. The time for acting is now.

Intro to XR talks on Zoom

The talk, including Q&A, takes place a couple of times a month:

View the schedule and register for the Intro to XR talk on Zoom here.

Sign up for News

If you don't already receive emails from XRUK please join our mailing list. This is the main way we keep in touch and let you know what is going on.

Find a Local Group

Connecting with other people who feel the same concerns about the climate and nature crises is a way to feel supported within a community. Take a look at this map to find a group near you.

Community Building

To help build and strengthen your communities with XR or another group, check out our support materials, including printable resources.

More Information

Who are XR? And Why Direct Action?

Extinction Rebellion (XR) is a worldwide movement which uses nonviolent direct action (NVDA) to force those in power to act on the climate and nature global emergency.
Our governments have not protected us and conventional campaigning has failed. We are almost out of time to change course.

Direct Action (also known as civil disobedience) has a history of achieving change where other methods have failed; for example the Suffrage Movement gained the vote for women by their actions.

We act now for the sake of all life on earth. We aim to halt mass extinction and minimise the risk of social collapse. We will not be led quietly to extinction by elites and politicians.

References:
[1]: In 1988, climate scientist James Hansen testified before the US congress, provoking the New York Times headline: ‘Global Warming Has Begun, Expert Tells Senate’
[2]: International Energy Agency; Global Energy Review 2025
[3]: World Wildlife Fund Living Planet report 2024

More information:
Read our original Declaration of Rebellion
Learn more about the need for direct action on our website: So what do we do?

How XR started

In 2018 a report was released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) - part of the United Nations. It stated, “There is a need for urgent action: The world needs to undergo an urgent and rapid transformation to a global clean energy economy.”

This became the catalyst for the formation of XR. In October 2018 we launched a rebellion against the UK Government due to its inaction on the global climate and nature emergencies. Around 1500 people joined us outside the Houses of Parliament to read a Declaration of Rebellion. This powerful and emotional statement ends with these words:

We refuse to bequeath a dying planet to future generations by failing to act now. We act in peace, with ferocious love of these lands in our hearts. We act on behalf of life.

Since then XR has evolved into a worldwide movement attempting to bring about meaningful action on the worldwide climate and nature emergency.



Our Successes

XR has played a huge part in the explosion of public concern about the climate emergency, which is a very potent force, increasing pressure on politicians and business to take action. Success in environmental movements can be hard to measure - ‘wins’ can be as a result of a number of factors and long legal tussles. However, here are some of our most obvious successes.

I want to tell you that back in the 90s we were facing a 6 degree world and we are not facing that [now] ... we are looking at much much less and that is a credit to all of those [taking action on climate change].
Farhana Yamin, climate lawyer, speaking at the Defend our Juries action 29th Feb 2025

National

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Local

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References:
[1] UK Parliament declares climate change emergency
[2] Civil disobedience movements such as School Strike for the Climate are raising public awareness of the climate change emergency

The Climate & Nature Emergency

The science is clear: we face an unprecedented global climate and nature emergency.

The effects of this emergency include floods, wildfires, extreme weather, mass loss of wildlife, crop failure and the mass displacement of people and loss of life. This is not a distant prospect - these effects are being suffered here in the UK right now, and will continue to be disproportionately suffered by those who have done the very least to cause the crisis. The chart below shows the gaps between what’s necessary, what’s being promised, and what’s actually being delivered in terms of real world policies. Latest measurements show that we have already bust through the 1.5 degree guardrail for the year 2024 which was 1.6 degrees above pre-industrial levels and 2025 was the third warmest year on record. [1]

[2] climate action tracker nov24 resized.jpg

The amount of heating may not sound much, but there is a real danger of it leading to tipping points and feedback loops. These are irreversible domino effects beyond which there is little we can do to control run-away warming. Plus, right now, every 0.1 degree of warming places 100 million people in unliveable temperatures. [3]

On top of this, many scientists believe that habitat destruction and biodiversity loss is equally, if not even more, important and that we are right now in planet earth’s sixth mass extinction, driven by unsustainable human activities.

To have any effect on slowing down global heating and loss of nature, we need urgent systemic and long-term changes to how we do things. XR’s purpose is to highlight the fact that our window of opportunity is closing rapidly and compel those in power to act.

References:
[1]: Copernicus: 2025 was the third hottest year on record
[2]: About Climate Action Tracker (CAT)
[3]: The 2025 state of the climate report: a planet on the brink

More Information

If you want to know more about the science of the climate and ecological breakdown, visit this page of the Rebel Toolkit.

Why Not Try our Climate and Nature Crisis Quiz?

No peeking at the answers first!

You could copy, paste, and print it to try with family and friends. Its a great way to start a conversation about the crisis we face.

1 Water Pollution
UK water pollution has been in the news a lot lately. Approximately how many times was raw sewage discharged into rivers and seas by privatised UK water companies in 2023?

2 Nature
Since records began in 1970, wildlife populations have dropped around the globe, by an average of how much?

3 Food Prices
Global heating is already causing harvests to fail, with knock-on impacts on the cost of food. How much was added to the UK average household food bill by climate change for 2022 and 2023?

4 The Cost of Going Green
The UK government often talks about the cost of measures to ‘green’ our economy. Which is cheaper – preventing climate breakdown or dealing with its consequences?

5 Cows
Cows are ruminants; their stomachs allow them to digest fibre-rich foods. This produces methane expelled as gas when cows belch. Approximately how many pounds of methane does one cow produce annually?

6 Plastics and Seas
How many tons of plastic are estimated to enter seas annually?

ANSWERS

1
According to the Environment Agency data, in 2023, privatised UK water companies discharged raw sewage into English and Welsh rivers and seas approximately 464,056 times. Even more alarmingly, the recent State of Our Rivers Report shows that storm overflows contribute to at least 11% of total ecological health standard failures in English rivers – this is the real consequence of the shocking numbers in today’s gory data. Sewage is just part of the picture. Our rivers are in crisis, facing a cocktail of pollution loads on monumental scales.

2
According to the World Wildlife Fund’s Living Planet Report 2024, the average size of wildlife populations has fallen by a staggering 73% between 1970-2020. The web of life that sustains us all is in crisis and the decline is caused by habitat loss, overexploitation, pollution, and climate change. But we can still stop the decline.

3
Independent analysis commissioned by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) found that, compared to 2021, British households likely paid an extra £605 for food in 2022 and 2023 due to climate change impacts and historically high oil, gas and fertiliser prices. Climate change threatens our food supply and will cause our food bills to climb ever higher.

4
A recent UK Climate Change Committee report has stated that it is cheaper to reach net zero by 2050 than cope with a single fossil fuel price shock. In October 2023, the World Economic Forum reported that climate change is costing the world $16 million per hour.

5
Every year, a single cow produces between 154 to 264 pounds of methane. There are around 1.5 billion cows raised for meat production all over the world. Not counting for the emissions of any other livestock, 1.5 billion cattle emit at least 231 billion pounds of methane gas every year.

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) when trapping heat in the atmosphere. The gas is estimated to be responsible for about 30% of the rise in temperatures since the Industrial Revolution.

6
The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that 14 million tons of plastic enter our seas annually. That’s equivalent to the weight of five blue whales entering our environment every hour. Scientists believe there could be up to 10,000 times more plastic particles on the sea floor than on its surface and many scientists have warned that by 2050, more plastic will be in the sea than fish (by weight).


Our Demands

We have three demands of the Government and others in positions of power:

1. Tell the Truth

All institutions must communicate the danger we are in. We must be clear about the extreme cascading risks humanity now faces, the injustice this represents, its historic roots, and the urgent need for rapid political, social and economic change.

2. Act Now

Every part of society must act now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero and begin protecting and repairing nature immediately. The whole of society must move into a new precautionary paradigm, where life is sacred and all are in service to ensuring its future.

3. Decide Together

We demand a culture of participation, fairness and transparency. The Government must create and be led by a Citizens’ Assembly on Climate and Ecological Justice. Only the common sense of ordinary people will help us navigate the challenging decisions ahead.

XR Scotland

There are different demands for XR Scotland - you can find them half way down the main page of their website.

More information:
More about Citizens Assemblies
Video Why have a Citizens' Assembly

Our Principles and Values

Anyone who follows these core principles and values can take action in the name of Extinction Rebellion.

1. We have a shared vision of change: creating a world that is fit for generations to come.

2. We set our mission on what is necessary: mobilising 3.5% of the population to achieve system change – such as “momentum-driven organising” to achieve this. .

3. We need a regenerative culture: creating a culture which is healthy, resilient and adaptable.

4. We openly challenge ourselves and this toxic system: leaving our comfort zones to take action for change.

5. We value reflecting and learning: following a cycle of action, reflection, learning, and planning for more action. Learning from other movements and contexts as well as our own experiences.

6. We welcome everyone and every part of everyone: working actively to create safer and more accessible spaces.

7. We actively mitigate power: breaking down hierarchies of power for more equitable participation.

8. We avoid blaming and shaming: we live in a toxic system, but no one individual is to blame.

9. We are a nonviolent network: using nonviolent strategy and tactics as the most effective way to bring about change.

10. We are based on autonomy and decentralisation: we collectively create the structures we need to challenge power.

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More information:

Current XRUK Strategy

XRUK Strategy 2025-26


"In what began as an audacious act of collective imagination, Extinction Rebellion transformed climate activism, reshaping the boundaries of what is possible. It was expected that if this movement did not achieve something enormous and win, then it would fail and disappear. In an act that seems rooted in the core of our DNA, we refused to obey. We are still here, and there’s work to be done."

As a Nonviolent Direct Action Movement, our Strategy has to change and evolve to be suitable for the times we are in. Our Strategy Team is constantly in the process of learning from the experiences of XR in the UK and around the world, as well as other activist groups, to work out where we should go next.

XR wants to support communities to take action. XRUK’s strategy for 2025-26 is all about mobilising communities to act.

Find our excellent community building resources here

Read the current Strategy

The short version! Here

Or pour a brew, get comfy and delve into the long version Here

For historic context, read the XRUK Strategy 2023-24


An owl holding an XR symbol with text saying xRUK Stragtegy 2025-26

Glossary

Jargon is useful shorthand within a group but we know it can be unhelpful to new joiners so we have created this page to help.

If you come across jargon and acronyms during in-person meetings, you can hold up a 'C' shape with your hand to ask for a clarification. You might even do this if you know what it means but feel that an explanation might help other people in the meeting.

Terms

Acronyms