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
- In April 2019 ten days of mass protest brought parts of London to a standstill and led to parliament declaring a Climate Emergency. [1]
- In April 2023 XR’s ‘The Big One’ became the largest environmental protest in UK history. It was supported by over 200 different organisations.
- In Jun 2023, under sustained pressure from Christian Climate Action (part of XR), the Church of England divested from fossil fuels.
- In February 2024, we protested at the offices of major insurers leading to companies pulling out of new oil and gas projects, including the ecocidal East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline and the West Cumbria Coal mine.
- In June 2024, in coalition with a wide range of other organisations, we brought over 60,000 people to the streets of London on just one day with a call to Restore Nature Now, driving forward the ongoing campaign to increase biodiversity in the UK.
- In June 2024 XR protests helped to bring about an important Supreme Court ruling which raised major barriers to all new fossil fuel projects across the UK, including the proposed West Cumbria coal mine and the Rosebank oil field in the North Sea.
- In summer 2024, we saw our interim demand for no new oil, coal or gas come to pass in a UK government pledge not to issue new fossil fuel licences.
- In Oct 2024, after pressure from Health for XR, the BMJ announced that they were banning advertising from all banks that fund fossil fuel companies.
- From 2018 to the present day, XR action and resulting media coverage have massively increased public awareness on the dangers posed by climate change. [2]
Local
- In 2023 XR joined with local people to campaign against the UK’s biggest opencast coal mine at Ffos-y-Fran, Wales, leading to its eventual closure.
- In 2024, the first full year we counted them all, XR groups in the UK took over 1000 actions against climate criminals.
- In 2024, as part of the Weald Action Group, XR protests led to the groundbreaking UK Supreme Court ruling that states, 'All future environmental impact assessments must take into account downstream emissions caused by burning extracted oil'.
- XR Newark and XR Bury St Edmunds collaborated on a campaign which helped to bring about the withdrawal of the bee-killing chemicals neonicotinoids.
- The campaigning by many XR local groups has led to local councils declaring a climate and ecological emergency in their area.
References:
[1]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48126677
[2]: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.14978