CARDIGAN Extinction Rebellion group will be heading for Cardiff next Tuesday to take part in the Welsh protests from September 1-5.

In England, others will be heading for London and Manchester. They will all be taking a clear message to the governments to back the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill. The draft bill has been drawn up by legal, political and scientific experts.

The Cardigan group will take part in many ways in Cardiff, including setting up a mobile kitchen to feed protestors. Coronavirus safety regulations will be followed, with facemasks, social distancing and frequent hand cleansing.

The plans for the September protests evolved following news that the UK Government's own Committee on Climate Change are now warning the Government to prepare for 4c of warming. Scientists agree this would be catastrophic.

The same Committee states that the Government has only achieved two out of 31 of the targets it set itself in 2019 and only partially achieved a further 15 of the targets.

“It cannot be right that with all that we know, the best Government can do is tokenism – we need real change right now. This is our best chance of mitigating the worst of the effects of climate change," said local campaigner Jane Mansfield, from Pentrecagal.

Philippa Gibson, a member of the local group added: “Wales has a long history of being at the forefront of fighting for right, and has experienced the successes of non-violent direct action campaigns.

"The Senedd in Cardiff passed the Well-being of Future Generations Act in 2015, and the Senedd and Parliament, together with many local town and county councils including Ceredigion, Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire County Councils declared a Climate Emergency, but despite this, nowhere near enough has been done.”

As a precursor to the protests in September, local groups will be holding their own peaceful actions over the bank holiday weekend. Local protestors will give a warm welcome to anyone who’d like to join in, locally or in Cardiff.

Those interested can read more about it on xrcymru.wales/cardiff-rebellion-2020/ and can contact the local group on cardigan@xrcymru.org