ANIMAL REBELLION CAMPAIGNERS SCALE DEFRA IN CLIMATE CHANGE PROTEST AHEAD OF COP26

• Animal Rebellion protestors have scaled the face of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) building amid calls for a plant-based future
• The climate and animal movement are demanding the UK government ‘defund meat’ by investing in plant-based alternatives instead, to mitigate climate change and reduce animal suffering
• They say the action is a clear message to world leaders attending COP26 later this month, urging them to step up if they hope to make real change 
• Link to photos

Animal Rebellion campaigners have scaled the front of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) building to demand an end to government subsidies for meat and dairy in a protest against climate change.

The protesters climbed the building in the early hours of this morning, unveiling a banner that reads “COP26: Invest in a Plant-Based Future”. Animal Rebellion says they intend to remain on the building, suspended in hammocks, until UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledges to cut all taxpayer support for animal agriculture and promises to urge all world leaders to do the same when they attend the COP26 summit later this week. 

Animal Rebellion spokesperson Nathan McGovern said: “The UK Government is simultaneously saying that it is a world leader in climate change whilst propping up the unsustainable and unprofitable meat and dairy industry, one that emits disproportionate amounts of greenhouse gases. This hypocrisy has to end – we need to defund meat and subsidise plant-based alternatives instead.”

The UK government spends at least £1.5 billion a year subsidising livestock farming, ten times the UK’s annual budget for planting trees (see Notes to Editors for calculations). Meanwhile, despite a global explosion in demand for planet-friendly alternative proteins, the UK has only committed £90m in research and development to this sector. 

As part of the campaign, Animal Rebellion is demanding the government subsidise plant-based foods instead, as recommended by the National Food Strategy, as a “positive action to protect the planet for future generations and end the unnecessary suffering of billions of animals every year.” 

The National Food Strategy, who conducted the first independent review of the UK food system in 75 years, advised the government to invest £1 billion into food system innovation, with £125 million set aside for innovation into alternative proteins to replace meat, dairy and eggs. 

The government-commissioned report tackles the nation’s meat consumption, stating: “Our current appetite for meat is unsustainable. Plant-based proteins produce 70 times less greenhouse gas emissions than an equivalent amount of beef, and use 150 times less land.”

The report also mentions the economic benefits of the alternative protein industry, claiming that up to 10,000 new jobs could be created in the UK by investing in this growing sector. It adds that, if we don’t act soon, we could lose out on “new green jobs” and become net importers of these products.

Finally, it addresses the myth that free-range, grass-fed and regenerative livestock is greener, stating: “The more intensively you rear some animals, the more carbon-efficient they tend to be.”

In the UK, livestock grazers are largely dependent on public subsidies with around 90% of their profits coming from taxpayers pockets. Experts believe that 85% of the UK’s total land footprint is associated with meat and dairy production. 

Notes to editors:

– The UK spends £3bn a year on farming subsidies of which at least half £1.5bn is spent on livestock. According to Greenpeace around half of European farming subsidies across Europe go to livestock farming. With 85% of the UK’s land footprint associated with meat and dairy the figure is actually likely to be much higher in the UK, but no precise figures exist.  

– The UK’s Net Zero Strategy published last week pledges £750m to be spent on the Nature for Climate Fund by 2025: this was first announced in the March 2020 budget. Across the five years 2020-25 that’s £150m per year on tree planting or roughly 1/10th of the annual budget for subsidising animal agriculture. 

To find out more about Animal Rebellion and start taking action for our planet, click here.

Email: pressoffice@animalrebellion.org

Animal Rebellion Web Page | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter 

Contacts:

• Nathan (on ground)
• Hazel (back office)
• Joel (back office)

The post Animal Rebellion Campaigners Scale DEFFRA In Climate Change Protest Ahead Of COP26 first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

Animal Rebellion

31/08/21 – 22PM

BREAKING : POLICE DENY BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS AT ARLA BLOCKADE

• UK’s largest dairy factory shut down for more than 19 hours
• Police have denied the protesters’ basic rights such as food, shelter and medications
• Over 350 arrests have happened during the ‘Impossible Rebellion’ around London

During the early morning hours, 50 climate activists from Animal Rebellion began the blockade of an Arla factory, in Aylesbury. They are demanding the largest dairy producer in the UK to go plant-based by 2025 and to fund a just transition for its workers.

The first protesters were taken away around noon, as police cutting teams arrived on site and removed activists from one of the bamboo structures. All protestors were removed from blockades by 10:30pm after almost 20 hours. The group then camped at the site overnight.

30 protesters were locked-on to stop the production and distribution of dairy and expose the impact of dairies and the need to swiftly transition to plant based production. The protestors expressed that they intended to hold the blockade, until Arla responded to their demand. Non-violent demonstrators were prepared with tents and food; however, they report the police denied their basic rights. They began by separating the activists who were locked-on from supporters.

Animal Rebellion shared via Twitter, “At around 10am, police began erecting a cordon around lock-ons and are refusing to allow access to wellbeing to ‘rebels’ in the blockade.”

Police then further violated the rights of the protesters by taking away their food and shelter.

“They have stolen a sandwich from one of our locked-on rebels”, said social media posts from spokespeople, “And have now removed umbrellas and tarps off lock-ons and taped off the blockade from all supporters, including those providing first aid and wellbeing.”

Animal Rebellion says spirits are high despite heavy policing. These maneuvers follow the arrest of over 350 climate protesters in London during the ‘Impossible Rebellion’, including the raid of activists’ home and their posterior arrest on Sunday and the arrest of 36 people during the occupation of a Central McDonald’s last week.

LINK TO PHOTOS

The post Breaking: Police Deny Basic Human Rights At ARLA Blockade first appeared on Animal Rebellion.

Pre-word

Animal Rebellion promotes civil disobedience as a catalyst for political and system change. We recognise the value of different campaign methods, such as lobbying MPs and signing petitions. However, there are other groups that already focus on these areas and they do it well. Our focus is on attention raising actions with higher consequences, such as risking arrest, and causing mass civil disobedience in full view of the public. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes, as our motives are directed towards the system, not the individual.

Non-violent Direct Action

Nobody wants to be arrested. Sitting in a police station for hours on end, with your liberty at risk, a criminal record that could affect your career prospects for the rest of your life, and not to mention the legal fees. This is a serious and unpleasant situation that mustn’t be taken lightly.

Movements like Animal Rebellion use a strategy called Non-Violent Direct Action (NVDA). A feature of this involves ‘arrestables’: people who undertake action with the knowledge that it will probably result in arrest.

While the 2019 Rebellion officially ended on 19th October, many people had to wait much longer for their court cases to be determined before it was over for them. These are dedicated individuals who put their liberty on the line in protest of the climate and animal emergency. Hundreds of Extinction Rebellion and Animal Rebellion activists were arrested during the two-week protest in October.

The demonstration of arrestables shows the Government the severity of our situation and that our planet is worth making sacrifices for. Time is ticking. We are acting before it is too late.

This article tells the story of one rebel’s experience of getting arrested in the centre of the October action.

Early 2020 saw six activists arrested for NVDA when Animal Rebellion held Arla, a monolith dairy producer, to account for their impact on the environment: The meat and dairy industry is one of the leading causes of climate change. Protesting at Arla’s headquarters in London, Animal Rebellion urged this representative of the dairy industry to transition away from animal products and towards a sustainable plant-based alternative. Watch this short video to see how our rebels prepared for their arrestable action at Arla.

Just last month, two protesters were arrested when they turned the Trafalgar Square water fountains red for our Blood on Your Hands campaign. We brought international attention to the role governments are playing in exacerbating the climate emergency. Protests were held simultaneously around the world, including in the UK, Germany, Canada, Portugal, Australia, Finland, South Africa, Hungary, Poland, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Mexico, USA, and Romania.

Not all members of members risk arrest and there are vital roles to fill in all areas of the organisation. Parents and children help make signs and banners and support Animal Rebellion at protests and marches. People from the ages of 8 to 80 volunteer behind the scenes and on the frontlines. It takes all types of people to keep a movement moving.

Does Non-Violent Direct Action work?

Vast amounts of research have been carried out to study the methods used by campaigners around the world. Gene Sharpe’s This is an Uprising draws on the examples of Martin Luther King Jr and Gandhi to demonstrate how non-violent direct action (NVDA) is the most effective way to achieve change. NVDA uses creative and active ways to cause disruption, stealing the attention of the public and media to spread the message. Sharpe’s list of non-violent direct actions includes boycotts, road blocks, protests with banners and placards, singing and chanting, as well as hunger strikes and more high risk arrestable actions.

Non-violence in this form is not passive. It is a strategy for momentum-driven mass mobilisation and confrontation. It means the voices of the masses cannot be avoided by the media or silenced behind prison walls. This is an Uprising touches on examples of anti-war movements in the 1960s, women’s rights in the 1970s, and AIDS campaigns in the 1980s. What do they have in common? They all used NVDA and they all achieved historic change.

Mainstream media often portrays such actions as spontaneous acts of recklessness. Usually, putting the focus on young misguided adults. On the contrary, an arrestable action is meticulously planned for maximum effect. It is creative, brave, and powerful.

What now?

Power belongs to the masses, and if we unite for a shared cause, in the name of animals, people and planet, we will change the trajectory to a just and sustainable future for all. The Government must lead the transition for positive system change.

People have the potential to resist and be agents for change. People have the power!

The post How to Win the Battle Against the Animal and Climate Crisis first appeared on Animal Rebellion.