A reminder: the people in power don’t need conferences, treaties or agreements to start taking real climate action. They can start today. When enough people come together then change will come and we can achieve almost anything. So instead of looking for hope – start creating it.
Greta Thunberg

Dear friends,

We expect that COP27 will be a fig-leaf for governments to pretend they are taking action on the climate emergency. It is being held in Egypt in order to greenwash their image, hiding a litany of horrific human rights abuses. Meanwhile at home the government can’t even pretend to care, with the Prime Minister declining to attend, and King Charles held back. However, we can use the global attention to set the agenda ourselves – we will be out on the streets daily to Tell The Truth.

Dates for your diary

Saturday 5th November, 12pm: Britain is Broken National Demonstration. Join the People’s Assembly to demand a general election now. Book your Oxfordshire coach ticket to London here.
Monday 7th – Friday 11th November, 12-2pm: COP27 Week 1. Join us on Cornmarket daily for outreach. Some days will have special events – see below for details.
Thursday 10th November, 7-9pm: Change is Now. Talk and meeting for new rebels (Cheney School)
Thursday 10th November, 6:30-9pm: How do we fix the energy crisis and the climate crisis? (Oxford Friends of the Earth). Book your ticket here. (Wesley Memorial Methodist Church)
Saturday 12th November, 12pm: COP27 Global Day of Action. Meet in Cornmarket then move to Broad Street, Radcliffe Square, and Magdalen Bridge. Drumming and singing – please come with flags and, if you want, your singing voice.
Saturday 12th November, 2:30-4pm: Arts open meeting (32 Shelley Road)
Monday 14th November: Deadline for Local Plan submissions (see below).
Monday 14th – Friday 18th November, 12-2pm: COP27 Week 2. Back on Cornmarket daily, starting with the National Day of Action targeting Barclays on Monday.
Saturday 19th November, 1pm: Oxford Unity Planning Meeting. After the People’s Assembly on the 1st October, we’re reinvigorating the Oxford Unity alliance to build cooperation against capitalist chaos in our city, bringing together groups and individuals to fight for our rights and our future. (242b Barns Rd, OX4 3RQ)
Saturday 26th November: Walk for Wildlife
Tuesday 29th November: The Oil Machine film screening, with guest speaker from XR Oxford (Phoenix Picturehouse)
Saturday 3rd December, 10:30am-4:30pm: Green Fair (Oxford Town Hall)

Volunteers needed

We will have an XRO stall at the Green Fair on 3rd December, and we’ll need people to staff it. Add your name to the rota here.

Arts Open Meeting

We’re holding an open meeting to generate ideas for arts in XR Oxford, discuss how to organise ourselves and to plan a schedule of actions/activities working towards the next rebellion in April 2023, and other events beyond.

Anyone who’s interested in getting involved and helping generate ideas please come along. There will be tea, biscuits, enthusiasm and inspiration, as well as talk about the practical stuff of organising. Please pass this on to anyone you know who might be interested, and do come along!

Saturday November 12th 2.30 – 4pm 32 Shelley Road, Oxford OX4 3EB
RSVP to xroxfordarts@gmail.com

If you can’t make the meeting, but would like to get involved or be kept in the loop, please email xroxfordarts@gmail.com.

COP27 Outreach

We are going to be on the streets every day of COP27 from 12-2pm, Monday 7th – Friday 18th (except Sunday 13th). To keep things interesting, we’ll have a variety of special actions on certain days:

Wednesday 9th: XR Trade Unions highlighting the connection between the cost of living and climate crises.
Friday 11th: Die-in – bring a white sheet!
Saturday 12th: Global Day of Action, with singing and drumming, moving to Broad Street, Radcliffe Square, and Magdalen Bridge.
Monday 14th: National Day of Action against Barclays.
Wednesday 16th: Meditation – a change of atmosphere from the drumming.

News

A Weekend of Resistance

London has been buzzing with energetic climate activists throughout the month of October, with conversation around the climate emergency again gathering steam. Despite the unfortunate cancellation of the ‘Festival of Resistance’ scheduled in September due to the passing of the monarch, Extinction Rebellion was back with new plans for continuing action in October. Activists from around the country gathered in London for a ‘Weekend of Resistance’ from 14th to 16th of October, joined by a number of Oxford Rebels.

[ Read more ]

The Bus Tour visits Oxford

This autumn, three Rebellion Buses have been touring local communities throughout England, spreading the word about the climate emergency and what ordinary people can do about it.

One such bus paraded Oxford through 11th-12th October, and stationed on Catte St by the town centre’s famous Radcliffe Camera. It also visited Manzil Way and the Blackbird Leys Community Centre before returning to London in preparation for the Weekend of Rebellion.

[ Read more ]

Better without Barclays

Rebels continued to build pressure on Barclays bank as they protested outside the bank premises on Cornmarket Street on Saturday, 8th October. Beginning of the university term meant that there were large crowds of students busily walking past. As the sombre cadence of the samba band conveyed a sense of urgency, rebels distributed leaflets that outlined Barclays’ role in funding continued fossil fuel extraction.
“Leafleting on Cornmarket Street is hard work but everytime a handful of people come up to enquire about the protest and which ethical banks they can invest in instead”, a local rebel shared about their experience of outreach. Representatives of a local mosque who were raising funds for the floods in Pakistan also came up to the rebels and connected over the consequences of the climate crisis in the global south.

Local Plan submissions

Oxford City Council is consulting on its Local Plan through to 2040.

Last time round, its aggressive growth ambitions resulted in 15,000 houses being offloaded onto the countryside of the surrounding Districts. This is putting pressure on local communities and impacting Oxford’s transport infrastructure and green spaces, but fails to provide truly affordable housing.

We need lots of people to tell them NOW – we want development to cater for NEED not GREED. The housing figures should be set at the minimum that it is possible to achieve, whilst meeting genuine need.

Email your views to planningpolicy@oxford.gov.uk by Monday 14 November.

Find resources for your response at NeedNotGreed and Cowley Area Transport Group.

XR Oxford Universities is back in class!

XR Oxford Universities is being re-launched, with ambitious plans to mobilise over a hundred students for the biggest XR rebellion yet in April 2023 – join this WhatsApp chat to be part of the new group, and to help build a student activist body for April!

XR activist wins Youth Activist award

Congratulations to Aoife-Mae Kelliher, one of our youngest members, for winning Young Activist in this year’s Oxfordshire Youth Awards. Watch her speech here (at 2:02:00)

“To all the people who want to be activists – remember to stand up for what you believe in. You have a voice!”

In love and rage,

The XR Oxford Crew