POSTPONED – People’s assembly on the 4th demand

Apologies for the short notice, but tonight’s planned meeting on a 4th Demand on Climate Justice is being postponed, in order to give XRUK (now called the Rebel Hive) time to help us develop a unified response and keep the movement from fragmenting. We will reorganise asap in line with this. I’ve pasted the full message from the Hive below.

The Hive is humbly and respectfully asking all UK Working Groups and Nations/regions to pause their actions around modifying XR’s demands in light of Black Lives Matter/Global Justice/Social justice threads. We are desperate to avoid further complicating the fragmented and varied array of responses from various groups which risk dividing and alienating people within and outside our movement. We are working on a movement-wide, transparent process driven by People’s Assemblies which will hear the diverse perspectives and will endeavour to find a way forward that is inclusive, unifying and empowering. We just need a few more days to set the process up and we are hoping to communicate the process across the movement beginning on Monday. The Hive is asking you to place your trust in us. We are working urgently and would be grateful for your cooperation. More information will come out on Monday. Many thanks in advance.

We are holding a people’s assembly (PA) on Monday 29th June at 6.30pm to discuss our response to the question of whether we should have a fourth demand, or amend the existing three demands: Act Now, Tell the Truth, Beyond Politics. Our responses will be fed into the South East Regional XR, of which Oxford XR are a part. Because we need to feed back by 1st July, this meeting will be in place of our July monthly meeting. Here’s the background to why this question has come up again: Progress on the 4th demand has previously halted because of a split in opinion. Since the emergence of Black Lives Matter, these conversations are happening again and we need to address them. Many XR groups are already acting autonomously and adopting their own 4th demand. As a united region we need to recognise this and decide whether we want to adopt a 4th demand for XR SE.

There is a briefing document here, with some arguments for and against adopting a 4th demand, and some wordings that other XR groups have adopted: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13HBFdn5MhB3AmvsGAEhumAydww9BBXa1aiYVSHAXPzA/edit?usp=sharing.

There is a video here of a conversation about the issues which is well worth watching for context and preparation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U7PYZCObtk&feature=youtu.be.

Here is the conclusion that XR Oxford reached when we last discussed this question: We need a fourth demand covering environmental justice, a just transition and regenerative economies. We as XR Oxford should be pushing for this nationally and take part in the final wording.

Regarding the demand, we thought it is paramount to have concise wording which can be encapsulated in a few words such as Tell the Truth or Beyond Politics. We also appreciate that it should be worded in a way that is not prescriptive and which could be agreed for by a majority in Britain when they hear it. We thought it should include the aspect of a just transition, which means not leaving behind workers of certain sectors in our own country and also supporting mitigation and adoption efforts globally without further impact on frontline and marginalized communities. Further, we thought there should be something about the design of the economic system, using words such as distributive or regenerative.

Here is how to join the meeting:
Time: Jun 29, 2020 06:30 PM London
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https://zoom.us/j/96932790515?pwd=RzF3NVIzWjJTcGRUV2V6OVliZ1Y5dz09
Meeting ID: 969 3279 0515
Password: 041571
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