Impossible Rebellion was a series of nonviolent climate change protests in the United Kingdom organised by Extinction Rebellion (XR), from 23 August 2021 to 4 September 2021. The protests particularly targeted the City of London to raise awareness of the role of the financial sector in climate change. Protesters during the Impossible Rebellion demanded that the UK government cease new investments in the fossil fuel industry. XR also demand that the government declare a climate emergency, reach net zero carbon emissions by 2025 and create a citizens' assembly on climate change. The Impossible Rebellion was the fifth major set of XR protests; activists are focusing on short-term protests in highly visited areas rather than taking hold of smaller numbers of area, as in previous actions. Demonstrations variously focused on banks' continued investment in fossil fuels, new road and rail infrastructure such as HS2, the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, treatment of animals on Crown Estate land and the fashion and fast food industry. Some days of protest have been themed around highlighting women and indigenous voices. Sister groups involved in protests include Animal Rebellion and Money Rebellion.
Background Extinction Rebellion (XR) are a climate justice movement with three major demands to the UK government: declare a climate emergency; achieve carbon neutrality by 2025; and create a citizens' assembly on climate change. For the Impossible Rebellion, which ran from 23 August 2021 to 4 September 2021, the movement also demanded that the government cease new fossil fuel investments. The fortnight-long Impossible Rebellion was the fifth major set of XR protests, following its 10-day September 2020 Autumn Rebellion. The protests came in the wake of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, which found that a tipping point in the climate system may have already been exceeded by carbon dioxide emissions. A co-founder stated that XR experienced increasing donations following the report's publishing, and that they raised over £100,000 in 24 hours shortly before the beginning of the Impossible Rebellion.
Tactics by protesters and police Extinction Rebellion use nonviolent civil disobedience such as marches, protests, disruption to public transport and people deliberately being arrested, to achieve their goals. According to the Evening Standard, around 2,000 volunteers worked for XR on art action design, including banners, flags, costumes, sculptures and other design work. Art co-ordinators create some costumes, such as the "red rebels", and issue instructions to other XR chapters on how to replicate the artwork. The UK arts factory co-ordinator stated that creating banners and flags required 16-hour working days for a month from 100 volunteers, and that they aimed to upcycle and reuse as many materials as possible. The demonstrations involved drumming and chanting, and human barriers to cause road closures. A June 2021 Supreme Court ruling—nicknamed the "Ziegler judgment"—found that obstructing a highway during a protest could be lawful, but the deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police commented that "officers are still able to take action if they see wilful obstruction". Prior to the protests, XR sent a letter to the Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick inquiring how the police would act in light of the ruling. The Guardian reported that tactics of both protesters and police changed for the Impossible Rebellion. XR aimed to create short-term protests in different highly visited areas of London, rather than controlling a small number of sites. Telegram communications announced protest locations to activists each morning, depriving police of advanced notice. Meanwhile, police learned that blocking access to protests only increased disruption, and tried to surround protest infrastructure and then physically remove protesters. The newspaper described protests as smaller than previous XR rebellions, and the police as quickly disrupting protests, focusing on dispersing musicians first to dampen the atmosphere or surrounding installations so that removal teams could operate. An XR police liaison suggested that police aimed to minimise the opportunity for the public to see the protests and beginning interacting with them, and said that activists were injured by the speedy and forceful interventions. The Guardian and XR spokespeople described an increase in police violence on 31 August 2021 in response to the protests, including hitting protesters with batons, holding them in headlocks while punching them and shattering glass nearby to people. A politician for the Green Party of England and Wales, Caroline Russell, said that she had seen videos of "completely unacceptable" police behaviour during the protests. The human rights advocacy group Liberty expressed concerns that police used live facial recognition at the protests, which the police denied.
Protests
At the Impossible Rebellion, the first week—themed "crisis talks"—was intended to target busy areas of London, for protesters to occupy and talk to the general public. In the second week, disrupting the financial industry in the City of London was the focus. The Olympic sailor Laura Baldwin was a spokesperson for the group, while the actor Jerome Flynn said the protests were "more urgent than ever". By Wednesday, the BBC reported that turnout was in excess of 10,000. 367 activists were arrested during the first week of the protests. By Wednesday of the second week, the figure stood at 480; police had removed around 80 protesters glued to structures and 50 locked onto them. The day before official protests began, three demonstrators sprayed paint at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in protest of the City of London Corporation and held a banner reading "co-liberation freedom together". Jerome Flynn was in attendance among around 200 people.
First week
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