Guerrilla Nature

Thursday 16^th January 2020

Dear Ms. Anthea Griffin,

Extinction Rebellion endeavours to address the urgent ecological emergency faced by humanity, as well as all other species that are innocent victims of the outcomes brought about by human industrialisation and its effect on Planet Earth’s environment. We aim to do this through Non-Violent Direct Action (NVDA).

This letter has been written to you because members of our movement are greatly concerned about the recent fires in Australia. According to media reports, hundreds of millions of animals have lost their lives and some species have been brought close to extinction as a result of these infernos. Furthermore, the blazes have destroyed countless trees. The links between these events and the damage done to the environment by human activity are not in dispute amongst the vast majority of those who study these matters closely.

Another issue that has been exposed through the media recently is that of new restrictions on the previously respected rights of aboriginal communities and their representatives to make effective objections to the destruction of land for the purposes of mining for resources, which will be exploited to bring about increases in financial gain for some already extremely wealthy parties.

It seems that the current Australian political administration is not doing enough to reduce the damaging environmental impact brought about by a relentless pursuit of profit by a few at the ultimate expense of the many. Australia has recently been accused of having the worst climate change policies in existence and it is now being affected in awful ways by the consequences of climate change. It is time to make adjustments.

This is an appeal on behalf of Extinction Rebellion’s members, in support of the people of Bali and the rest of our international family, to help us spread awareness of the impact that we as a species have on ourselves and all other life on Earth. We urge your department to express opposition to the governmental policies adopted by the Australian administration. You have our support in doing so, as demonstrated by this letter.

Extinction Rebellion will continue to do what we can to counteract this inexcusable behaviour by raising awareness wherever and however possible, as well as disrupting the systems that support the damaging patterns of behaviour consistently demonstrated to be contributory factors in such dire ecological consequences as those mentioned in this letter.

Through recognition that we are all part of the same delicately balanced ecosystem, combined with acknowledgement of our collective responsibility to ourselves and the other creatures inhabiting the planet that we have come to dominate through our creativity, we appeal to innate, intelligent human compassion for us to bring a halt to, rather than encouraging, the proliferation of unconscious and environmentally detrimental ways of life. Those in positions of influence have an opportunity to play their part in the facilitation of individual and collective action necessary for change. Please take this chance to help.

People of the world are demanding that the Australian government tells the truth about the bushfires and the climate emergency. People of the world are demanding that the Australian government responds now by acting in the interests of the planet and people, instead of acting in the interests of the fossil fuel industry. We demand a reduction of carbon emissions to net zero by 2025. We demand that both major parties in the Australian political system listen to and implement the knowledge of first nations land management and fire practice. Aboriginal cultures are among the oldest living cultures in the world and they know that land best.

In love and out of respect.

Extinction Rebellion (XR) Bali & New World Together

Above: Letter to the Australian Consulate from NWT and XR Bali.

Below: content related to the letter from NWT and XR Bali to the Australian Consulate.

Above: content related to the letter to the Australian Consulate in Bali about human environmental impact

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