Extinction Rebellion Guelph strongly advocated for the declaration of a climate emergency outside Guelph City Hall today for International Rebellion Day by holding a 'die-in'.
People held signs that said “rebel for life,” “act now” and “we declare climate emergency” as they walked from GCVI to Guelph City Hall in black clothes to mourn the consequences of climate change while the drums played and people chanted.
Extinction Rebellion is a global movement that has been spreading after its first rally in London for a Declaration of Rebellion against the British government. It uses civil disobedience and non-violence as a tool to help advocate change in a peaceful manner.
It demands that governments across the globe be truthful about the ecological crisis and declare a state of emergency.
About 30 participants dropped at the ring of a bell for a die-in to showcase the death of humanity with a coffin holding a skeleton on display.
“It's really a funeral for not only us but for our planet,” said Grade 12 GCVI student Jerry Lesperance.
“A lot of people understand that our climate is in danger but they don't really understand this means our extinction and the extinction of us as humans.”
Jax Thornton took the mic at the event to state a list of actions and demands for the city.
“We asked for the government to be truthful about what's really been happening for years. It has been hidden,” said Thornton.
Lesperance said natural disasters are a sign of the climate change that's happening right now and suggested that many people don't understand that it affects the human race directly.
“That sort of a misconception that really angers me because not only will I not have a future, neither will my family or anyone around me for that matter,” said Lesperance.
"Guelph has yet to declare a climate emergency."
