Heated protests: takes direct action at County Hall
By Erica Smith
Activists from Extinction Rebellion took occupation of the main office of East Sussex County Council (ESCC) in Lewes for two consecutive days last week in climate protests. With the temperature outside rising to 37C on the Tuesday (20 July), dozens of protestors disrupted the monthly ESCC Cabinet meeting after the council refused to put the climate emergency as an urgent item on its agenda.
A further protest followed the next day at a meeting of the ESCC’s Pension Committee. A majority of 3-2 of its members voted first to exclude the public from the meeting, then by a similar majority that the Council should not withdraw its pension fund from fossil fuels.
CREDIT: Chris Jerrey
As most protestors waited by the front steps of County Hall for the committee to announce its decision on divestment, several rebels slipped in through a back entrance. They swiftly occupied the foyer, unfurling a banner reiterating another demand – that the Council call a public meeting on the climate and environmental emergency.
Speaking at the front of County Hall, Barcombe resident Mark Engineer said: “Some of our rebels are now inside the building, and they won’t be leaving until the Council agrees to a public meeting on the climate emergency so they can hear from their voters and be held to account as to why they aren’t taking the necessary action. Our rebels are in there and they’ve made it clear that they’re not going anywhere, and they are prepared to be arrested.”
The protestors were eventually carried out by security guards.
‘Emergency’ but no action
ESCC declared a climate emergency in 2019, but the protestors argue that the Council’s own data shows it has since done very little to lower its own carbon footprint, nor has taken any meaningful actions to reduce emissions or stop ecological damage across the county.
XR accuses ESCC of “passing the buck, excuses and wishful thinking”, and is demanding that it “steps up, shows leadership, and involves and inspires residents for the biggest task in human history.”
Climate campaigners from Divest East Sussex, who have been urging the Council over several years to stop investing local people’s pensions in the fossil fuel companies, had undertaken a 60-hour fast prior to the meeting, and condemned the pension committee’s inaction.
A spokesperson said: “Heatwaves such as the one that we’ve experienced this week are now happening more often and becoming hotter, due to human-induced climate change. Without rapid and drastic cuts in emissions from fossil fuels these and other impacts will get much worse, with potentially calamitous effects on food security and billions exposed to major heatwaves each year by 2040. Yet, despite declaring a ‘climate emergency’ over 2½ years ago, East Sussex County Council is still investing local people’s pensions in the giant oil companies – like Shell and BP – that are driving this crisis. Not only is this hypocrisy on a grand scale, but by clinging on to these investments the County Council is also providing a fig-leaf for these companies’ ongoing attempts to block effective climate action. By rejecting divestment yet again, ESCC has failed us all.”
• A fuller report by Erica Smith can be read on the Hastings Online Times website here
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