A grassroots group of mothers worried about climate change will march in London and across the UK to turn their fear for their children’s future into action.
Mothers Rise Up will march in London this Sunday (12 May), along with various cities in the UK including Sheffield, Leeds and Taunton, to coincide with International Mother’s Day.
The group says it has an alternative purpose to civil disobedience climate group Extinction Rebellion, which staged mass protests across London last month, to raise awareness among people who have “not yet accepted that climate change is a real threat”.
International groups in Barcelona, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Melbourne and New York may also join the movement, organisers said, while an open letter from “100 significant parents” is due to be published in the Guardian newspaper tomorrow (9 May).
Co-founder Jenny Gow said: “After years of trying to do my bit, I realised that an individual contribution will not fix this problem unless government and business also come on board and their efforts are supported by the individual.
“Therefore, our group is trying to engage everyday mothers who might begin to realise time is running out to avert catastrophic, irreversible climate breakdown.
“We want to stand in solidarity with mothers in the global south who are already affected by climate change and having to adapt to survive, hence why we chose International Mother’s Day.”
The march in London will begin at 12 noon in Hyde Park and include 11 giant pushchairs to represent 11 years before irreversible climate breakdown, while 11 eleven-year-old children will lead the march.
Protestors will be serenaded by a moving marching song, children’s entertainers, before a range of speakers will address the group at Parliament Square.
The group is calling for a transition to carbon zero by 2030 or sooner, as well as an acknowledgement about the “existential threat of climate breakdown”, something it said had been met by the UK’s declaration of the climate emergency.
A group mission statement said that: “We stand behind the science and in complete solidarity with the youth climate strikes, but we cannot leave it to children to tackle a crisis that generations have created. As parents and citizens, we can and must use our voice, our votes and collective power to demand action.”
I would like to ask some of these people if they eat meat and dairy. If they do, then they are contributing to one of the most damaging areas of global warming. Going on marches is fine, but in my experience, achieves little and usually nothing at all. Another problem is the scrappage scheme of old cars. Every new car uses about the equivalent of 7 years motoring. As most cars now have a life of 10 years, you can see the problem. I have a 20yr old car, which although isn’t the smallest, will still beat a modern car on pollution during it’s life.
Good point about keeping old things going rather than buying new but I question the statement that going on marches achieve nothing at all – if you look back through history in fact it is exactly going on marches along with other forms of peaceful protest that do change things- for example, the civil rights movement , the suffragette moment, the abolish- slavery movement, to name but a few . The so called democratic process is far too slow and supportive of the status quo- get out there Henrietta! you’ll find it incredibly life changing and optimistic.
I meant to say uses 7yrs pollution in it’s production.