Climate activists will be holding a 'die-in' protest on Buchanan Street days after some of the highest temperatures were recorded in the UK.
Extinction Rebellion Glasgow will be conducting the protest on Saturday July 23 at 11am on the busy shopping street. It will see people lying on the ground covered in white sheers while a 'sombre drum beat will echo' through the street.
Shoppers will have the chance to stop to read the placards laid out on the ‘bodies’ with the ‘cause of death’ including 'Heat Stress - Death from temperature rising to over 40 degrees' and 'Famine - starvation caused by crop failure'.
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The action follows a week of the highest ever recorded temperatures in the UK, which the UN and climate scientists agree is due to human-made climate change.
Dr Nikos Christidis, climate attribution scientist at the Met Office commented this week: “We hoped we wouldn’t get to this situation but for the first time ever we are forecasting greater than 40°C in the UK”.
Scotland saw the highest recorded temperature hit 35.1C (95.1F) in the Borders. It surpassed the previous record of 32.9C recorded in Greycrook in the Borders on 9 August 2003.
Among those taking part will be Wolf Saanen, a receptionist from Glasgow. She explained: "‘We've been sounding the alarm about the global climate emergency for years. Now it has arrived on our shores, will those with the power to change things finally listen?".
Business advisor Val King from Stirling will also be protesting. She added: "In spite of clear warnings from the United Nations that there should be no new investment in oil and gas, fossil fuel companies, with the full backing of the UK government are pressing on to open new fields. Only the government has the power to make them stop."
NHS physiotherapist Damien McGovern added: "If your house was on fire, you wouldn’t sit around and have a chat about it for 30 years or choose to throw more fuel on it to burn even faster. So why are allowing this to happen to our planet?"
Extinction Rebellion Glasgow and Extinction Rebellion Scotland issued a Declaration of Rebellion to the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government in November 2018, demanding that "the Scottish Government tell the truth about the climate and wider ecological emergency, acknowledge and reverse any policies that help drive the climate crisis, and commit to enabling a rapid and just transition to a sustainable and fair society"; "the Scottish Government enact legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025, including by replacing a system based on accelerating consumption with one based on ensuring the wellbeing of all" and "the creation of a legally binding Scottish Climate Citizens’ Assembly to oversee the changes, as part of creating a democracy fit for purpose and a society that cares for all."
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