PETERSFIELD Extinction Rebellion activists held a peaceful and educational action in The Square to mark the start of a fortnight-long national protest aimed at getting measures to combat global warming back on track quickly.

A Petersfield XR spokesman said: “Covid-19, worries about our economy, and the challenges for our education system have all sidelined the most important, crucial and urgent issue of our times – the climate and ecological crisis.

“We can’t ignore this issue, it is absolutely our duty, individually, collectively and through local government, to pull out all the stops, to do everything in our power to help prevent catastrophic climate change.

“This is the biggest threat to human health, far greater than the threat of pandemic viruses like Covid-19.”

When lockdown came into effect on Monday, March 23, it put a stop to plans for an educational pop-up café in town providing practical tips and information aimed at encouraging a more environmentally responsible way of living.

But undeterred, those Petersfield activists not at the London event hosted a socially-distanced action in The Square on Sunday.

The group spokesman added: “The clock is ticking as global temperatures keep rising, and climate change teacher Paul Turner spoke about the science of climate change in an easy to understand way.

“He set out how we are continuing to head towards catastrophic climate change by not taking the necessary measures to keep within the Paris Agreement limit of 1.5C of global temperature rise.

“And although the town was quiet, people came to listen, argue and discuss and 13 signed up to become more involved.

“After the encouraging improvements in our environment that came from people driving and consuming less during lockdown, we are now back to where we were, and worse.

“The drive to bolster our economy, the reluctance to return to public transport, and Covid measures that require a greater use of disposable plastic and sanitising chemicals, have actually put the health of our planet at more serious risk than ever.”

Polar bear activist Alison Evans was also in The Square and she demonstrated the importance of our disappearing Arctic wildlife caused by climate change warming our seas.

She had a number of conversations with children and their parents, and an inflatable canoe, which symbolised sea-level rise, held packs of environmental pledges for the public to fill in.

In London, XR members started their two-week demonstration yesterday (September 1), and an important part of their campaign is focused on the new Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill (CEE Bill) introduced into parliament today.

The spokesman said that XR Petersfield is appealing to people to write to their MP to support the CEE Bill.

The spokesman added: “So far, no one has done enough, and that includes this government.

“Whilst we have made some important declarations and commitments as a country, these don’t go far enough and we must act more quickly.

“A recent Climate Change committee report found that we are not on track to meet self-declared climate targets in neither the period 2023 to 2027 nor 2028 to 2032.

“It also claims the government has only fully achieved two targets out of the 31 set out in their 2019 Progress Report.”

The CEE bill being introduced in parliament today by Green Party MP Caroline Lucas can be read on the website at https://www.ceebill.uk/bill and East Hampshire MPs Damian Hinds and Flick Drummond can be emailed at [email protected] and [email protected]