COP26 day of demonstrations in Stratford sees two hundred take to the streets
A DAY of marches, speeches and demonstrations took place in Stratford on Saturday (6th November) as around 200 people took to the streets to call for greater action on the climate crisis.
The demonstrations were organised by Stratford Climate Action, alongside the Stratford branches of Friends of the Earth and Extinction Rebellion, and formed part of the COP26 Coalition Global Day of Climate Action.
Michelle Hardy, of Stratford Climate Action, told the Herald: “It was only my second march, so I’m quite new to that kind of thing. It’s hard to get a sense on social media about whether you’re the only one who cares about climate action, so it was really heartening to see there are other people like me living locally. They were all really friendly and welcoming, and it was a very beautiful feeling to be part of that. It’s very empowering. The police were there to ensure we felt safe and that we were officially meant to be there. There was a young man with a loudhailer leading from the front and he taught us some chants, so there was a real camaraderie.”
That young man was George Burch, 17, from Kineton, who said: “There was an overwhelmingly positive reaction, frankly. I know there’s been a lot of demonisation of the environmentalist movement, and that groups like Extinction Rebellion are quite unpopular, but I only counted two people who jeered us, and there were tens of people who were bystanders that then joined the back of our line.
“Considering we’re talking about a heavy subject matter, the future of civil society, there was something uplifting about knowing you’re not alone in this. I was a little underwhelmed by the youth turnout, because young people are politically engaged to an extent, and this is an issue that will have an impact on the life of my generation and for many generations to come.”
Demonstrators met at the bandstand on the Recreation Ground where speeches were given before a march around the town ended at the office of Stratford MP Nadhim Zahawi and a list of demands was delivered.
Olivia Hatch, of Stratford Extinction Rebellion, said: “We acknowledged in our speeches that individual action is brilliant but the problem is so much bigger than that. We need leadership, both locally and nationally. The council needs to see that people are ready for action.
“It’s painful, the slow pace of what is being done, especially at county council level where the decisions on transport happen. It frustrates me because they’re too cautious and too slow. If you look at councils elsewhere there’s some imagination going on, where things are moving in the right direction, but for some reason in Warwickshire the councillors seem more reluctant to do that. Someone in the council is putting the brakes on.”
The demands included ending support for the Cambo oil field near Shetland, the coal mine in Cumbria and all new fossil fuel projects, repurposing a £27bn investment for new roads into public transport, and reversing cuts to local authorities, instead giving funds and powers to meet their net zero targets.
Further demands related to prioritising the climate in trade deals negotiations, especially in light of recent leaks about the UK’s dropping of goals from the Paris Agreement in its trade deal with Australia, and the development of a nature recovery plan along the lines of the CEE (Climate and Ecological Emergency) bill.
A demonstration also took place in Wellesbourne, organised by Richard Bacon of St Peter’s Church.
Around 30 people from Wellesbourne and the surrounding villages attended a two-mile walk around the village, stopping at locations to hear talks about different aspects of climate change, how it affects people around the world and what can be done to combat it.
