The Climate Rebellion is the largest civil disobedience action for the climate in Dutch history. From October 11 – 15, we block the political center of the Netherlands, The Hague, with thousands of Rebels, for days in a row. We demand that the government makes the Netherlands climate neutral by 2025 in a just way. Throughout the week, we will also organize a legal program that will focus on outreach, training, and regeneration, with a few talks or performances in the evenings. During the weekend, there will be a full program with workshops, talks and music, focused on the theme of climate justice and how the Netherlands can reach the net 0 in 2025 in a just way. On October 18, we will come together to look back on Climate Rebellion and regenerate for the next actions.

Extinction Rebellion (XR) is an international movement of people like you and me. The movement was founded in the UK in 2018 and now we’re active in 1150 locations in 72 countries. We’re growing fast. We carry out peaceful, non-violent, disruptive actions to pressure governments into protecting all life on this planet.

Civil disobedience is the deliberately and peacefully breaking the law to call attention to a social injustice. Throughout history, civil disobedience has been used successfully to bring about major changes. For example, civil disobedience played a crucial role in Indian independence, the fight for universal suffrage, U.S. civil rights legislation, and enforcing research on HIV/AIDS.

For decades, activists have been working to stop the climate and ecological crisis. But we are losing the battle. Thirty years of signing petitions, demonstrating, voting “green,” and international climate summits yielded nothing. Greenhouse gas emissions have only continued to rise and the destruction of the Earth has grown more and more devastating. If we do nothing now, our planet will soon be largely uninhabitable. That’s why Extinction Rebellion uses civil disobedience.

The climate crisis affects everyone, but it does not affect everyone in the same way or at the same time. The consequences of the climate and ecological crisis are felt first and hardest by people in Asia, Africa, South America and Oceania who have contributed the least to the crisis. In the Netherlands, too, it is often poorer groups of people, who emit relatively less, who are most affected by the fossil industry. Moreover, these people are the most vulnerable in the transition to sustainable energy. That is why we demand climate justice for all. We demand a just transition that centres the needs and voices of those on the environmental frontline and holds to account those most responsible for ecological breakdown.

In short: with climate neutrality in 2050, the 1.5 degrees of warming is abandoned as a goal. This summer we were able to see what the world looks like with “only” 1.2 degrees of warming. The carbon budget to have a 50 percent chance of staying below 1.5 degrees (a much better prospect!) runs out in 2028. By being climate neutral in 2025, the Netherlands takes responsibility for past emissions and we create extra time for poorer countries that have contributed the least. As a rich country, we have the opportunities to do this.

For a longer explanation click here.

We have a few rules when joining action that everyone adheres to, check them out below:

1/ We show respect to everyone – to each other, the general public and to the government and police.
2/ We engage in no violence, physical or verbal, and carry no weapons.
3/ We hold ourselves accountable for our actions and do not hide from the legal consequences.
4/ We bring no alcohol or illegal drugs and smoke cigarettes only on places it will not bother others.
5/ We don’t bring political signs or promote political parties
6/ We don’t use open fire for any reason.
7/ We keep 1.5 meters distance and in case this isn’t possible wear face masks.
8/ We take responsibility for ourselves; we are all crew.

We follow the government’s measures, in addition we take a number of extra measures to ensure that people can safely participate in the Climate Rebellion. This means:

• We don’t ask you to keep 1.5 meters distance. We do ask you to be considerate of people who do want to distance, for example because they belong to a at-risk group or have relatives in a at-risk group.
• We ask you to do a self-test before participating in the action, and to stay at home in case of covid symptoms.
• We ask that you bring a face mask and put it on should you be placed in a detention bus or cell with other rebels, in close quarters.
• The climate justice support program is partly in bars and theaters, to participate in this you must show a (digital) corona pass showing that you have been recently tested or are fully vaccinated.

We strongly encourage you to sign up. That way we can send you important updates about the actions and we have a correct picture of how many people will come, so we can prepare everything properly.

You can get a sleeping spot by going to “De Besturing” (Saturnusstraat 91) between 8 p.m. and 23:30 p.m. during any day of the rebellion. If you’re ok with sleeping at a camping make sure you come prepared with tent, mat, and sleeping bag. If you want to sleep in an indoor space, please fill in this doodle.

If you live in The Hague and are able to host 5 or more rebels during the Rebellion, please email tilia1234@protonmail.com

No problem! Alongside our civil disobedience action, we are organizing the Climate Justice Support Program. You can find more information below.

Civil disobedience also involves a lot of work behind the scenes. Financially, sure, but most of all it involves thousands of hours of our volunteers. Want to join as a volunteer for our legal program, outreach or regenerative activities? Sign up now.