Extinction Rebellion aren't the usual activists

Here's how economic school dropout and failed farmer Roger Hallam founded and grew a global protest organisation in just 18 months.

Valerie Milner-Brown and Linda Davidsen both became full-time climate activists this year. Their plan to disrupt planes at Heathrow Airport was not endorsed by Extinction Rebellion. Reuters

Martin Fletcher

Updated Oct 18, 2019 – 11.55am, first published at 9.34am

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Northala Fields is a west London park featuring four conical hills created with the rubble of the old Wembley Stadium. One morning in September, Linda Davidsen and Valerie Milner-Brown stood on the highest of those hills, as endless planes descended towards Heathrow Airport to the south, and triggered three days of high farce – a prelude to what climate change activists hope will be the biggest act of civil disobedience in British history: a 14-day campaign blockading areas in central London.

The protest isn't limited to the UK capital and since October 7, people have taken to the streets around the world from Prague to Paris, Berlin to Bogota, Islamabad to Istanbul. In Australia, there have been actions in every state capital.

New Statesman