‘RED Rebels’ from Rugby joined a silent protest pilgrimage to the COP26 international climate change conference.
Members of the Red Rebel Brigade performance group joined a train demonstration on their way to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Glasgow.
On Sunday (October 31), activists silently moved through Rugby train station, staging a peaceful demonstration before departing on the next leg of the journey.
It was part of a national three-day train pilgrimage, which started in Cornwall and finished in Glasgow on Monday (November 1) – the opening day of the conference.
The Red Rebel Brigade staged performances at each station to share the message that action is needed now to halt serious natural disasters, global warming, and life-threatening pollution levels.
The Rugby Rebels carried a local banner displaying the words ‘CODE RED’, while a larger banner – ‘the baton’ – was passed from group to group along the way.
Rugby Rebels joined together with Bristol, Oxford and Birmingham Red Rebel groups at Birmingham New Street station, where they staged a silent vigil to mark the mid-point of the journey before symbolically handing over the ‘baton’.
Red Rebel coordinator Jenni Crisp said: “It has been a privilege to be part of this action, bringing the urgent message of Code Red for Humanity along the trainline veins of the UK to the beating heart of COP26.
“Reds mourn and warn as we face this most critical time in human history. We call on our leaders to act now or betray our children and our sisters and brothers in the global south.”
Event organisers Catherine Heinemeyer and Christina O’Neill said: “It is now ‘code red’ for humanity, for climate, and for nature. There is not a single moment more to waste, and policymakers who don’t come to the table ready to make sacrifices really will have blood on their hands.”
The Red Rebel Brigade is an international performance group which raises awareness of ecological and political crises through peaceful, silent processions. Group members wear red, representing the danger of the climate crisis and its impact on humanity.
COP26 runs until November 12.
