Extinction Rebellion needs £250,000 or it risks collapse, according to co-founder Dr Gail Bradbrook.

In an email to supporters, Bradbrook said that the group did not have the money it needed to fund the rebellion and needed urgent help to keep going.

“I need to tell you the truth: we don’t have the money we need to fund this rebellion,” she wrote.

Alive

“Despite the fact that we’ve totally changed the conversation; despite all the column inches, the declarations of climate emergency, the hope; despite the storms that have battered our shores in the past couple of months… and despite the fact that the tide is turning; it’s no exaggeration to say that this shortfall might destroy Extinction Rebellion,” she wrote.

The group has cut costs, changed how it works and is ramping up fundraising, she said.

The group does not accept donations that would compromise its demands, and most big funders cannot support civil disobedience, so it relies on private donations, she said.

“We stand on the brink of breaking through, we’re at the tipping point. Donate today to keep the rebellion alive,” she said. XR has produced a video about its funding situation.

Digital action

The group has paused all mass direct action due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, it is continuing with digital action.

XR Youth is carrying out a Europe-wide action as part of the Polluters Out campaign to demand that fossil fuel industry representatives are not included in UN climate negotiations.

The ‘cyberstorm’ will target all modes of communication of key polluting industries, as well as those involved in organising the conference, to disrupt business for a day or more, in order to send the message that they are not welcome at the talks.

A spokesperson for XR Youth said: “We are not going to pause our activism just because we can’t gather in the streets. We must adapt and find new forms of resistance.”

This Author

Catherine Early is a freelance environmental journalist and chief reporter for the Ecologist. She can be found tweeting at @Cat_Early76.