Celebrities back call for climate action in Extinction Rebellion video

Celebrities back call for climate action in Extinction Rebellion video
FILE PHOTO: Police officers remove a protester from the wall around the Houses of Parliament as he was demonstrating during Extinction Rebellion protest in London, Britain October 15, 2019. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File Photo Copyright Henry Nicholls(Reuters)
By Reuters
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button

LONDON (Reuters) - Singer Ellie Goulding, actor Imelda Staunton and model Daisy Lowe were among celebrities demanding that the governments act on climate change in a video campaign launched by Extinction Rebellion on Sunday ahead of Britain's Dec. 12 general election.

Extinction Rebellion launched in London a year ago, inspiring waves of colourful, disruptive actions around the world to call for rapid cuts in carbon emissions and the repair of collapsing ecosystems. Thousands of people have been arrested during protests.

The group's emphasis on the role that culture can play in shaping attitudes towards the twin climate and ecological crises has drawn support from a range of leading names from the worlds of music, fashion, art and film.

The new video https://rebellion.earth was created in a collaboration between film-maker Richard Curtis and RANKIN, a creative agency headed by the British photographer of the same name. It features people aged 8 to 80 demanding a halt to the destruction of forests and oceans and the loss of plant, insect and animal species.

"Time has run out. It's act now or face almost unimaginable consequences for life on Earth," said British television presenter and naturalist Chris Packham.

"So if the drivers of change are asleep at the wheel, it's time to shake and wake them with one hand and to empower ourselves to make our own differences with the other," Packham said.

Among the best-known actors to feature in the film is Jim Carter. He played Mr Carson the butler in "Downton Abbey", a film and television series that won numerous awards for its portrayal of British aristocratic life in the early 20th century.

Other celebrities include Camilla Thurlow, who appeared in British hit reality series "Love Island", film and television director Stephen Frears, and actor Jaime Winstone.

"This film must reach governments and ring the alarm bell to act now on the climate crisis we are all living in," Winstone said. "We must all ask of them #WhereIsYourPlan."

(Reporting by Matthew Green; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Share this articleComments

You might also like

EU to revise Agricultural Policy in response to farmers protests

Musk criticises 'eco-terrorists' as fire breaks out in Tesla factory near Berlin

On board the floating science lab making its way around Europe's coastline