(Title Image: Extinction Rebellion Cardiff via Twitter)
A three-day protest by Extinction Rebellion ended yesterday evening (July 17th 2019), having resulted in the effective closure of Castle Street in Cardiff city centre for the duration, leading to serious traffic problems elsewhere in the city.
Several similar protests were held in other cities around the UK. The protest aimed to express dissatisfaction with the lack of progress on measures to mitigate or reverse climate change – despite the Senedd’s declaration of a climate emergency earlier this year.
There was criticism of how the protest was handled due to the levels of disruption, but Police & Crime Commissioner, Alun Michael (Lab, South Wales Police), believed his force got the balance right between allowing peaceful protest and not allowing it to get out of hand.
A “People’s Assembly” was held and protesters also met with AMs.