- The members of the March to Glasgow head out on the last leg of their route.
- They have already walked more than 800 kilometers, covering the south of England, the Midlands, York and Northumberland. Now they enter Scottish lands.
On Saturday, October 30, the March to Glasgow, organized by Ecologists in Action and Extinction Rebellion, is scheduled to enter the Scottish capital along with the other column that is walking through the west. Scottish organizations committed to the climate are preparing a great reception for the marchers. That day the seven Spaniards and five British members of the march will have walked more than 1,000 kilometers. Hundreds of people will accompany them to cover the last kilometers.
Five days after finishing the walk, they consider that the objectives they set when starting the march have already been achieved. As they passed through more than 100 British towns, they have publicly denounced the failure of governments to comply with the Paris agreements on climate change. Non-compliance that pushes the beings that inhabit the planet down the path of collapse. Governments must complete the energy transition by 2030.
After participating in numerous rallies, urban marches, debates, protest events and receptions, the march has been a catalyst for the activity of local groups in order to ensure that more than one person participates in the November 6 climate action day. million British men and women. Furthermore, they understand that the march has guaranteed a symbolic presence of high commitment on the part of the environmentalism of the Spanish State in the mobilizations for the Climate Summit.
British organizations such as Friends of the Earth or Extinction Rebellion have provided great logistical and human support to the March. More than a thousand English activists have participated in some of the stages of the route. The participation of union leaders and cadres of workers' organizations has also been very notable.
Labor commits to the march
The prominence of mayors of the large cities in the center-east of the country, the traditional bastion of Labor, has been very significant. Sheffield, Wakefield, Leeds, Durham, Charlton and Alnwick are some of these municipalities and reveal the opposition party's shift towards a policy that is more sensitive to the climate crisis. The left wing of Labor has been very involved in supporting the march. Some of its national leaders abandon their lukewarmness in the face of the climate crisis and begin to work on more forceful government programs as the times demand. Labor MP Alex Sobel participates as a speaker on the United Nations panel of scientists on climate change and is working on new government plans to implement energy optimization programs, improving the insulation of millions of homes. It also designs investment plans in public transport to curb emissions caused by the use and abuse of private vehicles in the United Kingdom. Other local leaders, veteran militants of the left, are even advancing the idea of creating a personal digital control card for the emissions caused by each person, in the style of the points-based driving license in force in Spain.
It is worth highlighting the support given to the initiative by different Protestant churches, providing premises and preparing some dinners for the marchers, showing the commitment of these faiths to the climate emergency. Even the Sikh religious leader of Leeds held a meeting with the marchers in which he declared: “This is not the time to retire to meditation. It is time to act to save life on the planet.”
Some aristocrats, such as the Earl of Northumberland, great landowner of the region and owner of Alnwick Castle – the setting for the Harry Potter film saga – have expressed their sympathies with the climate cause. This whole movement in defense of the climate contrasts with the position of the British government of Boris Johnson, of gestures and flagrant non-compliance, which keeps an ambitious investment plan in the drawers to improve the insulation of numerous buildings in the United Kingdom with very high fuel consumption. for heating.
With just enough strength after 24 days of walking, the marchers are heading towards the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, where they will be joined by Spanish and English activists, to carry out the last three stages of the march before entering Glasgow, at noon on Saturday, October 30.
The column has been carrying out periodic COVID-19 detection tests given the high infection rate in the United Kingdom.
