Extinction Rebellion Southsea to hold demonstration in Portsmouth this weekend
CLIMATE activists will gather in Portsmouth city centre this weekend to call for 'urgent' air quality improvements.
Members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) Southsea will hold a pollution awareness action in Guildhall Square, in Portsmouth, tomorrow (Saturday, August 29) with a difference.
As part of the demonstration they will display 95 pairs of shoes to represent the number of Portsmouth people who are thought to die every year as a result of air pollution.
XR Southsea co-ordinator, Selma Heimedinger, said: 'Air pollution levels in Portsmouth have been illegally high for nine years. 95 people die from NO2 levels in Portsmouth each year. We need urgent action implemented now so that everyone can breathe clean air.
'Extinction Rebellion Southsea will create a visual display, with one pair of unfilled shoes representing the lives lost from poor air quality in our city each year.
'We want to remind each other of the effects air pollution has on the people of our city. Encouraging less car use, putting funding into accessible public transport, creating safe bike paths and cycle lanes can be the start of a city with clean safe air for all.'
'This action is in preparation of a national rebellion coming to London in September to pass the Climate and Ecological Emergency bill.’
It comes as other XR groups across the country will be staging a series of protests over the bank holiday weekend including roadblocks and targeting airports in London, Bristol, Manchester, Cardiff and Leeds.
The demonstration will be held on Saturday, August 29 at 12pm.