Universities to witness ‘die-in’ protests over climate change

CLIMATE change protesters Extinction Rebellion will stage ‘die-ins’ at university campuses during Freshers’ Week.

The environmental activist group will carry out demonstrations at Newcastle and Northumbria Universities to highlight their cause to students and staff.

Members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) say they will call on the universities to take a lead on communicating the crisis and to take actions reflecting the scale and urgency of climate change.

The first die-in protest, in which participants lie on the ground as if dead, is set to take place at Newcastle University near to the students’ union at 1.45pm next Wednesday.

At 2.30pm, the group will march with banners to Northumbria University, where a second die-in will take place in the courtyard outside the library and students’ union. The activists say the die-ins symbolise the kind of bleak future we will face without radical and urgent action to tackle climate change.

Organisers from XR have called on Northumbria University to follow in the footsteps of Newcastle University and declare a climate emergency.

Newcastle University took the step of declaring a climate emergency in April with the aim of achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2040.

Students and staff will be invited to join the group and to go to a talk entitled ‘Heading for extinction and what to do about it’ on October 4 at 6.30pm at Northumbria University.

Laura Pacitti, a second-year biomedical science at Northumbria University, said : “We cannot ignore how dire this emergency is, and we will not be ignored!”