I have been concerned about the depletion of the natural environment since the first oil crisis of the 1970s, and so I became a member of Greenpeace in the 1980s, paying for activists and researchers to pressure governments and business to protect the environment and cut waste and emissions. In the late 90s I became more concerned and got involved in working in partnership with local government, to start planning for sustainability, which is what had been agreed under the Kyoto protocol. During that time, much good and meaningful discussion was started, but not enough was done to oblige corporations and central governments to make significant changes to their policies and business plans, which was disheartening.

After the financial crash of 2008, many of us in the environmental movement hoped this would be a turning point in economics, away from casino capitalism to a more regulated and forward thinking style of management. When this didn’t happen, I was moved to do more, and started taking an active role, joining marches in support of the Copenhagen agreement where targets for emissions were first set. I campaigned with AVAAZ and 350 degrees. org. This built up to the 2015 Paris agreement which seemed, at last, to give the necessary impetus to all nations to start taking effective action. After some time however, it became apparent that this wasn’t happening, and emissions kept rising, while governments and corporations produced a lot of green wash advertising.

By 2017 I was deeply concerned and frustrated by the situation, and could see that more direct action would need to be taken to bring wider awareness that major changes were needed to avoid future disaster. I joined Earth First, and went to their annual gatherings. Mixing with young passionate activists help spur me on to start writing, connecting my evolutionary learning with the need for people to get a grasp on the big picture of probable ecological collapse. Thus my first articles were more concerned with portraying our current situation as an evolutionary crisis for mankind, as well as an ecological disaster for the natural world.

It was at Earth First camp that I first came across Extinction Rebellion, and took part in the first occupation of the five bridges in London in November 2018. I went on to take part in the Easter and autumn occupations in London in 2019, as well as starting XR rebel elders in Bristol, and helping to coordinate XR grandparents and elders in London. Since lockdown in 2020 I have continued to take an active role in coordinating these groups through zoom meetings. I have continued writing on the subject, more recently focussing on how the situation is perceived by younger generations, and how it is affecting their mental health. I have also during this time done outreach work, giving lectures to Psychologists in the BPS, and various U3A and other community groups around Bristol.

Some of these articles appear on the articles page of this website.