Fight for the future: our best climate protest photos
- Text by Huck
- Photography by XR’s Red Rebel Brigade, October 2019 by Peter Brooks (main image)
The fight against climate change is a decades old struggle. For years and years, environmentalists have taken action to try to protect our natural world, encourage leaders and multinational corporations to leave fossil fuels in the ground and, more recently, prevent irreversible and devastating climate change.
The last few years have seen an explosion of those movements. The 2018 IPCC report which stated we had just 12 years to avert catastrophe became a huge calling card for many. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets behind the banners of mass movements like Extinction Rebellion and Fridays for Future.
We’ve seen co-ordinated marches across the globe, the targeting of events like Fashion Week as well as mass civil disobedience campaigns which have led to thousands arrested. Many, spurred on by the terror of what unabashed fossil-fuel use means for them and their families, have taken action for the first time on the climate over the last few years, calling on leaders here and across the globe to act.
Through all of it, we’ve been there, reporting from the ground, capturing the action and the struggle. As the world’s eyes are on Glasgow for this month’s COP26 summit and as activists gear up for a huge weekend of action in the city and across the world, we bring you some of our favourite photos of climate protests that we’ve published over the past few years.
XR protest 2018. Photo by Theo McInnes
Extinction Rebellion blockade the bridges of London, November 2018. Photo by Eva Clifford
Global Climate Strike in London. Photo by Theo McInnes
XR’s Red Rebel Brigade, October 2019. Photo by Peter Brooks
Extinction Rebellion blockade the bridges of London, November 2018. Photo by Eva Clifford
Extinction Rebellion blockade the bridges of London, November 2018. Photo by Eva Clifford
Climate protestors block roads to ‘disrupt’ Fashion Week, February 2019. Photo by Theo McInnes
XR block a London junction, August 2021. Photo by Aiyush Pachnanda
Global Climate Strike, London. Photo by Theo McInnes
XR block a London junction, August 2021. Photo by Aiyush Pachnanda
XR protest, 2018. Photo by Theo McInnes
XR block a London junction, August 2021. Photo by Aiyush Pachnanda
Climate protestors block roads to ‘disrupt’ Fashion Week, February 2019. Photo by Theo McInnes
XR block a London junction, August 2021. Photo by Aiyush Pachnanda
XR protest, 2018. Photo by Theo McInnes
COP26 takes place between 31 October – 12 November 2021. Keep an eye on Huck’s live coverage of COP on our Twitter and Instagram, and read more about our climate takeover here.
Latest on Huck
How trans rights activism and sex workers’ solidarity emerged in the ’70s and ’80s
Shoulder to Shoulder — In this extract from writer Jake Hall’s new book, which deep dives into the history of queer activism and coalition, they explore how anti-TERF and anti-SWERF campaigning developed from the same cloth.
Written by: Jake Hall
A behind the scenes look at the atomic wedgie community
Stretched out — Benjamin Fredrickson’s new project and photobook ‘Wedgies’ queers a time-old bullying act by exploring its erotic, extreme potential.
Written by: Isaac Muk
“Welcome to the Useless Class”: Ewan Morrison in conversation with Irvine Welsh
For Emma — Ahead of the Scottish author’s new novel, he sat down with Irvine Welsh for an in-depth discussion of its dystopic themes, and the upcoming AI “tsunami”.
Written by: Irvine Welsh
“Struggle helps people come together”: Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
Huck’s February interview — To hear more about the release of the indie darling’s first collaborative album, we caught up with her and Devra Hoff to hear about the record, motherhood in music and why the ’80s are back,
Written by: Isaac Muk
Nxdia: “Poems became an escape for me”
What Made Me — In this series, we ask artists and rebels about the forces and experiences that shaped who they are. Today, it’s Egyptian-British alt-pop shapeshifter Nxdia.
Written by: Nxdia
Kathy Shorr’s splashy portraits inside limousines
The Ride of a Lifetime — Wanting to marry a love of cars and photography, Kathy Shorr worked as a limousine driver in the ’80s to use as a studio on wheels. Her new photobook explores her archive.
Written by: Miss Rosen