‘Climate Change Means War’ | Donald Bell, British Army Veteran & Member of Extinction Rebellion

British Army veteran and member of Extinction Rebellion, Donald Bell, explains his reasons for paying his respects at the Cenotaph on Remembrance Day with a banner reading ‘Honour Their Sacrifice, Climate Change Means War.’

The action aimed to highlight the connection between rising global temperatures and an increase in the incidence of conflict and war. Research commissioned by the Ministry of Defence published in June this year points to a “growing recognition that climate change may aggravate existing threats to international peace and security.”

The report, which is titled ‘A changing climate: Exploring the implications of climate change for UK defence and security’, advises the Ministry of Defence on how to prepare the British Armed Forces for the effects of escalating climate change, including increased unrest and conflict resulting from shrinking food and water resources and the displacement of peoples. The report recommends that the Ministry of Defence alter the design of war games and strategic training exercises to account for “multiple simultaneous large-scale disasters” resulting from climate change, and to “support interoperability across the Armed Forces, emergency services, police, fire services and coastguard.”

The action called on the government to act to avert the increase in unrest, conflict and war anticipated by the Ministry of Defence report. The Committee on Climate Change – which advises the government on emissions reduction and reports on their progress – revealed in June this year that the government had reached only two of it’s 31 milestones and was on track with only four of the 21 indicators identified on the path to zero emissions. [2] The action made the point that, in this context, speaking up about consequences of unchecked warning is an act of remembrance.

#RemembranceDay #ClimateConflict

[NW] ‎‎

#extinctionrebellion
#climatechange
#globalwarming

[carwynj.thomas]

Thank you for your service sir and your continued efforts to give us a future

[SG-xtbh]

That's what I don't understand, 2030, 2050. It's like passing the buck to someone else to handle the problem.

[carwynj.thomas]

I thought that the action taken was insensitive before I realised it was a solider that placed the wreath where he did. That changes things, at least it does for me. As a soldier war is a real thing for him. He knows the horrors of conflict. If any soldier could foresee the next conflict isn’t it his duty to do everything in his power to warn people to avoid that scenario?

[michaelwalker]

If your a veteran why are you wearing cs95 kit? Why are you not in regimental tie and a suit instead ? Also if your going to wear combat kit wouldn’t the uniform of the time you served be more appropriate?

[Diana_C]

I've seen some awful things in my long life and I've learned one thing - if you disregard the needs of others you leave them no choice but to fight. If we continue to destroy the planet we'll find ourselves at war with our nearest neighbours and maybe even with family members...

[pilgrimpiper]

We laughed, - knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars: when each proud fighter brags
He wars on Death, for lives; not men, for flags.

Wilfred Owen

[badger]

Mr Bell didn’t get injured in a car bombing in 1974 or rather if he did it was not as part of the Army. Mr Bell is a fantasist who joined the Army but didn’t make it through training so was never deployed to Northern Ireland. He also claims to have done 4 x 6 month tours in Northern Ireland with the Royal Anglican Regiment, from 1971 (when he would have been 15 years old), so that’s another lie. One thing he did do however was a 4 year stretch in prison with his wife for heroin dealing.

[davidmchugh-hypnotherapist]

Intelligence and compassion, what a combination. Thank-you Donald.

[RobinBoardmanUK]

“There are moments when people in uniform – particularly people who are not climate-change professors – have the power to cut into public awareness, ” said Richard Clarke, of the UK’s Department for International Development.

[Jamie-qtyo]

WALT. Never served. Cant even wear DPMs properly and no veteran would ever desecrate the Cenotaph like that.

[TonyMaronie]

This man is a disgrace and a traitor. He has disrespected all the people who have died for this country. He should be locked up and Extinction Rebellion closed down and outlawed!

[danielwhyatt]

Well, people complained about it all over the Internet, but here’s their answer. It may be controversial, but I do truly believe that this was a worthwhile venture. I do believe that if those boys were up in some sort of heaven right now, or alive today, then they would approve of this. They had that sort of attitude that would’ve thought it was about time somebody did this rather just the same thing ‘every single year every single decade’ to remember them and they’re sacrifices. Might as well get some extra meaning out of it. After all, is a sacrifice truly worthwhile if those who did not fight to defend it, are just going to wreck some of what they fort for anyway.
We needed this, all of us.

[brianwheeldon]

Thank you Donald Bell. Your service to your country and your insightful and powerful commentary are well respected.

[Gambit]

Don't think that finding someone to be a useful idiot will somehow justify your actions.
What you did was disgusting and selfish.
This is why you are more hated as the days go by.

[chrisclarke]

I put Donald in the same moral bin as Jimmy Saville, Gary glitter and Fred West.

[davidsmartknight]

So much respect for your courage and determination in doing this. You are right of course: the media barons, the captains of industry, the wealthy elites seeking to put profit before the good of life will lambast you and call this action shameful and disrespectful - and in so doing, they are merely distracting from the real shame, and the real disrespect. When they speak of those who served and died, let us all remember that they didn't serve or die to prop up an economic elite - they served and died for a greater good - for a future worth inheriting.

[mikeharvey]

I thought too, all day yesterday of my parents in the war, the relief when the nhs was created, and how it’s now being privatised, people today won’t know what’sS hit them before it’s too late

[stickyfinger]

They declared a climate emergency over a year ago now, and they still have nothing to deal with are

[aeddiefarmer]

A lot of XR feel this action was misguided. I am glad that it came from someone with context and experience with what they are speaking of, but nobody saw that at the time. Look at the comments insisting this action was done by some disrespectful young hippie, despite being literally shown the person who did it is not those things.

It is scary being part of an activist group where anyone can use the branding at any time to do an action that no one else who is affiliated with the group has any say on. I don't know how people imagine it works but this action wasn't vetted or approved by some kind of XR central who said oh yes let's disrespect the war dead! We don't have leaders or a structure that would allow that. No one knew this was going to happen. Within hours of this action my local XR group Facebook started recieving angry private messages. The local group did not do the action or have any say in it, most had not even heard that it happened until the messages started arriving. It was alarming. I'm not especially affiliated with XR exactly for reasons like this and I won't be openly connecting myself with XR for a long time because of this. I will advise that my friends do the same, to stay safe. That should not be happening, what kind of country are we that remembrance has become too sacred for even a veteran to make a peaceful and relatively unobtrusive protest. There's people in the comments saying they consider this man the same as Gary Glitter and Jimmy Saville. (The idea that comparing paedophiles and sexual abusers to someone who did an activist action they did not agree with might be offensive to sexual abuse and CSA victims did not seem to occur to the person who said that.) It is alarming that we have allowed Remembrance Day to be made into the kind of event where anything not 100% status quo and 100% respectful can get you compared to prolific paedophiles and people associated with your group harassed. In previous years where we didn't have covid to worry about we apparently worried about who was wearing a poppy, ooh this public figure didn't wear one, or they wore it wrong, and every year the disgusting 'x is banning poppies in case it OFFENDS' articles come back despite no one every having banned poppies. Something in this is bringing something ugly out of our country and its people, something I want no part in. I don't think any of my or your relatives who died would have predicted or wanted that. Ugliness and jingoism in its highest form is how the wars began. I don't know what else to say but I am sick at heart. I don't have any grand delusions of 'saving' the planet and neither does anyone I know. Climate change has been known about for decades and yet our governments did nothing. It is horrific and enough to make anyone fall into despair.

[anthonydavies]

I respect you for your service and your humanity and you have done this thoughtfully. Thank you