Today I acquired a criminal record. I was convicted of two public order offences (refusing to move until arrested) as part of Extinction Rebellion’s actions in London in April. I was given a fine of £500 and ordered to pay £300 prosecution costs.
Prof Paul Ekins OBE, who has advised many national and international bodies on energy and climate change, appeared as an expert witness. In a move which astonished the court the Crown Prosecutor stated that the prosecution accepted his evidence, evidence which says that the government is failing on climate change. Prof Ekins wrote:
“the Government is currently set to miss the fourth and fifth carbon budgets which have been legislated into law. This will make more difficult and expensive the task of a future Government, which will require even steeper emissions reductions to meet the sixth and subsequent carbon budgets… .”
Download Prof Ekins’ written evidence
I wanted to make sure I hadn’t misheard so I asked the prosecutor twice: does the prosecution accept Prof Ekins’ evidence? She replied: yes. Whatever she meant, that is what she said. “We accept” is not the same as “we do not wish to contest”.
Steve Melia's Blog 
Well done Steve – you are a hero for the cause. I worked with Pip Sheard for some 5 years in the TfGB campaign which I saw as addressing CO2 traffic emissions in a city which has a high incidence of children with upper respiratory problems – info from my old GP at Brentry.
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Well done Steve. The Government’s own advisory body, the Climate Change Committee, says the UK is not on track (way off the mark actually) with its carbon budgets. So Prof Ekins testimony is just affirming this official finding. Anybody can download the CCC’s Reports and read them out as official proof that the Government is failing to achieve its own legally binding targets.
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