Extinction Rebellion: Tens of thousands of warning labels stuck on petrol pumps across UK as part of new campaign

‘It is our duty as health professionals to warn the public that continued fossil fuel use is wrecking our life support systems,’ say activist healthcare professionals

Activists from Doctors For Extinction Rebellion, an offshoot of the protest group made up of healthcare professionals, gather at a petrol station at Newham, London (Doctors For Extinction Rebellion)

Extinction Rebellion activists have stuck tens of thousands of learning labels on petrol pumps across the UK as the environmental activist group gears up for a bank holiday of disruptive direct action to highlight the threat of the climate crisis.

The group have brought their distinctive style of protest - often focussed around mass participation and highly visual stunts - to the nation and the world over the last two years to call for political accountability and action over environmental concerns.

Now Doctors for Extinction Rebellion, an offshoot of the group made up of healthcare workers, has attached graphic labels - some reminiscent of those used on cigarette packets - to petrol stations in a bid to warn the public over the damages of emissions and air pollution.

Some of the more than 20,000 stickers printed out by the group include references to the Covid-19 coronavirus, stating air pollution may “increase your risk”, while others play on the government’s maligned mid-lockdown slogan “Stay alert, control the virus, save lives” - replacing the phrase with a call to “control pollution”.

Highlighting the action protestors gathered with out -of-service ambulances and a sign reading “harmful products need health warnings” in a petrol station in the London borough of Newham, home to the highest levels of particulate pollution in the country.

The stunt took place just a short distance from Canning Town station, where Extinction Rebellion protestors caused controversy last year after stopping commuters from one of the nation's most deprived boroughs travelling during the morning rush hour.

Co-Founder of the Doctors for Extinction Rebellion group Dr Chris Newman, a GP in Tottenham said: “It is our duty as health professionals to warn the public that continued fossil fuel use is wrecking our life support systems. We no longer have time to ask for permission.

“As a group we will continue to do what the science and our duty of care asks of us, and we urge our government to do the same. If we must break the law to do our duty, then we will do so.“

It comes amid calls for petrol pumps to be fitted with warning labels to provide better accountability and clearer indicators of the damage of fossil fuels to the planets.

In a letter published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) in March, former regional director of public health for the south east of England Mike Gill and colleagues wrote that “warning labels at points of purchase of fossil energy or services dependent on large amounts of fossil fuel, for example at petrol stations, on energy bills, and on airline tickets” would serve as a “low cost, scalable intervention to facilitate change in individuals’ and society’s views and behaviour”.

Eco-labels - similar to energy efficiency ratings used on household appliances and boilers - are set to be rolled out in Sweden by October next year, while the US city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has followed suit with similar legislation.