We’re only four months into the year, but 2019 will always be known as the year that environmental activists stopped playing nicely and started demanding action. Civil disobedience entered the headlines when students around the world began ditching class on Fridays to urge politicians to act, and now the Extinction Rebellion activist group in London is gaining global attention with their creative yet powerful protests. It all started when Extinction Rebellion rolled a bright pink boat, named Berta Cáceres after the murdered Honduran environmental activist, into the middle of one of London’s busiest intersections. Hundreds of protesters followed the boat onto the street and secured it, marking the beginning of Extinction Rebellion’s climate protests. In the five days that followed, thousands of people, from pensioners to young parents with toddlers, scientists to city workers, teenagers to teachers, have occupied four landmarks in the capital, defying repeated police attempts to remove them and causing widespread disruption. Yes, disruption in itself isn’t necessarily applaudable, but the point is it’s working. The protests have garnered the attention of media all across the world, and their message is being heard loud and clear: we have to act NOW if we want to save the planet. Plus, the group’s tactics haven’t been violent in nature, opting instead to do things such as yoga classes on the Waterloo bridge.