Julian Roger Hallam (born 4 May 1966) is a Welsh environmental activist, a co-founder of

Extinction Rebellion Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR) is a global environmental movement, with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk o ...

cooperative federation A co-operative federation or secondary co-operative is a co-operative in which all members are, in turn, co-operatives. Historically, co-operative federations have predominantly come in the form of co-operative wholesale societies and co-operative ...

organisation

Radical Routes Radical Routes is a UK-based network of housing co-ops. The organisation supports new and established co-ops through loan finance, training workshops, practical support, and national gatherings. History Radical Routes emerged in 1986 from a ne ...

and the political party

Burning Pink Burning Pink, also known as Beyond Politics and formerly registered with the Electoral Commission as The Burning Pink Party, was a British political party with the stated goal of a political revolution by replacing the British government with c ...

Biography

Hallam was raised by a Methodist family. He was previously an

organic farmer Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...

on a

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

near

Llandeilo Llandeilo () is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated at the crossing of the River Towy by the A483 on a 19th-century stone bridge. Its population was 1,795 at the 2011 Census. It is adjacent to the westernmost point of the B ...

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

; he attributes the destruction of his business to a series of

extreme weather Extreme weather or extreme climate events includes unexpected, unusual, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Often, extreme events are based on a locat ...

events. Between at least 2017 and early 2019 he was studying for a PhD at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, researching how to achieve social change through

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...

and radical movements. In January 2017, in an action to urge King's College London to divest from fossil fuels, Hallam and another person, using water-soluble chalk-based spray paint, painted "Divest from oil and gas", "Now!" and "Out of time" on the university's Strand campus entrance. They were arrested in February when they again spray painted the university's Great Hall, charged with criminal damage and fined £500. In May 2019, after a three-day trial at

Southwark Crown Court The Crown Court at Southwark, commonly but inaccurately called Southwark Crown Court, is one of two locations of the Crown Court in the London SE1 postcode area, along with the Crown Court at Inner London. Opened in 1983, the brick building is ...

, they were cleared by a jury of all charges, having argued in their defence that their actions were a proportionate response to the

climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term describing global warming and climate change, and their impacts. The term and the alternative term ''climate emergency'' have been used to describe the threat of global warming to humanity (and their planet), and to u ...

. In March 2017, Hallam went on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

to demand the university divest from fossil fuels—the institution had millions of pounds invested in fossil fuels but no investment in

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

. Five weeks after the first protest, the university removed £14m worth of investments from fossil fuel companies and pledged to become

carbon neutral Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...

by 2025. Later in 2017, Hallam was a leading member of activist group Stop Killing Londoners an anti-pollution campaign of mass civil disobedience that they hoped would result in the arrest and imprisonment of activists. Hallam with Stuart Basden and two others were prosecuted and some pledged to go on hunger strike if imprisoned. Hallam is a co-founder of environmental pressure group

, with

Gail Bradbrook Gail Marie Bradbrook (born 30 April 1972) is a British environmental activist and a co-founder of the environmental social movement Extinction Rebellion. Early life and career Bradbrook was born in 1972 and grew up in South Elmsall in West York ...

and Simon Bramwell. He stood unsuccessfully in the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...

in the London constituency as an independent, winning 924 of the 2,241,681 votes cast (0.04%). Hallam was interviewed by

Stephen Sackur Stephen John Sackur (born 9 January 1964) is an English journalist who presents ''HARDtalk'', a current affairs interview programme on BBC World News and the BBC News Channel. He was also the main Friday presenter of '' GMT'' on BBC World News. ...

on BBC ''

HARDtalk ''HARDtalk'' is a BBC television and radio programme broadcast on the BBC News Channel, on BBC World News, and on the BBC World Service. Broadcast times and days vary, depending on broadcasting platform and geographic location. ''HARDtalk'' i ...

'' on 15August 2019. Video 24:37. (Available on YouTube). Hallam and four other activists were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance on 12 September 2019, the day before a planned action to pilot drones in the exclusion zone around

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

in order to disrupt flights. Three days later, in an action organised by Heathrow Pause, Hallam was arrested in the vicinity of Heathrow Airport apparently in breach of bail conditions from the previous arrest requiring him to not to be within of any airport or possess drone equipment. He was remanded in custody until 14 October. In an interview with ''

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...

'' on 20 November 2019, Hallam said genocides are "like a regular event" in history and called the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

"just another fuckery in human history". This comment was made in the context of a broader discussion on genocides throughout human history, where Hallam compared the Nazi Holocaust to the Congo genocide; as he stated the "fact of the matter is, millions of people have been killed in vicious circumstances on a regular basis throughout history" adding that the Belgians "went to the Congo in the late 19th century and decimated it." Hallam's controversial comparison has drawn support from African activists the Stop the Maangamizi: We Charge Genocide/Ecocide! Campaign, who, while critical of the tone of his language, have lauded his honesty and willingness to highlight crimes committed by colonial powers in Africa. In a self-published pamphlet written in prison, Hallam wrote that the climate crisis would lead to mass rape, and featured a story in which the reader's female family members are gang raped and the reader forced to watch. The pamphlet was condemned by Farah Nazeer, CEO of

Women's Aid Women's Aid Federation of England, commonly called Women's Aid within England, is one of a group of charities across the United Kingdom. There are four main Women's Aid Federations, one for each of the countries of the United Kingdom. Its aim is t ...

. When ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' replied to Hallam that "You can't blame the climate change for the rape of women during war", Hallam's response was "No, climate change is just the tubes that the gas comes down in the gas chamber. It's just a mechanism through which one generation kills the next generation".

Publications

Publications by Hallam

*''Common Sense for the 21st Century: Only Nonviolent Rebellion Can Now Stop Climate Breakdown and Social Collapse.'' Self-published, 2019. .An early draft of the book is availabl
here
within Hallam's site.

Publications with contributions by Hallam

Notes

References

External links

*
Roger Hallam
on ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hallam, Roger British environmentalists Climate activists Living people 1966 births Independent British political candidates Extinction Rebellion Organic farmers 21st-century British politicians People from Llandeilo Alumni of King's College London British political party founders