A GROUNDBREAKING alliance of unions and campaigners have announced their commitment to stand with Extinction Rebellion as the climate group is set to take mass action next month.

Thousands are expected to descend on Parliament between April 21 and 24 for The Big One, a weekend of protest against the government’s ongoing failure to tackle the climate emergency.

PCS union, NEU Climate Change Network, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Global Justice Now and Black Lives Matter (BLM) are among groups that have joined the alliance.

John Moloney, PCS assistant general secretary, said: “PCS members taking strike action understand the need to co-ordinate across our movements to win our demands for better pay and to safeguard jobs. 

“The climate and nature emergency requires the same to win the future we desperately need in the face of multiple crises — this is why we are supporting XR’s action.”

The announcement falls on the day the latest UN intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC) report is published, warning that drastic action is needed to meet its target of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5°C.