MEMBERS of Extinction Rebellion Wimborne braved the cold to read aloud testimonies from people experiencing climate breakdown around the world.

The group was on the footbridge over the River Allen, near Wimborne Library, to mark COP30 by reading the accounts.

“Our placards said it plainly: Those who did the least suffer the most,” said XR member, Shirley Belwood.

“As COP30 sidelines frontline communities, we refuse to let their truths go unheard.”

Testimonies read at the event included words from Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez, Panama’s Special Representative for Climate Change, who warned global emissions have more than doubled in the past 33 years and called for an unambiguous global phase-out of fossil fuels.

READ MORE: Environment news from your New Stour & Avon

He criticised the payment of subsidies to fossil fuels producers, saying: “We are literally paying criminals to kill us.”

The group also read the words of Kaddijatou Ceesay, a young climate activist from The Gambia, who urged negotiators to recognise the rights of children and youth, reject false solutions and deliver a “full, fast and fair phase-out of fossil fuels”.

She also called for climate finance that prioritises developing nations and for a halt to all armed conflict, saying “there can be no climate justice without human rights”.

XR Wimborne encouraged residents to take action by contacting their MPs, cutting personal emissions, and switching to ethical banks.