EXTINCTION Rebellion (XR) activists installed an artwork on Brighton Beach yesterday to highlight the increasing numbers of climate refugees.

The work features a row of bird-shaped life jackets strung together as though they were emanating from the sea.

Artist and XR activist Flick Ferdinando told the Star that the birds selected are “specifically swallows because they’re symbolic of freedom.” 

He said: “They’ve been used as a symbol of home by seamen for centuries. Prisoners use them as a symbol of freedom too.

“There’s going to be an exponential increase in the numbers of displaced people due to climate change.

“But presently the term ‘climate refugee’ can’t be used under international law.  

“There’s already millions of people on the move — more people than ever in history are having to move because they’re being affected by climate disasters. 

“Sea levels are rising and droughts are happening. So this [installation] is here to draw people’s attention to that.”

XR’s presence in the city this week is centred on Brighton’s Old Steine, where activists have invited Labour Party MPs and delegates to discuss the seriousness of the climate emergency.

“Part of the reason for using this space is to take advantage of the massive Labour conference, one of Europe’s biggest political events,” Brighton XR’s Luke Flegg told the Star.

“We want to make sure that the ecological collapse that we’ve already entered, the mass extinction that is happening now, gets the attention that it needs to have at such a key political event like this.”