A nuisance environmental group is threatening to disrupt sporting events around the globe if governments don’t acknowledge that the world is facing an ecological state of emergency.

Activists from Extinction Rebellion stormed the 18th green during the Travelers Championship on Sunday, demanding awareness and legal action from governments. It was the latest climate change protest this summer.

“Until we are able to have an honest conversation about the state of climate chaos, we are going to continue disrupting the things we love and the things we are at risk of losing,” a spokesman for Extinction Rebellion, Miles Grant, told the Sun. 

Mr. Grant said the group will likely target another sporting event in the near future, but declined to comment any further. 

This means that upcoming sports events with high carbon emissions, such as the Copa America soccer games, will likely see similar demonstrations. 

The frantic demonstration at the PGA Championship occurred less than a week after Just Stop Oil protesters defaced Stonehenge and private jets with orange paint. Both groups said they will continue to protest until governments take action.

Extinction Rebellion demands that “governments everywhere tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with the public, businesses and other institutions to communicate this urgent need for change”

The language was similar to Just Stop Oil’s statement about their own spray painting demonstrations last week, with the British group also promising more demonstrations if their demands are not met by the international community.

Fossil Free London also targeted Bodiam Castle at Sussex as a protest site on Friday, demanding that National Trust stop funding major fossil fuel groups, the Argus reported.

Extinction Rebellion believes that “traditional” advocacy strategies such as petitioning, lobbying, and voting will not bring about change because of special interests, which is why the group engages in “disruptive civil disobedience.”

The group said on X that they disrupted the PGA tour because golf is reliant on good weather, but also because the game incurs high environmental costs, referring to it as an “environmental disaster.”

Protesters charged onto the golf pitch Sunday and waved smoke bombs, which left a red residue on the grass shortly before Scottie Scheffler finished his round.

“This is so much more grave than people recognize. If we don’t act now, we won’t be able to play golf in the future, and that’s the least of it,” one of the demonstrators, Jeff Marsar, said in a statement.

“We aren’t fear-mongering; these things are already happening all around us, every single day. It’s not a matter of prevention; it’s too late for that. We are struggling to reduce the harm and put out the fires,” he added.

However, Ashkay Bhatia said he was “scared for my life. I didn’t really know what was happening… all of a sudden four or five people come out running on the green.”

Officials said in a statement that the culprits were “immediately arrested,” and that the powder left no permanent damage on the 18th green after it was washed off. 

“Our disruptions are far less intrusive than the cancellations and destruction we are seeing as a result of ongoing climate collapse,” Mr. Grant added.

The group said that general awareness and agreement on the issue of climate change is the most important step towards any kind of comprehensive policy advocacy.

“The tangible result we are hoping to see is people accepting and understanding the true scale of this emergency, and the extent to which it has already started happening,” Mr. Grant said.