Extinction Rebellion

Who are today’s climate activists? Dispelling 3 big myths for Earth Month

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, April 3, 2024

It’s easy to get caught up in the myths about climate activism, particularly in today’s polarized political environment.

Key Points:

It’s easy to get caught up in the myths about climate activism, particularly in today’s polarized political environment.
So, let’s take a moment to explore the truth about three of the big myths being told about climate activism and the climate movement today.

Myth 1: Climate activists are just young people

The media tends to focus most of its attention on young people in the climate movement, including those inspired by Greta Thunberg’s school strikes for climate, the international Fridays for Future, or the Sunrise Movement, which focuses on U.S. climate action.
As my research has found, these more mature activists cut their teeth in the civil rights and anti-war movements, along with earlier waves of the environmental movement.

Over the past 25 years, I have surveyed numerous waves of activists participating in demonstrations and protests to understand who they are and what motivates them to participate in activism.
My new book, “Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action,” brings these findings together to understand how the climate movement has evolved along with the climate crisis.

Myth 2: Climate activists mostly do things like throw soup and disrupt events

While the activists engaging in civil disobedience, such as throwing soup on famous paintings or disrupting sports events, get the lion’s share of the media attention, the climate movement includes a wide spectrum of environmentally concerned activists using a broad range of tactics. Activists are actively working to get climate-concerned candidates elected, pressure corporations to cut their emissions, encourage schools and municipalities to transition to electric buses, and make front-line communities more resilient to climate shocks, among many other efforts to slow climate change.

Many activists are involved with established organizations, such as 350.org, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
Their numbers – EDF alone claims 3 million supporters – and financial strength can give them a powerful voice.

Myth 3: Confrontational climate activism doesn’t work

These confrontational actions are not generally popular, but neither were the radical tactics of earlier social movements.
Nonviolent civil disobedience in the climate movement also plays an important role in keeping climate change in the media and on people’s minds.
In fact, there is reason to believe that confrontational acts can help mobilize sympathizers to support more moderate efforts of the climate movement.
But that isn’t stopping climate activists, who, like the rest of the world, are experiencing climate change and feel a responsibility to speak out.

Dana R. Fisher receives funding from the MacArthur Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. She is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

‘Banksy - Restored and Reclaimed’ Exhibition Opens at Meuse Gallery Aspen

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Meuse Gallery Aspen is thrilled to announce the opening of a unique exhibition featuring reclaimed and restored works by the elusive street artist Banksy.

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Meuse Gallery Aspen is thrilled to announce the opening of a unique exhibition featuring reclaimed and restored works by the elusive street artist Banksy.
The restored wall is now on display at "Banksy - Restored Reclaimed" at Meuse Gallery, 601 E Hyman Avenue, CO 81611, through March 31st.
Location: Meuse Gallery Aspen, 601 E Hyman Avenue #201, Aspen, CO 81611
After its debut, Banksy - Restored and Reclaimed will go on tour to Meuse Gallery’s other locations in Saint Helena, CA and Carmel, CA.
Transforming ephemeral spray can moments into enduring works that will be preserved for future generations," said Simon Bull, artist and owner of Meuse Gallery Aspen.

European farmers are angry: addressing root causes would overcome polarisation

Retrieved on:

Monday, February 12, 2024

On Wednesday February 1, I stood side-by-side with the farmers who had taken over Place Luxembourg and the streets adjacent to the European Parliament in Brussels. On my way, long lines of tractors with Belgian, French and Dutch plates could be seen almost a kilometre away from the square. As I drew closer to the scene, the sound of their horns and the smell of burned tires saturated my ears and nose. Farmers’ multiple voicesHowever, once I entered the square the idea that I was participating to such an event became much more nuanced and complex.

Key Points:

On Wednesday February 1, I stood side-by-side with the farmers who had taken over Place Luxembourg and the streets adjacent to the European Parliament in Brussels. On my way, long lines of tractors with Belgian, French and Dutch plates could be seen almost a kilometre away from the square. As I drew closer to the scene, the sound of their horns and the smell of burned tires saturated my ears and nose.

Farmers’ multiple voices

However, once I entered the square the idea that I was participating to such an event became much more nuanced and complex.
Green and yellow banners of left-wing unions and groups, along with Belgian and Flemish flags crying out their nationalist aspirations.

Close to the entrance, a banner cloaking the statue of English-born industrialist John Cockerill called on farmers to “Say no to despotism” and organize against environmental measures.
From the stage, speakers urged the public and policy-makers to address retailers’ power, market concentration, cheap prices and exploited labour.

Far from a mere matter of urban landscape, understanding the complexity of the struggles that day matters for politics. If we truly want to learn from what is happening and elaborate policy responses, it is essential we acknowledge that there was not one uniform square but rather diverging visions for the future likely stemming from the same structural weaknesses.

Farmers’ doppelgangers?

Although incompatible, both responses arose from a common sense of isolation, dissatisfaction, frustration, and realisation that society – and its economy – had failed many of us.
Rather than confronting and identifying the common origin of our condition, we fight.
In Place Luxembourg, I believed I could trace back the common origin of farmers’ grievances to one slogan above all: “Free Farmers!

‘Free Farmers! Stop Free Trade!’

Hence the renaming of the Mercosur trade agreement: “cars for cow” deal.
In agriculture, untrammelled free trade and the obsession with competitiveness have led to lower income, market concentration, dependency on powerful buyers, exploitation of nature, animals and labor, and land abandonment.

Tangible policies to overcome polarisation

If we want to overcome the current polarisation, it is key that we adopt policies that address the root causes of the problem.
From 2020 to 2023, I led a research-action project FASS-Food EU , which brought together farmers, consumers, workers, environmental organizations and EU policy makers to unpack and improve the EU’s agri-food system.
The aim was to collectively reflect on the regulatory and policy obstacles prevented the bloc from enjoying food chains that are Fair, Accessible, Sustainable and Short (FASS-Food).

Revising the 2019 Unfair Trading Practices Directive could give the EU and Member States the possibility of sanctioning large commercial players that purchase food at a price that does not guarantee living wage of farmers and workers.
Via competition law, EU and national authorities can break up the trade and distribution oligopolies, while trade law can also be deployed to rethink existing trade agreements and the impact of global competitiveness on food systems both in Europe and among trading partners.
Governments initiatives can help citizens to better feed themselves. Belgium’s Sécurité sociale de l'alimentation is one such example: drawing from fiscal revenues, public administrations issue food vouchers for citizens, which can be used to purchase food that respects social and environmental standards.
Whichever solutions we opt for, we will not find them in more of the same market dynamics or in another round of technological fixes. A vast toolbox exists, but unlocking it requires that we accept that food is not just like any another global commodity, with farmers’ protests just the tip of the iceberg.
Tomaso Ferrando ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

From throwing soup to suing governments, there’s strategy to climate activism’s seeming chaos − here’s where it’s headed next

Retrieved on:

Monday, February 5, 2024

Climate activism has been on a wild ride lately, from the shock tactics of young activists throwing soup on famous paintings to a surge in climate lawsuits by savvy plaintiffs.

Key Points:

Climate activism has been on a wild ride lately, from the shock tactics of young activists throwing soup on famous paintings to a surge in climate lawsuits by savvy plaintiffs.
While some people consider disruptive “antics” like attacking museum artwork with food to be confusing and alienating for the public, research into social movements shows there is a method to the seeming madness.

I study the role of disruptive politics and social movements in global climate policy and have chronicled the ebb, flow and dynamism of climate activism over time.
In meetings with global activists in recent weeks, my colleagues and I have noticed a shifting emphasis to local climate battles – in the streets, political arenas and courtrooms.

When global institutions fail the public

Activist groups have long relied on a strategy known as the boomerang effect – using international networks and global institutions such as the United Nations’ climate talks to influence national governments’ policy choices.
The growing influence of the fossil fuel industry, whose products are the leading cause of global warming, has left some activists seriously questioning whether the U.N. climate process is still useful.

Some people argue that oil companies have to be part of the solution.
But the conference was overrun by a record number of oil and gas lobbyists more than 2,400 of them.
And it was tainted by allegations that it was being used to further, rather than halt, fossil fuel development.

Climate activists go local

In response to the weakness of global climate negotiations and failing climate policy, my colleagues and I are seeing signs of activists turning more to their local roots.
Notably, we are seeing a ramp-up in sophisticated legal battles over climate change.

In 2023, a judge in Montana recognized the state’s constitutional duty to protect residents from climate change. In another case, a court in The Netherlands in 2021 set a precedent by ordering the oil company Shell to reduce its emissions by 45% by 2030 in official compliance with the international Paris climate agreement.

How radical spectacles create space for progress

When radical activism takes place at the same time as formal institutional challenges, studies show the combination can help increase support for more moderate activism.
Researchers call this the “radical flank effect.” It was effective for both the civil rights and feminist movements, and it is evident in other political movements in the U.S. today.
When people are exposed to radical forms of environmental protest, they become aware of the problems.
Days later, the U.K. Parliament declared a climate emergency – the first country to do so.

President Joe Biden made climate change a focus of his first campaign, but activists aren’t getting anywhere close to everything they want and have made Biden a recent target of climate protests and even hecklers.
While court decisions rarely produce radical societal change, they are frequently followed by legislative changes that meet more moderate demands.

The real aim

Criticism of extreme activism often misses a crucial point: The public’s reaction isn’t necessarily the activists’ end goal.
Often, their ultimate aim is to influence government and business decision-makers.
When looking at climate activism, pundits should be cautioned in their criticism of what they see as a “disjointed movement.” The perceived madness is indeed method.

Shannon Gibson is affiliated with the Gibson Climate Justice Lab and Global Justice Ecology Project.

Shortlist announced for the 2023 ALCS Educational Writers' Award

Retrieved on:

Thursday, January 11, 2024

LONDON, Jan. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS) and the Society of Authors (SoA) are delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2023 ALCS Educational Writers' Award, the UK's only award for educational writing that inspires creativity, encourages students to read widely and builds up their understanding of a subject beyond the requirements of exam specifications.

Key Points:

LONDON, Jan. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS) and the Society of Authors (SoA) are delighted to announce the shortlist for the 2023 ALCS Educational Writers' Award, the UK's only award for educational writing that inspires creativity, encourages students to read widely and builds up their understanding of a subject beyond the requirements of exam specifications.
The books on the shortlist stood out as being original and beautiful and mind expanding - books I want to introduce to friends and family and even perfect strangers.
The winner of the 2023 ALCS Educational Writers' Award will be announced at a reception at Goldsmiths' Centre in London on 22 February 2024.
In all, the Society of Authors administers twenty-one prizes, including the ALCS Educational Writers' Award and the Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award.

Just Stop Oil attack the Rokeby Venus: how the group is using the suffragettes' disruptive tactics to shape public opinion

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Two Just Stop Oil protesters have smashed the glass on the Rokeby Venus by Diego Velázquez at the National Gallery in London.

Key Points:

Two Just Stop Oil protesters have smashed the glass on the Rokeby Venus by Diego Velázquez at the National Gallery in London.
This, you might be surprised to hear, is not the first time this painting has been the target of activists.
In March 1914, a suffragette named Mary Richardson entered the National Gallery with a butcher’s knife secreted in her sleeve.
It’s not the first time Just Stop Oil has taken a tactic from the suffragette playbook.

Distancing themselves

On a march in London, Just Stop Oil protesters questioned “would the suffragettes have marched on the pavement?” when asked to move.
Extinction Rebellion activists, outside of a court where seven women were held for causing damage to Barclays Headquarters, wore suffragette outfits.
However, both Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil have made distinctions between their actions and the suffragettes’.
Nevertheless, Just Stop Oil’s use of confetti and jigsaws pales in comparison to the suffragettes’ use of firelighters and paraffin.

Justification through history

Pankhurst contrasted the actions of other contemporary figures throughout her speeches and her autobiography.
Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil has followed in her footsteps, ironically adopting a suffragette tactic while distancing itself from the movement.
Pankhurst contrasted how previous violent movements conducted by men had been rewarded in comparison to the suffragettes who were arrested.

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Louise Coyne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

The Conservatives have seized on cars as a political wedge – it's a bet on public turning against climate action

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

This is not the first time politicians have used cars to sell themselves to voters.

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This is not the first time politicians have used cars to sell themselves to voters.
The cultural and economic importance of cars may have waned, but they remain important enough for politicians to use for electoral gain.
And it reveals a new tactic from the political right to maintain relevance as the climate crisis unfolds.

What’s changed since 1997?

In the lead-up to 2023, there has similarly been a lot of direct action by protesters against cars.
Then, as now, a Conservative government lurching from crisis to crisis has sought popular issues to revive its fortunes.
In 1997, the Tories were embroiled in a series of corruption scandals and nurturing an internal war over the EU.

Because of these changes, Sunak’s championing of motorists today works differently to the Mondeo man appeal in 1997. Then, both major parties agreed on the social and economic value of the car and sought to sideline and undermine the road protest campaigns. Both shored up this pro-car ideology and competed over who could best serve it.

Two pro-car parties

In practice, there remains little difference between the two parties on the question of cars.
Both assume that society will continue to be dominated by cars, but both have introduced enough (modest) policies to limit car use and promote alternatives.
To actively promote cars now requires a clearer affirmation and creates the possibility of using it as a wedge issue to attack the opposition with.
This rhetoric also borrows from populists undermining climate policy more generally, because the political logic of promoting cars is now one of backlash which claims “the people” have lost out from the various anti-car initiatives of both parties.

The 'Gulf Stream' will not collapse in 2025: What the alarmist headlines got wrong

Retrieved on:

Friday, August 4, 2023

“Be very worried: Gulf Stream collapse could spark global chaos by 2025” announced the New York Post.

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“Be very worried: Gulf Stream collapse could spark global chaos by 2025” announced the New York Post.
This latest alarmist rhetoric provides a textbook example of how not to communicate climate science.
These headlines do nothing to raise public awareness, let alone influence public policy to support climate solutions.

We see the world we describe

It is well known that climate anxiety is fuelled by media messaging about the looming climate crisis.
This is causing many to simply shut down and give up — believing we are all doomed and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
This is also not the first time such headlines have emerged.

The currents are not collapsing (anytime soon)

The latest series of alarmist headlines may not have fixated on an impending ice age, but they still suggest the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation could collapse by 2025.
This is an outrageous claim at best and a completely irresponsible pronouncement at worst.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been assessing the likelihood of a cessation of deep-water formation in the North Atlantic for decades.
Other assessments, including the National Academy of Sciences Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises, published in 2013, also reached similar conclusions.

Understanding climate optimism

Ritchie persuasively argued that more people located in the green “optimistic and changeable” box are what is needed to advance climate solutions.
More importantly, rather than instilling a sense of optimism that global warming is a solvable problem, the extreme behaviour (fear mongering or civil disobedience) of the “pessimistic changeable” group (such as many within the Extinction Rebellion movement), often does nothing more than drive the public towards the “pessimistic not changeable” group.

A responsibility to communicate, responsibly

This is only amplified in situations where scientists make statements where creative licence is taken with speculative possibilities.
Climate scientists have agency in the advancement of climate solutions, and with that agency comes a responsibility to avoid sensationalism.

How to change our collective mindset to tackle ecological crisis?

Retrieved on:

Monday, May 15, 2023

The context for this statement is an account of a 2019 incident staged by Extinction Rebellion protesters in a London tube station.

Key Points:

The context for this statement is an account of a 2019 incident staged by Extinction Rebellion protesters in a London tube station.
Frustrated commuters pelted them with sandwiches and drink bottles, then dragged them to the ground and laid into them until the police arrived.
For Göpel, it was a definitive clash of human objectives: one side wanted to save the planet, the other wanted to get to the office.
This she presents as a classic example of delusory thinking, based on failure to understand the complex interconnections of the natural world.
“If we follow the theory too slavishly,” she writes, “the eventual result will be the production of a new reality.”

‘Business as usual’

And she enforces her argument with compelling narratives.
Prominent on the agenda were the worsening consequences of globalised trade in agriculture.
But then came the new deregulations, and a massive supply of cheap beef from Australia.
On this modelling, Gates in a single year used the equivalent of 38 times the lifetime budget for the average world citizen.

Preaching to the converted

Clearly this is a devastating failure of human intelligence, but how can that be turned around?
A useful instrument, Göpel suggests, is the “veil of ignorance” thought experiment proposed by philosopher John Rawls in the early 1970s.
It’s a more sophisticated version of the “cake trick” played with children: one cuts, the other chooses which half to take.
Preaching to the converted can produce the illusion of cutting through, but it seems unlikely that this publication will do anything more.

Coronation arrests: how the new public order law disrupted protesters' once in a lifetime opportunity

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

It was also a once in a lifetime event for the 64 mostly republican protesters who were arrested on coronation day.

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It was also a once in a lifetime event for the 64 mostly republican protesters who were arrested on coronation day.
The police expressed regret not explicitly for arresting them, but that they were “unable to join the wider group of protesters” elsewhere.
No equipment is needed, though in the case of the coronation, the police claimed that luggage straps could be used.
Public nuisance was recently codified (from the common law) in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.

The right to protest

In UK domestic law, the right to protest is guaranteed in the Human Rights Act 1998, which protects the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.
An important legal principle when considering how, when and where people should be able to protest is that limited forms of disruptive protest are still protected by law.
The court held that an intentionally disruptive protest could constitute a “reasonable excuse” in law, and thus be protected – disruption does not mean protesters automatically lose their rights.

Chilling effects

Many senior retired officers, now free to speak out, were very concerned at the direction of travel in the new public order law.
There are also real concerns about police use of social media to spread (intentionally or not) mixed messages about their powers and the law.
But as David Byrne goes on to remind us, “same as it ever was” – in music, as in policing.