Scientists are mad as hell and demand their claims of looming climate catastrophe are taken seriously. That’s the message released Sunday by a loosely federated global network of scientists and academics who plan “high levels of disobedience” to highlight what they say is a planet in decay.
Members of Scientist Rebellion told AFP their non-violent actions are timed to coincide with an upcoming report from the U.N.’s climate science advisory panel laying out options for slashing carbon pollution.
Scientist Rebellion will operate in two dozen countries. It targets universities, research institutes and major scientific journals, demanding they speak out at what is described as the “existential threat of global warming.”
The group promises to block streets from April 4th – 9th “on all continents with over 1000 scientists and academics” with associated acts of civil disobedience inspired by the eco-extremist Extinction Rebellion lobby.
“Scientists are particularly powerful messengers, and we have a responsibility to show leadership,” said Charlie Gardner, a conservation scientist at the University of Kent specialised in tropical biodiversity.
“We are failing in that responsibility. If we say it’s an emergency, we have to act like it is.”
Starting Monday, the group hopes to see “high levels of disobedience” with more than 1,000 scientists worldwide taking part in direct non-violent action against government and academic institutions.
Activists attend the Climate Justice March in New York City on November 13, 2021. (KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)
Scientist Rebellion was founded in 2020 by two physics PhD students at St Andrews College in Scotland, inspired in part by the more broadly based Extinction Rebellion, AFP outlined.
The group’s first significant action with more than 100 scientists, in March 2021, targeted the British Royal Society and science publishing behemoth Springer Nature.
“We basically pasted enlarged copies of their journal articles calling for rapid transformative change onto their offices,” said Kyle Topher, an environmental scientist from Australia and full-time activist for the group.
“As scientists, we tend to be risk averse — we don’t want to risk our jobs, our reputations, and our time,” said Rose Abramoff, a soil scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Knoxville, Tennessee and a Scientist Rebellion member.
“But it is no longer sufficient to do our research and expect others to read it and understand the severity and urgency of the climate crisis.”
The aim of the group is to “make this crisis impossible to ignore”, she added.
AFP contributed to this story