Scientist Rebellion Explained

Scientist Rebellion
Type:NGO
Focus:Climate crisis awareness
Remarks:Frontline participation is limited to scientists, scholars, and academics

Scientist Rebellion is an international scientists' environmentalist group that campaigns for degrowth, climate justice, and more effective climate change mitigation.[1]

More specifically, Scientist Rebellion is a network of academics that tries to raise awareness by engaging in non-violent civil disobedience.[2] It is a sister organization to Extinction Rebellion.[3] The group was co-founded by Mike Lynch-White and Dr. Tim Hewlett, who splattered paint on the headquarters of the Royal Society in September 2020, the group's first action.[4]

Front‑line participation is limited to scientists, scholars, and academics.[5] The white lab coats worn provide a simple way of being identified as scientists.[5]

Actions

Scientist Rebellion carried out various protests during the COP26 meeting. On 6November 2021, activists blocked George V Bridge in Glasgow.[6]

In August 2021, the group leaked parts of the pre-final Working Group III contribution, covering climate change mitigation, to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) prior to intergovernmental approval.[7]

In April 2022, Scientist Rebellion blocked roads in Berlin in protest against oil extraction in the North Sea.[8] In late2022, several activists protested at Autostadt Wolfsburg by gluing themselves to the floor at the Porsche exhibit hall, later complaining they were left alone overnight.[9]

In October 2023, DrGianluca Grimalda, a member, made international headlines by refusing to fly via plane from a field research assignment in Papua New Guinea. Instead, he intended to slow travel via container ships and land routes to save of CO2 equivalent. His employer, Kiel Institute, threatened termination of his employment contract should he not arrive rapidly and later did apparently follow through.[10] [11]

During the COP28 meeting in December2023, scientists from Scientist Rebellion signed an open letter calling on the public to become climate activists. Some signatories had contributed to previous IPCC Assessment Reports.[12] [13]

Together with Last Generation, the group co-organized the Starving for honesty climate hunger strike in Berlin in mid-2024.[14]

Debate and impact

Several researchers affiliated with the movement have argued for civil disobedience by colleagues, hypothesizing that such actions may lead to significant net changes in proclimate public opinion due to the "potential to cut through the myriad complexities and confusion" present in much of the current public discourse.[15] Online text-based news media reviewed the commentary.[16] [17]

Climate scientist Peter Kalmus has described his motivations for being arrested in Los Angeles with Scientist Rebellion in2022.[18] And climate scientist Rose Abramoff was arrested for similar reasons in WashingtonDC at much that same time.[19]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Our positions and demands . Scientist Rebellion . 2023-12-09.
  2. Kelly . Orla . Illingworth . Sam . Butera . Fabrizio . Dawson . Vaille . White . Peta . Blaise . Mindy . Martens . Pim . Schuitema . Geertje . Huynen . Maud . Bailey . Susan . Cowman . Sian . Education in a warming world: Trends, opportunities and pitfalls for institutes of higher education . Frontiers in Sustainability . 2022 . 3 . 10.3389/frsus.2022.920375 . 2673-4524. free.
  3. News: Cockburn . Harry . Spain 'arrests protesting climate scientists' amid historic heatwave . 5 July 2022 . The Independent . 16 June 2022 . en.
  4. Web site: Rikki . 2023-02-19 . Acquittal for scientists who painted the Royal Society . 2024-03-02 . Real Media - The View From Below . en-GB.
  5. Web site: FAQ . Scientist Rebellion . 2023-12-12.
  6. Thompson . Tosin . Scientist Rebellion: researchers join protesters at COP26 . Nature . 18 November 2021 . 599 . 7885 . 357 . 10.1038/d41586-021-03430-5. 244110931 . free .
  7. Hartz . Friederike . Leaking the IPCC: A question of responsibility? . WIREs Climate Change . 4 November 2022 . 10.1002/wcc.814 . 253368636 . en . 1757-7780. free.
  8. News: "Scientist Rebellion" fordern Klimarevolution "jetzt!" . "Scientist Rebellion demand climate revolution "now!" . 5 July 2022 . euronews . 6 April 2022 . de.
  9. Web site: Tomescheit . Wiebke . Protestierende Wissenschaftler bei VW klagen auf Twitter: "Keine Eimer, um zu urinieren" . Protesting scientists at VW complain on Twitter: "No buckets to urinate in" . German . 21 October 2022 . STERN.de . 2023-12-08.
  10. Web site: Ronald . Issy . A climate researcher risks losing university post for refusing to fly home . 4 October 2023 . CNN . Atlanta, Georgia, USA . 2023-10-04.
  11. News: Gayle . Damien . Climate expert 'sacked' after refusing flight to Germany over carbon emissions . 12 October 2023 . The Guardian . London, United Kingdom . 0261-3077 . 2023-12-07.
  12. News: Gayle . Damien . More than 1,000 climate scientists urge public to become activists . 4 December 2023 . The Guardian . London, United Kingdom . 0261-3077 . 4 December 2023.
  13. Web site: Scientist Rebellion . How much more climate failure until we act — Open letter . December 2023 . Scientist Rebellion . 8 December 2023. Scroll down for a list of signatories.
  14. Web site: Gopal . Keerti . A German climate activist won't end his hunger strike, even with the risk of death looming . 2 June 2024 . Inside Climate News . New York, USA . 5 June 2024.
  15. Web site: Gardner . Charlie . Cox . Emily . Capstick . Stuart . Extinction Rebellion scientists: why we glued ourselves to a government department . 28 April 2022 . phys.org . 2022-09-12. Opinion piece.
  16. News: Scientists call on colleagues to protest climate crisis with civil disobedience . 18 September 2022 . The Guardian . 29 August 2022 . en.
  17. Capstick . Stuart . Thierry . Aaron . Cox . Emily . Berglund . Oscar . Westlake . Steve . Steinberger . Julia K. . Civil disobedience by scientists helps press for urgent climate action . Nature Climate Change . September 2022 . 12 . 9 . 773–774 . 10.1038/s41558-022-01461-y . 251912378 . en . 1758-6798. subscription.
  18. News: Kalmus . Peter . Climate scientists are desperate: we're crying, begging and getting arrested . 6 April 2022 . The Guardian . London, United Kingdom . 0261-3077 . 2022-04-06.
  19. Web site: Harvey . Chelsea . E&E News . Scientists risk arrest to demand climate action . 11 April 2022 . Scientific American . 2023-12-10.