To risk arrest for protesting about the climate emergency?

[medicellen]

I have recently taken part in climate protests with Extinction Rebellion but have stopped short of activities that would lead to an arrest.

I am a scientist and it has been beyond doubt for some years that the climate emergency is accelerating.

And yet, global carbon emissions continue to increase. Our government is granting new licences for fossil fuels, whilst oil companies rake in massive profits. This is utter madness (aka "collective suicide" according to the lead of the UN).

I have an 8-year old son who says one day he might like to have children. I have avoided saying that this may be either not possible or not desirable due to the state of the climate by then.

Petitions, campaigning, pleas, marches have failed. In my mind, the only option left is civil disobedience. Mass arrests advanced the causes of suffrage and civil rights and I am now contemplating arrest as the only meaningful contribution I have left.

@Kendodd what more do you expect me to do?

I drive as little as possible. I have to drive - I am disabled and there is no public transport as I live rurally.

When I have to travel for work I only fly when I have to and use public transport when it is available.

I am not changing my car because it still works and has nothing wrong with it.

I need to heat my home (see above re disabilities) and I can't afford solar panels or a heat pump. I only heat either myself or the room I'm in so I try to limit my use.

I don't replace electronics until they die and I eat local food as much as possible.

I can't afford to shop in local markets and I couldn't manage going round a market anyway.

What more am I expected to do?

The rate of change would alter. There'd be a lag before things stopped changing for the worse. The important thing is to slow the rate of change and try to avoid the major tipping points that are very likely irreversible:

• Collapse of Greenland ice sheet
• Collapse of the Western Antarctic ice sheet
• Failure of the arctic tundra permafrost and methane release

I agree with your sentiments OP. I know someone who was just peaceful protesting for the Just Stop Oil campaign and was still arrested for a month, so it's something to be aware of. I think the majority of the people part of these protests are in more beneficial situations, they're young and don't have children yet or they are from a middle or upper class background and don't need to worry about losing a job, they are older and have less to lose. Maybe get in contact with organisers of protests and see if there are other ways you can contribute without protesting.

Well said. I'm tired of seeing the same old excuses over and over on here when it's clear that people are just unwilling to make changes or take action themselves.

You do what you want, if you want to set that kind of example for your child go for it.

these protesters are achieving nothing except causing delays and wasting police time.

@medicellen as much as I admire your commitment, please think carefully about the long-term implications for you, your child and family before taking this route - I'm sure you have already considered many factors, but a criminal record has long-ranging implications that can go unseen for years and decades.
In my opinion, protest actions that do not work include;
*vandalism/criminal damage. The nation was outraged at the desecration ofCaptain Tom's memorial, bemused at the attempted destruction of priceless artwork and angered at attempts to disrupt supermarkets by throwing product around. Damage and destruction divides rather than Unites.
*Road blockades - it's impossible to know the implications for those stuck in the queues these cause and where is the line drawn, and by who, for what passes or doesn't? Is my need to get to a vet with a sick animal less than the need of someone going to an outpatients appointment? What about visiting the elderly in a care home? Or hospital? There are too numerous a series of options to be sure that you're not turning people off in their droves.
*Misinformation campaigns. From farming stock, the fastest way to have me turn over is to peddle "factory farming" or antibiotic conspiracies because I know first hand they are not based in truth at least here in the UK.

What I would suggest;
*Network education and supply programmes - from our youngest nursery child to our elderly care facilities we should be buying local and seasonal. My son's school has nine farms within a three mile radius who could supply them with all the food they could eat. Instead, it is from mass market suppliers. That means as well as the additional food miles, it is a frozen and reheated meal rather than freshly cooked and nutritious. Our dinner ladies would love to cook fresh. Same for prisons, hospitals etc...
*Buy in from big business. I still drive a 4x4 diesel. I would, in a heartbeat, switch to an electric or hybrid IF the 4x4 manufacturer of my choice made them with capability to do the farming work. Sadly, at the moment the models they do make don't have towing not reliability credibility.
*Improved recycling facilities. Our green bin was recently adorned with a sticker letting us know all the items we can't recycle, despite the packaging clearly saying that it can be.
*Sustainability shopping. One of our supermarkets has trialled a sustainability store. Taking my containers, I can get refills of all the major items in my weekly shop without adding to the plastics pile.

In short, the people who see and care about your public protests don't necessarily disagree with you; they simply can't afford financially or practically to implement what you suggest. The change has got to come from the top down and frankly I think a mass Lady Godiva style protest wouldn't be enough to melt the stone hearts of big business and government.

@londongals - I agree that people dont want to change their lifestyles. But it is that or oblivion. XR advocate for citizens assemblies to determine how the changes can be most fairly distributed across society

Given that most emissions are not in village halls with wealthy communities around them we do need government , the rich 1% and business to step up

I'd rather pay more taxes to ensure that poor homes get insulated than paying for a few peoples homes myself

Because there are too many people who won't put their money to such use , and I don't have enough for the millions of uk homes that need insulation

@midgetastic - that information is already in the public domain. No political party is prepared to bring in major change as it will too unpopular. The decision needs to be devolved to a citizens assembly

It's not just arrest you'll risk OP, I am amazed none of the protesters have been run over yet.

You are targeting the wrong people OP and doing more harm then good, while putting yourself at risk of harm.

There is certainly a lot of people who don't understand - "I'm not going back to th stone ages " suggests people
Don't understand

Anyways
Work to do

@LemonTT - the action I am suggesting is non-violent civil disobedience. This is the same approach advocated by MLK, which also involved roads blocks and the breaking of the law

Interestingly, it was the protestors that caused our family to lose a days wage yesterday, not a flood. It's very easy to dismiss people being late to work when you have a job you can do from your sofa. How privileged you are to have that luxury. Some if us have to drive to work in order to be able to feed our children.

@ShallowHalWantsAGal - all of the suggestions you make have been tried and have failed. Why do you think I would get anything out of this personally? Id much rather ignore it all and pretend its not happening

@PaniniHead - it is a sample that is not conclusive but it is enough to refute the "everyone hates you" trope

Civil disobedience has also failed. Why are you wedded to it?

@anonymous123a you speak an awful lot of sense.

OP - you're not being unreasonable. Your choice but I would want to think about the implications for my son if that were me.

People just don't want to change their lifestyles. People fanny about making schools "eco school" and picking up the odd bit of litter. If they limited their flying to once in a blue moon instead of the twice annual holidays a lot od them make there would be a far greater impact.

Look at the number of people saying on another thread they won't let electric prices stop them putting up their Xmas lights.

The minute you start deliberately getting yourself arrested, you lose your credibility as a scientist and become 'just another nut job.'

I live in London and if you ask anyone I know who XR are, they'll roll their eyes and tell you 'the [insert swear word here] people who glued themselves to the DLR.'

No one is talking about climate change. They're talking about the disruption to their lives. Annoying people is not a good way to educate them... They don't remember any of your facts or figures about your cause, just how you screwed up their day.

Go and protest in China or India then see how you get on there.

As I understand it, the UN was already using that language. The government followed the UN, since it's part of it already and will have been involved in the discussions about changing the language around climate change.

I appreciate the role that social movements play in various issues but the agenda has been very much set by the UN when it comes to climate response from governments, partly because it's such a fraught, global and complex issue, and because it needs a united response.

NGOs feed into this via the official channels, but the reality is that the protest tends to accompany events once the deals are done and the speeches written. It's important for keeping it on the political agenda, raising awareness and showing/encouraging public support - that's why it needs a rethink when it's not doing this

I would admire your bravery, but a lot of people will just say it's not a constructive way to make a point but without saying what would actually work. So I'm not sure your personal sacrifice would be worth it. Personally I think legislation is the only way but it will never happen in a democratic society as it would be electoral suicide. I would be happy to accept one outward and one return flight per person per year (for example) but I think a lot of people wouldn't.

"If you really care about the war in Ukraine, why don't you go and fight the Russian army?"

"If you really care about sweatshops, why don't you go and liberate child slaves in Bangladesh?"

"If you really care about XYZ issue, why don't you take XYZ extreme, impractical, dangerous and ultimately pointless action? Seeeeee, this must mean you don't actually care, clever old me."

Really, it's not the mic drop argument you think it is. It's like the people who say 'Oh, you don't like this government? Why don't you move to NORTH KOREA then?" (Maybe you do that too, I don't know.)

Indeed. I've been lucky so far not to get caught up in it, but as someone who works in the community on a self employed basis, if I don't do the work, I don't get paid. Which means I can't pay my bills or feed my children. Hopefully those who think it's ok to block other people from earning a living will be slapped with huge fines and sent to prison.

@Venetiaparties
Join the Green party - there is no hope that GP will be elected in

Write to your MP and ask for their policies for next year - done that

Decarbonise your own life and make sweeping changes to minimise your own impact - also doing that, but individual lifestyle choice are insufficient

Volunteer for charities that chime with your values - not going to change the climate emergency

Raise green environmentally aware children - doing that

Become an MP yourself and make the changes you wish to see - current political system supports vested interests and is incapable of bringing about changes reuqired

Criminal records wreck lives. How are you going to explain this to an employer? Various colleagues in XR have been arrested with no consequence to employment

As a scientist you can do so much more than piss off the people who agree with you. You need be working towards solutions and leading by example, not glueing yourself to the road and shouting someone should do something. We follow YouTubers, scientists and engineers, real people not corporates, who show us what they have done in their homes or lives to reduce consumption and pollution and in turn their costs. You need to target companies and politicians, shame companies who continue to destroy. Pooring poo over a Captain Tom memorial didn't do you any favours, nor did trying to destroy a Van Gogh, and what was custard pieing King Charles's wax work all about, he's long been a environmental advocate?