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| Why are environmental scientists protesting on the streets? |
A large number of scientists around the world have resorted to direct action to draw attention to the emergency of climate change.
It involves chaining themselves in front of public buildings and blocking roads in what they call a climate emergency protest.
He says that the message of the climate change crisis can no longer be confined to scientific journals, because "the house (earth) is on fire."
But some scientists say they are better off doing more to find scientific solutions to the problem than fueling the threat of a climate crisis through protests.
'Scientist Rebellion', an international network of scientists, has been organizing protests and live demonstrations in several countries for over a year. He says that his number of participants has increased to more than 2000.
'I'm ashamed of climate injustice, not of arrest'
One such scientist is Cornelia Huth, who hails from Germany. An epidemiologist with more than 20 years of experience, she has participated in several climate change protests.
He was arrested last October for blocking a street in Munich and was charged with forcibly stopping cars from moving on the street and obstructing normal traffic.
The court case against her is ongoing, but Cornelia Huth says she is determined to continue her campaign.
He said that 'Science has given solutions to prevent climate change or climate deterioration but our governments are not adopting them and that is why we have to go to the streets.'
The United Nations Climate Change Conference COP 28 is being held in the United Arab Emirates, a major international conference held in Paris in 2015 to review each country's progress towards the agreed climate goals. will review for the first time.
The goal of the agreement is to keep the average increase in global temperature below two degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times while striving to keep it at 1.5 degrees, which scientists say is a safe limit.
To achieve this, the world must reduce carbon emissions by 43% from 2019 levels by 2030.
But the latest UN assessment last year showed that instead of falling, global carbon emissions had increased by 11 percent from 2010 levels.
Cornelia Huth says there are even greater threats to the global south.
"The people who live there have contributed very little to greenhouse gas emissions, but we are at risk here in Germany to a great extent from their effects. I am ashamed of this climate injustice," he said.
Action or publication on behalf of the public?
Some scientists say that people are aware of the climate change crisis and that scientists' protests are not needed to understand the seriousness of the problem.
One of them is Jessica Jewell. He is an Associate Professor at Chalmers University. According to him, protesting can damage the reputation of scientists.
"The role of scientists is to independently assess risks and options, which is particularly important because every climate option, including the one for which nothing is being done, has both winners and losers," he said. are To protect their credibility, scientists should avoid serving certain political actors in this debate.
"The reality is that in the face of an emergency, it's more important for us to use more science to solve it," she says.
Zeke Haasfather, another climate scientist, tweeted last year that "I am used to the stupid and misguided attempts to blame climate scientists for effectively dealing with climate change."
"But for climate scientists to go on strike and stop doing science is not a solution, it's a supernova of stupidity."
A BBC World Service survey of 31 countries in 2021 found that an average of 56 percent of people want their government to set stronger targets to tackle climate change as soon as possible.
Another 36 percent wanted their government to take a more moderate approach and supported gradualism.
'Enough Science'
Scientists who have joined the protest say that a lot of research has been done in the last four decades. He says that solutions have already been shown in six IPCC reports but governments are not implementing them.
Professor Julia Steinberger, who has faced arrest and prosecution for climate protests, was the lead author of one of the IPCC reports published last year.
"When it was published, I responded to media requests in a few days, which resulted in 42 media articles," he said.
Six months later, I sat on a Swiss motorway for maybe 20 minutes in a protest, and to this day I still receive requests from the media for that one act.
'So, in terms of the impact on the media, and given the urgency of the climate crisis, my few minutes spent sitting on the motorway on the IPCC report.
They were far more influential than my years of work.
'When scientists come forward, people listen'
Before publishing their investigations and findings, IPCC scientists hold several days of closed-door meetings with policymakers and representatives of governments participating in the UN climate process to agree on the content of the report.
Rose Abramoff, a geologist in the US, believes that despite all the scientific efforts, there has been little policy change by governments, mainly because of the fuel and agribusiness lobbies that still influence the country.
Jordan Andres Cruz, a carbon scientist in Ecuador, agrees.
"Our actions not only put pressure on governments, but they also attract people and help them understand how serious the climate crisis is," says the scientist, who has protested in cities as well as in the remote mountains of the Andes. is serious.'
One of them was part of the Ministry of Environment in the capital Quito last year. He along with other scientists passed scientific research papers related to climate change on the walls and windows of this government institution.
"It was intended to expose the government's double standards: on the one hand, it presents itself as an environmentalist in international forums, while at the same time, it wants to increase oil production in the Amazon region of Ecuador."
"Time is running out to take action on climate change and if scientists (who have the knowledge) don't warn the public and put pressure on the authorities, I don't know who else can."