The science is clear - why are we ignoring it?
The “Climate Inaction Warming Stripes“
You have come across this page because you scanned the QR code on a sign hanging by a blindfolded or gagged statue. The text on the blindfold reads “IPCC” and refers to reports on climate change put together by hundreds of scientists around the world in order for political actors to make informed decisions and act according to scientific facts pertaining to climate change and its consequences.
You can consult the IPCC reports at: https://www.ipcc.ch/reports/
The IPCC reports have been released regularly over the past decade, but policy-makers have never seriously followed-up on the scientific reality and on the transformative scenarios proposed in the reports. Neither the media nor the civil society have reacted strongly enough to trigger the change that is needed. While we as Europeans view ourselves as reasonable, grounded problem solvers, we are in fact ignoring the extent of the problem, and not acting on it the way we should – and it is becoming bigger, and growing more destructive, as we keep ignoring it!
Why are we doing this?
Statues erected in the public space express recognition of a political, economical, artistic influence on our society. They represent people who symbolize a form of power. By blindfolding them, we want to denounce how influential personae keep ignoring the reality of the climate and biodiversity crises as well as the transformative solutions proposed in the IPCC reports. Some statues are also gagged, showing how those raising the alarm have been silenced and dismissed for decades.
Criminalization
In Europe, pro-environment organizations who demand that politicians acknowledge and act upon scientific knowledge are increasingly oppressed and criminalized by the State.
In the past years, they have experienced rising levels of police violence during acts of non-violent civil disobedience. In Germany, attempts at a systematic criminalization of climate justice groups are becoming more and more frequent. Four members of “Letzte Generation” are officially accused to have formed a criminal union subject to German law (§129 StGB). A short compendium by Prof. Dr. Roland Hefendehl why §129 is problematic in such cases can be found here (in German). Another recent case is the classification of “Ende Gelände” as a suspected case of extreme left by the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz. In the UK, Just Stop Oil activists were arrested upon suspicion of planning actions.
Why should you care?
The most effective means of achieving systemic change in modern history is through non-violent civil resistance, as did Gandhi’s Civil disobedience movement in India, or Claudette Colvin & Rosa Parks (and many more) fighting against segregation in the United States.
We call on academics, scientists, and the public to join us in civil disobedience to demand emergency decarbonisation and degrowth, facilitated by wealth redistribution.
Who are we?
We are Scientist Rebellion: Academics active in the scientific community in Germany and beyond, who step up for climate justice using non-violent civil disobedience.
See our start page.