Tag: Climate Action

1,500+ Scientists slam punishment of colleagues for peaceful climate action

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Tommaso.sansone91, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Tommaso.sansone91, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

“Climate scientists are citizens and humans too. As citizens, we have our own views of the world and we engage in the public debate in the ways we see fit. As humans, we have the inalienable right to express our opinions in a peaceful manner.”

By Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams

More than 1,500 scientists on Thursday released a letter declaring that they are “appalled by the recent retaliation against colleagues who dared to exercise their civil and human rights” with a peaceful protest at a December conference in Chicago.

Published by news outlets around the world in English, French, and Portuguese, the letter comes after Rose Abramoff and Peter Kalmus unfurled a banner that read “Out of the lab & into the streets” just before an art and science plenary talk at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

“As scientists, we make detailed observations and carefully design experiments and models to understand the causes, processes, and implications of climate change” the letter states. “We stick to facts and do our best to inform policymakers and fellow citizens, and train students in rigorous scientific methods.”

“Importantly, climate scientists are citizens and humans too,” the letter adds. “As citizens, we have our own views of the world and we engage in the public debate in the ways we see fit. As humans, we have the inalienable right to express our opinions in a peaceful manner.”

Citing scientific conclusions about the causes of the climate emergency and the urgent need to address them, the letter stresses that “more than ever, we need to engage actively as citizens-who-are-scientists in working for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions and the swift transition to a low-carbon future.”

The AGU—which has over 60,000 members and 23 peer-reviewed journals— describes the annual conference as “the most influential event in the world dedicated to the advancement of Earth and space sciences.” The organization launched a probe into the protest.

While Kalmus still works at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, fired Abramoff over the demonstration, which she wrote about in a New York Times opinion piece earlier this month.

Abramoff and Kalmus—who have both been arrested for previous climate-related civil disobedience—disrupted the AGU event for less than 30 seconds. Someone swiftly ripped the banner from the scientists’ hands and AGU staff escorted them from the stage. Kalmus tweeted that “the AGU took our badges and kicked us out of the meeting.”

HEATED reported Friday that the day before the protest, during a grief circle at the conference that was asked to disperse to clear a hallway, “Abramoff said she gave her phone number to one of the AGU officials. HEATED independently identified this official as the senior vice president of meetings, Lauren Parr.”

The report added that “after being expelled from the conference, Abramoff said she received a phone call from Parr (Abramoff did not name Parr in the conversation with HEATED), in which Parr threatened arrest if the two returned; said their research would be removed from the conference; and that AGU would contact their work institutions.”

Parr declined to comment while an AGU spokesperson declined to confirm those details and “also attempted to prevent HEATED from naming Parr, claiming she had been receiving significant harassment and death threats,” according to the outlet.

The new letter—signed by members of the Earth system science community from dozens of countries, including several authors of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports—charges that “the response with which they were met was by far disproportionate,” calling out both “the AGU’s actions against them and the recent retaliation that followed.”

The letter continues:

We argue that the cost of silence in the face of such unfair and disproportionate treatment, for the scientific community and the planet, would be too high. The heavy-handed and unjust responses to a short banner unfurling not only threatens the careers of two scientists, it also discourages researchers—and especially early-career scientists—from engaging with their colleagues and society and to speak out about the urgent need for climate action. We are deeply concerned by a decision that tells scientists that they risk their careers if they dare speak out or engage in advocacy that is not formally approved. Employers should not punish scientific researchers for participating in nonviolent climate action. Academia and membership organizations like AGU should be safe spaces for freedom of expression.

We stand by our fellow climate scientists who express frustration with the lack of meaningful climate action within the scientific community and the public, who bring attention to the urgency of the moment in a nonviolent manner. We stand by Rose and Peter.

Scientists and others from across the globe have publicly shared similar sentiments since mid-December.

Erika Spanger-Siegfried, director of strategic climate analytics in the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Climate and Energy program, warned last week that “in the absence of a clear endorsement of the objective (not the means) of Abramoff and Kalmus’ actions, AGU’s response, coupled with Abramoff’s firing, may be seen by the scientific community as a strong, disapproving, and chilling signal to scientists to step back from climate activism—just when the world needs them to show up in new, courageous ways.”

An open letter addressed directly to the AGU—so far signed by over 2,000 people—says that “we as scientists cannot and must not tolerate this censorship and chilling lack of support from our scientific society and therefore urge AGU to: i) reinstate the scientific contributions of Rose Abramoff and Peter Kalmus to the program; ii) officially rescind any communications AGU may have had regarding this incident with Rose Abramoff and Peter Kalmus’ former or home institutions until after the AGU professional misconduct investigation has concluded; and iii) immediately close the professional misconduct investigation.”

In response to AGU CEO Randy Fiser’s January 11 statement about the demonstration and subsequent investigation, Aaron Thierry tweeted that such protest “is both necessary and justified,” and pointed to an August paper he published in the journal Nature Climate Change with four other climate scientists and a political scientist who focuses on civil disobedience and social movements.

According to Thierry, rather than sanctioning and investigating Abramoff and Kalmus, the AGU “should be backing them in their efforts!”

This post has been updated with HEATED’s additions clarifying that the news outlet independently identified Lauren Parr and Rose Abramoff did not name the AGU official.

This is how Japanese youth view climate change today

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Photo by Satoshi Hirayama

By Naoko Kutty, World Economic Forum

  • Pressure to act on the climate crisis is building among Japanese youth.

  • They are beginning to exert influence domestically and at international forums like COP27.

  • Japan’s younger generation must be fully integrated into climate policy-making decisions.

  • Read the blog in Japanese here.

As the world becomes increasingly aware of climate change, there is growing interest in sustainability, especially among the younger generation who will live to face the challenges in the next part of the 21st century. A survey of 6,800 consumers aged 15-69 in Japan about attitudes toward sustainability found that many consumers of all generations are open to paying a premium for sustainable products. What is noteworthy, however, is the flexibility on price. Generation Z have the highest tolerance for paying more, with 20% that would consider paying double – which is 2.5 to 10 times more than other generations.

Japanese about attitudes paying a premium for sustainable products.

Japanese youth mobilizing

Youth activism to demand more concrete action on climate change from the government and business is also gaining momentum. Youth Climate Conference Japan, which provides a forum for young people to talk about the climate crisis, has exchanged views with the government, major political parties, Japan Business Foundation, and has made the voices of young people visible in the form of policy proposals such as the regulation of plastic packaging and compulsory emissions labelling on food by 2025. The fact that the new generation will be the most affected by climate change, yet policy decision-makers are much older, creates a huge gap in society’s ability to address the crisis, according to one of the steering members of Youth Climate Conference Japan.

In addition, Global Climate Action, in which young people from around the world appealed for stronger measures against global warming, was organized around Japan to coincide with the UN General Assembly in September, with about 400 young people participating in demonstrations in the streets. At this protest, the first youth climate one in three years due to the spread of COVID-19, young people expressed their urgent desire to address the climate crisis, saying: “It is now or never to stop climate change” and “We can reshape our future.” One university student who is part of the Fridays For Future‘s movement in Japan, which was inspired to take action by Greta Thunberg’s school strike in Sweden, said she hopes the Japanese government will take more concrete action against its stance of maintaining coal-fired power production.

Next-generation leaders at COP27

With young people around the world speaking out against climate change more than ever before, global youth are taking a seat at COP27 in Egypt for the first time ever. Designed to amplify children and youth voices within global climate policy-making, the COP27 Children and Youth Pavilion in Egypt is positioned front and centre in the Blue Zone and is entirely led by young people.

Japanese high school and university students also participated in COP27. Suzuka Nakamura and Daiki Yamamoto, who have also been involved in Fridays For Future, are making a film at the conference, saying: “We now want to not only appeal, but also listen to people from various standpoints and send out messages.” The two students, who have continued to raise their voices on the streets and in the National Diet, admit that: “We feel weighed down by the fact that we were expected to play a role in solving climate change simply because we are young.” Their new project, entitled record 1.5, is a documentary that will chronicle the voices and actions of young people, environmental activists and local people from around the world gathering at COP27. Through these recordings, they hope to share the sense of urgency that those affected by climate change victims have for creating a foundation for dialogue toward essential solutions.

Involving children and youth in decision-making

As our planet faces a critical situation due to climate change, the world needs to take seriously the fact that young people are speaking out and taking action to challenge adults’ response to climate change.

Japan is on the path to carbon neutrality, with an interim goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 46% compared to 2013 levels by 2030. According to the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, 797 local governments and more than 200 companies have declared their commitment to net zero emissions by 2050, and the public and private sectors are working together to achieve this goal. As the voices of children and youth are incorporated into these efforts, change will accelerate. Given that young people are powerful agents of change, it is hoped that a system will soon be in place to enable their participation in all decision-making processes related to climate change.

Commentary: How a quiz helps people find their preferred role in climate action

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Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash
Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

Part personality quiz, part decision tree, part choose-your-own-adventure, a new tool aims to help people find the climate action best suited for them.

By Kathleen Dean Moore, Yale Climate Connections (CC BY-NC-ND 2.5)

The new “Climate Action Quiz,” rolled out through Yale Climate Connections in October 2022, is being used by climate-concerned individuals to help them find the climate action engagement strategy best suited to their lives and passions. 

After taking the quiz in a workshop zoomed to Alaska, a group of social-work students decided to link their work to climate justice. A high school teacher decided to teach her accounting students to include the full social, environmental, and climate costs of “business-as-usual” on their balance sheets. A young mother, with her newborn daughter on her shoulder, decided to focus on the rights of future generations. People from across the country have begun to register their climate-action decisions.

These early results are just what the quiz developers had hoped would happen when we created the Climate Action Quiz. Between us, co-author SueEllen Campbell and I estimated we had given or organized at least 250 climate-action events in the past 10 years. Practically without exception, the first audience response often was some variation of: “OK, I’m in! I want to help in the climate struggle. But I simply don’t know what to do.”

We get it. It’s hard. People have lives to live and work to do, and the climate challenges seem infinite and ferocious. It’s not immediately clear how to do anything that will make a real difference. But in an all-hands-on-deck emergency like the climate crisis, there’s no place for bystanders. So we decided to develop a tool to help people get started.

From one set of options to another, the quiz leads individuals to their particular place in planet-healing work.

  • Are you ready to act, or do you need a little encouragement?
  • Are you happiest when you are working for something or against something?
  • Do you like to act alone, or are you ready to join with other people?
  • Does climate injustice concern you most, or environmental devastation?  

Once they land on their unique calling — Get involved in land use politics in your area. Raise your kids with climate change in mind. Join local stream restoration efforts. Ratchet up your steps to shrink your own climate footprint — the tool offers people resources and gentle, maybe jolly, suggestions for getting started.

Early responses to the quiz have been heartening. “I did it twice.” “I loved the idea of googling my job + climate. I had never considered that.” “This was informative and inspiring.”

We are beginning to hear also from educators who are sending their students to the quiz. Teachers recognize that informing students about the dangers they face is necessary, but often disempowering and sometimes cruel. But they say that leading them to meaningful, effective actions – actions they are comfortable taking, on issues they deeply care about – lifts their spirits and gives them reason to engage.

It is too early to draw any conclusions about what actions people are most likely to choose, and that isn’t really our goal. But what is remarkable is the variety of actions people are choosing to take. We are encouraged by this early result. The problems that the world faces are complex and desperately entangled. So action in any area can send healing effects in many different directions. Work to create social justice will have spinoff effects on environmental thriving, for example, and the reverse is true. It doesn’t matter where people choose to start, as long as they start somewhere.

Many quiz takers’ choices have led them to No. 5: Shrink your own carbon footprint. Once here, the quiz encourages them to go beyond simply making different choices as consumers. We are aware that too close a focus on a personal footprint invites people to blame themselves for causing the climate crisis; that take in effect distracts their attention from those polluters who for crucial decades have used deceit, political payoffs, and economic uncertainty to trap them in a fossil-fuel dependent economy.

Just as the problems are innumerable, the expertise and experience of concerned people come in beautiful and infinite variety. Musicians, aunts and uncles, morticians, beauticians, teachers, fieldworkers, grocers, children, and more all have important contributions to make to the climate struggle. It’s a mistake to think that the only option is to march in a parade (although that can be fun) or change out your lightbulbs (less fun) when the real healing requires transformations in every aspect of our lives. The quiz is a kind of matchmaking, we tell people. And like matchmaking, it is an expression of the universal desire of people to find meaningful connection to the things they care most about in the world.

Kathleen Dean Moore, Ph.D., is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Emerita at Oregon State University. She is the author or co-editor of five books about climate ethics, including Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril and Great Tide Rising: Toward Clarity and Moral Courage in a Time of Planetary Change.