Let’s assess climate protests’ effectiveness as UN report slams crackdowns on protesters
The raging climate crisis is making billions of lives difficult, increasing the intensity and frequency of disasters and triggering massive migration patterns. The year 2023 – that has already been confirmed as the hottest year ever – marked dozens of climate protests.
Millions of environmental protesters have lately been using their right to peaceful protest, in order to bring the concerning consequences of a changing climate under the spotlight. But the demonstrations have raised controversies and severe crackdowns.
Michel Forst, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders, expressed serious concerns over the treatment of climate activists in the UK, in a damning report published on Tuesday that criticised “increasingly severe crackdowns” on peaceful protesters.
New law giving police more power to stop climate protests
Earlier this month, Forst visited the UK to meet politicians, NGOs, activists and lawyers. He said he had received “extremely worrying” information about peaceful protesters facing prosecution under “regressive” new laws, according to CNN.
British authorities have deepened their response to climate and environmental protesters in recent years, especially when the demonstrations become disruptive, including blocking roads and slow walking tactics, eventually posing problems for the general public.
Last year, the UK introduced the Public Order Act 2023 in order to give police more power to stop climate protests. In December, the new legislation paved the way for the sentencing of a climate protester to a six-month prison term.
The protester had taken part in a slow march on a public road as part of the activist group Just Stop Oil. Forst stressed: “It had been almost unheard of since the 1930s for members of the public to be imprisoned for peaceful protest in the UK.”
Climate protesters undertaking high-profile actions
The report also highlighted “highly concerning” information about “harsh” bail conditions for peaceful demonstrators awaiting trial, including curfews and electronic ankle tags. Forst questioned the “necessity and proportionality of such conditions.”
The UN envoy also noted his distress over how environmental defenders are “derided” by the media and political figures in the country, adding it puts them at risk of “threats, abuse and even physical attacks,” reported CNN.
In recent years, environmental protesters have increasingly undertaken high-profile and disruptive actions, including disrupting several major sporting events. But Forst said the fact the actions cause disruption does not mean they are not peaceful.
