From the laboratory to activism: the rebellion of scientists to demand action against climate change

• First part of the IPCC report Spain, hot spot of climate change: 3.5 degrees more, fires and droughts

• Second part of the IPCC report Annual deaths from extreme heat in Spain will go from 1,500 to 8,000 in 2050 if emissions continue to be high

They have been warning of the consequences of climate change for years, collecting and analyzing data and making it available to politicians who make decisions and negotiate commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions during the UN Climate Summits.

But outraged by the lack of real action, scientists have decided to mobilize and literally take to the streets to demand that action be taken to alleviate the climate crisis.

Following in the footsteps of climate activists, veterans and young researchers from different disciplines have founded an international movement called Scientist Rebellion (Scientific Rebellion in Spanish), which has organized for this week what they call

The date of the call has not been random.

It coincides with the publication, this Monday, of the third and last part of the Sixth Great Assessment Report of the IPCC, the UN Intergovernmental Group of Experts on climate change.

The first part, focused on the science of climate change, its evolution and future projections by geographical area, was published on August 9;

the second addressed the impacts and was launched on February 28, while the third installment will be published this Monday and includes mitigation actions.

The IPCC assessment reports constitute the largest scientific analysis on climate change, and their results are taken as a reference point for climate negotiations.

The fifth IPCC report was published in 2013.

Mobilizations in 25 countries

The events organized by the Scientific Rebellion movement, which will include academic strikes, informative talks and other actions, will take place in 25 countries and in Spain, and will be led by prestigious scientists such as the biologist Fernando Valladares (CSIC), Marta Rivera Ferre (INGENIO/CSIC -UPV), which has co-authored the second part of the IPCC Sixth Report, or

Agnès Delage (University of Aix Marseille), doctor in social sciences.

when "a great action of civil disobedience" will be carried out in Madrid.

At the same time, the organization has launched a manifesto, called

, in which they assure that "the conclusions of scientific studies are indisputable" and warn that "we are experiencing the sixth mass extinction on a global scale", with "dozens of species of fauna and flora disappearing every day".

They also recall that "pollution levels are alarming from all points of view and we know that some climatic points of no return -

- have been activated".

Therefore, they claim that "the

"We intend to mobilize more than a thousand members of the scientific and academic community and, above all, generate debate on the Sixth Report of the IPCC, so that the scientific community takes a position on it, because the fact of not taking a position is also taking a position", he assures from Sierra Nevada Belén Díaz Collante (27 years old), researcher in Environmental Sciences.

After graduating from the University of Cádiz and having carried out research on greenhouse gases at the University of Granada and at the Climate Impact Research Center in Abisko (Sweden), he now works for the Ecoherencia association on environmental education and adaptation projects from food systems to climate change.

visible effects

In the manifesto, the scientists of this movement recall that "catastrophes occur before our eyes and on a large scale. The Covid pandemic originates from a zoonosis related to deforestation. Cold drops, snowfalls, torrential rains, droughts, waves of heat and mega-fires are multiplying and accelerating.

point out.

In his eyes, "the situation is so alarming, so consensual and with so little impact on the concrete actions of governments", that Bruce Glavovic, coordinator of the II chapter of the IPCC, calls "for more IPCC evaluations to be stopped [.. .] until governments are willing to meet their responsibilities in good faith and urgently mobilize coordinated action from the local to the global level."

Belén Díaz, who has been involved in activism since 2019, assures that in her environment she has examples of "many young scientists who are putting aside their research work to focus on the climate fight."

However, although it may be surprising to see scientists speaking out, he recalls that

For example, the scientists of the Club of Rome who signed the

report in 1972 spoke of the impacts that it could cause that ecological footprint. Their forecasts are being met quite well," he says.

On the other hand, 11,000 scientists declared a climate emergency in 2019 in a letter published in the journal

"From there, the Scientific Rebellion movement arose," Diaz reviews, stressing that "it is not a movement of young scientists, although perhaps we have more to lose. It is made up of committed researchers from all generations who consider that there is to take action now."

The UN will fight 'greenwashing'

They call

or green washing.

Advances in the fight against climate change have been accompanied by an explosion of commitments by cities, institutions and companies, including oil companies, to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to "net zero".

These measures are often vague or ineffective and even contribute further to climate change, according to the United Nations, which is why its Secretary General António Guterres announced last week the creation of a group of experts that will evaluate the credibility of these commitments following criteria strict and will develop standards that it will try to incorporate into international regulations.

The new body, called the High-Level Group of Experts on Net-Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities, will consist of 16 members and will be chaired by former Canadian environment minister Catherine McKenna.

"Governments bear most of the responsibility for achieving net-zero emissions by mid-century. But we also urgently need all companies, investors, cities, states and regions to talk about their net-zero pledges," said Guterres, who hopes that recommendations are ready by the end of the year.

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