In a sense, the relationship between humans and climate change is nothing new. There are many historical examples of how civilisations collapsed as the climate changed around them, or those civilisations used up their natural resources and faced disaster as a result. If you are interested in finding out more, Jared Diamond’s book ‘Collapse’ gives some eye-opening examples.

What is different about the current situation that humanity faces, is that the devastating changes in our climate have largely been caused by human behaviour. However, the relationship between nature and culture is not always doom and gloom, with pressure groups striving for positive action to be made towards protecting our climate and planet. In this way, what makes our current situation so unique is the social split between climate destruction and climate activism.

If people are aware of climate destruction, why do they hesitate to act on it? And who are the pressure groups that are acting on it?

The start of Pressure Groups

Although the potential for greenhouse gases and the threat they pose has been known since the 1890s, it didn’t start to become a serious area of research until the 1950s. Work being done on sea temperatures and coral reef behaviour was starting to show how sensitive natural systems were to changes in temperature. In addition, the sharp rise in the global population raised questions about pollution and sustainability.

Issues of pollution and the human effect on the natural world came into the public focus in the 1960s, most clearly marked by the publication of ‘The Silent Spring’ by Rachel Carson, and the development of James Lovelock’s Gaia theories 10 years later. These ideas stressed how sensitive our ecosystems were and how important it was to our own survival not to damage the balance between them.

Public concerns raised the need for action. This action would be caused using pressure groups protesting.

‘Right to Roam’

In the UK, there was something of a tradition for political movements as most freedoms in our democracy have been won through such actions. Protest about environmental issues was relatively new, with perhaps the first example in the UK being the **‘Right to Roam’** mass protests in the 1930s.

Environmental Pressure Groups

One of the first environmental pressure groups to form was Greenpeace, which developed in the USA and Canada, with its roots in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and opposition to US nuclear weapons tests. This can clearly be seen in their early banners.

Greenpeace were early adopters of the principles of direct action. Using funds raised from a rock concert, they chartered a ship which they named ‘Greenpeace’ and started a program of disruption – initially protesting nuclear tests, and then broadening more widely to climate and ecological activism.

The protests they organised were bold and eye-catching, with direct consequences that put them at forefront of environmental activism for many years.

In the last 30 years, we have seen a much more general acceptance that environmental issues matter, and acceptance that global warming is actually happening as more data has become available.

The United Nations Climate Summit process started in 1992, with greater certainty about the issues expressed at each one. It was the frustration with the response of governments to the process, resulting in lots of promises but little action, bringing about the current wave of environmental activism we now see.

In the summer and autumn of 2018, two movements sprang up wanting to sound the alarm with much greater urgency.

In August 2018, Greta Thunberg, aged 15, started protesting outside the Swedish Parliament carrying her ‘Skolstrejk för klimatet ‘ banner. She was soon joined by others in what became a worldwide school strike movement called ‘Fridays for the Future’. With her uncompromising message from those who would be most affected by Climate Change, Greta was able to get straight to the heart of the matter and talk directly to world leaders. She continues with the enormous support of the school-strike movement, criticising world leaders for their lack of action.

Earlier, 2018 saw the beginnings of a new direct-action movement in the UK called Extinction Rebellion.

The first ‘action’ it took was in October 2018 when it mobilised its members to occupy 5 major bridges in the centre of London, bringing the city to a standstill.

Calling the problem of global warming a ‘Climate Emergency’ and declaring an open rebellion, the group called on the UK Government to do 3 things:

1. The Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.

2. The Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025. [30]

3. The Government must create, and be led by the decisions of a citizens' assembly on climate and ecological justice.

The campaign spread rapidly across the world and is now an international movement. It has 10 basic principles, it is non-violent and anyone holding to the 10 principles can operate under its banner.

It takes inspiration from grassroots movements such as Occupy, the Suffragettes and the US Civil Rights Movement. Extinction Rebellion aims to instil a sense of urgency for preventing further "climate breakdown", and the ongoing sixth mass extinction. Several activists in the movement accept arrest and imprisonment, similar to the mass arrest tactics of the CND Committee of 100 in 1961.

Extinction Rebellion have carried out mass protests and occupations across the world every year since it was formed with many, many arrests being made. As the plight of indigenous peoples due to climate change has become more urgent following the 2015 Paris Agreement and emphasis on inequalities of treatment have been highlighted by the Black Lives Matter Campaign, Extinction Rebellion has focussed ever more on Climate Justice, which has now become a fourth demand.

Climate Justice has since become a fourth demand of Extinction rebellion, in light of the 2015 Paris Agreement showing indigenous peoples are suffering as a result of climate change, as well as social inequalities highlighted by the Black Lives Matter Campaign.

Breakaway movements & Climate protest

The movement has been very effective in the UK in publicising the Climate Emergency and was the main cause for the UK Parliament declaring a Climate Emergency. More radical members, however, have become impatient with the pace of action from the Government, and have formed breakaway movements called ‘Insulate Britain’ and ‘Just Stop Oil’.

These are single-issue campaign groups aimed at forcing the UK Government to take action to reduce the carbon emissions from the poorly insulated UK housing stock, combating this with a mass insulation programme and a stop to drilling for oil and gas in UK territories. The tactics of both groups have been more extreme than Extinction Rebellion, focusing on causing huge levels of disruption by closing and occupying major motorway networks.

Extinction Rebellion, in contrast, is now focusing on widening its appeal and forming alliances with more mainstream groups such as Friends of the Earth and the National Trust.

As the publicity around Climate Change has grown more, often less radical, groups such as Churches, Civil Society Groups and Trade Unions have wanted to get involved. The UK’s Chairmanship of COP26 has focussed this interest under the banner of the Climate Coalition which organised many events in and around COP26.

The future of Climate Protest in the UK is currently in question with the passage through Parliament of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. This will allow restrictions to be imposed on protests because of the noise they generate, while creating powers to limit one-person demonstrations and increase penalties on people who breach conditions. It is widely felt to breach human rights legislation which the current Conservative Government is also keen to water down.