Back in September, activists from Scientist Rebellion threw green paint at the entrance to the Royal Society in London. Despite on that occasion being held overnight by police, they have continued their campaign to get scientific bodies to do more about the climate and ecological emergency.
This weekend they paid a second visit to The Royal Society, gluing onto the pillars copies of two of the society’s own research papers, stencilling the slogans “Inaction Is Denial” and “Billions To Starve”, and throwing paint at the entrance door.
The two scientists then sat quietly engaging with staff and passers-by before police attended and arrested them both on suspicion of criminal damage.
They have written to the Royal Society, citing academic papers showing that rapid societal transformation can be achieved through civil disobedience, and they are asking the institution to engage with them in order to communicate the urgency of the emergency directly to the public by promoting action not words.
Scientist Rebellion campaigners also recently glued academic papers to the doors and windows of Nature magazine, and after doing so, they had some communication with the editor there, who previously hadn’t engaged.
The campaign also wrote to the Institute of Physics with similar demands, asking them to respond before the 14th December.
Shortly after the action on Saturday at the Royal Society, the campaigners received a response from the Institute of Physics, the first opening of dialogue with them. They are now hoping the Institute will agree to a public debate about the emergency and the role of civil disobedience – watch this space…
