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Environment protest being criminalised around world, say experts

(The Guardian, 19 Apr 2021) More than 400 climate scientists sign letter that says activists are being targeted at pivotal time in fight against global heating.

Peaceful environmental protesters are being threatened, silenced and criminalised in countries around the world including the UK and the US, according to some of the world’s leading climate scientists and academics.

More than 400 leading experts – including 14 authors from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – say that non-violent civil disobedience from groups like the school strikers, Extinction Rebellion and the Sunrise Movement have transformed the debate around the climate crisis in recent years.

But in an open letter published on Monday they warn governments around the world are criminalising them at a pivotal time in the fight to tackle the escalating climate emergency.

“We know that our research alone was not enough for this recent awakening to climate breakdown as an existential crisis for humanity, and recognise that protest movements around the world have raised the alarm,” the letter states, adding: “Those who put their voices and bodies on the line to raise the alarm are being threatened and silenced by the very countries they seek to protect..”

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The Guardian, 19 Apr 2021: Environment protest being criminalised around world, say experts