A scientist in custody. Julia Steinberger, economist and author of the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), was arrested on Tuesday, October 11 in Bern (Switzerland), during an action by the Renovate Switzerland collective, the local equivalent of the Last movement. Renovation. She blocked a road axis with other environmental activists, in order to demand the thermal renovation of buildings, an effective measure to fight against global warming.
arrest of @JKSteinberger to Bern Wankdorf “non-violent civil action is important, we don’t have much time left” pic.twitter.com/oorFp9WKQR
— Renovate Switzerland (@Renovate_CH) October 11, 2022
“Nonviolent civil action is very important, because our government is not acting and we have very little time left”, she slipped in a video shot by the association. Another video, made by a Swiss journalist, shows her trying to stop a heavyweight that continues to move forward.
Activists against truck… images: @Renovate_CH pic.twitter.com/fAj7AGAXZ3
— Joel Espi (@JoelEspiVevey) October 11, 2022
This is not the first time that Julia Steinberger has taken part in such an action. She recently told franceinfo why she has been taking part since 2018 in this type of demonstration with Extinction Rebellion. “The failure of the fight against global warming, I see it in all spheres of society, in science, the media and politicsshe explained. Now is the time for civil disobedience, other efforts have failed.” Since the first IPCC report in 1990, greenhouse gas emissions, the engine of global warming, have continued to increase.
During this exchange, the 48-year-old scientist also brushed aside any criticism of her lack of neutrality. “I have economist colleagues who, every other day, say that we need more growth and productivity. These comments are considered neutral when they are on a political side.. Neutrality is the protection of the status quo”. According to her, this commitment does not affect the work of the IPCC either: “Most of the people who criticize me for my activism are not ready to listen to science. My activism and the IPCC are rejected at the same time, not one because of the other”.
The scientist also emphasized the history of academic activism. His father, the Nobel Prize in Physics Jack Steinberger, was committed to nuclear disarmament. Renovate Switzerland plans to increase blocking actions this fall. The seven people taken into police custody in Bern have been released a few hours later.