Elodie, researcher in ecology at theNational Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (Inrae), and Luc, a professor at the University of the Côte d’Azur, are among those scientists who have decided to leave their laboratories to join the resistance. The two scientists from Nice traveled to Berlin in October to participate in blockades in the German capital for three days. Actions before several ministries – broadcast on social networks – aimed at putting pressure on the German government to increase the decarbonization of the transport sector. “We are trying to block the roadsays Luc as he shows us the images of one of these blockages, pretty quickly, the police will arrive and come and unblock us while our colleagues are spilling fake blood. adds Elodie. These actions were carried out on the initiative of Scientist Rebellion, a collective which brings together 2,000 scientists and which claims nearly 800 sympathizers in France.
Einige Medien framen uns in ihrer Berichterstattung als “Klimademonstranten”. Wir sind jedoch internationale Wissenschaftler*innen.
Angesichts des #Klimanotfall|s and des #Klimaversagens der Regierungen, sehen wir keine andere Möglichkeit mehr als den zivilen Ungehorsam. https://t.co/XhJdPLAqwW
— Scientist Rebellion Germany (@SciReb_Germany) October 19, 2022
Their credo: reports, studies, conferences on climate change are no longer enough. We must act and take action“I am 58 years old, this is my first action of civil disobedienceexplains Luke. It shows to what extent we consider, at least as a scientist, that we have said everything that was necessary and that things are in any case not moving enough. To take an image, we are in a bus driving at 100 km an hour towards a wall. The scientist will tell the government, ie the drivers, that it will crash. And the driver says, ‘Yeah, I’ll go from fifth to fourth. And at that point, as a scientist, you have to make sure that everyone on the bus says: no, there, you have to brake.”
Blockages, punching actions, poster collage, demonstrations. Non-violent but illegal demonstrations… And a moral conflict, questions for these researchers who are well integrated into society.
“We are not proud the first time we find ourselves faced with police officers who ask us to leave, who tell us that what we are doing is illegal and dangerous.”
Elodie, researcher in ecologyat franceinfo
“It’s something that is fundamentally upsetting, says Elodie. In fact, we really change our position in relation to authority, to the norm and it’s very destabilizing.” This is “hard”, abounds Luke. “I lived to be 58 being afraid to go over 50 an hour on the road and saying to myself: it’s not good if you do it.” “We are crossing a line, clearly, insists Elodie. We do it knowingly. We do it because we think it’s right, it’s legitimate, there’s no other choice. But despite everything, we would be much happier to not have to do it.”
Some scientists go even further, believing that only activism can save the planet. This is the case of Anaïs Tilquin, born in Provence, near Marseille, “with a magnificent sea bursting and magnificent landscapes burning”, she lets go. In another life, this thirty-year-old was a biologist. But now she organizes a campaign of civil resistance in Switzerland, Renovate Switzerland. Anaïs, for example, participated in road blocking actions to demand the thermal renovation of buildings.
Between research and action, the researcher made a choice. A question of coherence and responsibility, she explains: “Imagine what message it sends to the public if you have scientists who write in reports about how badly we are losing everything and then stay in their careers and in their offices and in their labs doing nothing special. It’s a huge dissonance.”
“People see actions much more than words and if they see us just standing there, limply in our labs, when the reports show us how dire the situation is, that’s a lie to the people.”
Anaïs Tilquin, researcherat franceinfo
“In the world of research, continues Anaïs Tilquin, we have this kind of ideology that it’s possible to be neutral and objective and that we should never let our emotions come into our sights. But this myth of scientific coldness and possible objectivity, it does a lot of damage, in fact, because it prevents people from getting involved.
This commitment in the field of civil disobedience is debated within the scientific community. Some, like political scientist François Gemenne, co-author of the sixth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), question the usefulness of such actions. According to him, the commitment of scientists must take a more political form. “I am surprised that today many of my colleagues who say they are going into rebellion, absolutely refuse to engage in politics and say: we want to put pressure on governments, advance François Gemenne. But when it comes to getting involved in politics, there, I’m sorry to say, but there is no one left. And I was surprised at their silence, for example, at the time of the presidential election when most refused to position themselves, saying they were strictly apolitical. It is at such times, precisely, that we would need, in my opinion, that scientists clearly express preferences.
Political commitment or associative commitment, one thing is certain, all the scientists we interviewed say so, there is growing anger within their community in the face, they say, of the inaction of political decision-makers on this subject of climate change.