Two activists were arrested after throwing tomato soup on Vincent Van Gogh’s glass-covered ‘Sunflowers’ at the National Gallery in London in 2023 in a bid to draw media attention so they could talk about oil’s role in climate change.
I study the role of disruptive politics and social movements in global climate policy and have chronicled the ebb, flow and dynamism of climate activism over time. With today’s political institutions largely focused on short-term desires over long-term planetary health, and global climate negotiations moving far too slowly to meet the challenge, climate activists have been reconsidering their tactics – and radically rethinking how to make their activism most effective.
In meetings with global activists in recent weeks, my colleagues and I have noticed a shifting emphasis to local climate battles – in the streets, political arenas and courtrooms. The lines between reformists and radicals, and between global and grassroots mobilizers, are blurring, and a new sense of strategic engagement is taking root.
When global institutions fail the public
Activist groups have long relied on a strategy known as the boomerang effect – using international networks and global institutions such as the United Nations’ climate talks to influence national governments’ policy choices.
I study the role of disruptive politics and social movements in global climate policy and have chronicled the ebb, flow and dynamism of climate activism over time. With today’s political institutions largely focused on short-term desires over long-term planetary health, and global climate negotiations moving far too slowly to meet the challenge, climate activists have been reconsidering their tactics – and radically rethinking how to make their activism most effective.
In meetings with global activists in recent weeks, my colleagues and I have noticed a shifting emphasis to local climate battles – in the streets, political arenas and courtrooms. The lines between reformists and radicals, and between global and grassroots mobilizers, are blurring, and a new sense of strategic engagement is taking root.
When global institutions fail the public
Activist groups have long relied on a strategy known as the boomerang effect – using international networks and global institutions such as the United Nations’ climate talks to influence national governments’ policy choices.
The world experienced its hottest year on record in 2023 and isn’t on track to meet the Paris Agreement’s aim to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 F). Climate Action Tracker shows the emissions gap to 2030.Climate Analytics and NewClimate Institute
Next week’s high-level meeting of the U.N. General Assembly is bringing more than 140 world leaders to New York City, including the leaders of Israel, the Palestinians and Ukraine
The French presidential palace has unveiled a new center-right government more than two months after elections that produced a hung parliament and deepened political divisions
Donald Trump on Saturday rejected another debate with Vice President Kamala Harris before the U.S. presidential election, hours after the Democratic candidate's campaign said she