‘If you don’t upset people enough, then nothing happens.’ – Roger Hallam, Co-founder of Extinction Rebellion

Throwing soup at famous artworks. Halting traffic in the streets. Scaling bridges and disrupting famous sporting events. For some climate activists these radical tactics are the only way to make a difference. There’s a reason Just Stop Oil is at the top of the news agenda every couple of weeks. It’s because their disruptive protests are having the desired effect.These activists are determined that the public should be made aware of the urgency of the climate crisis and what needs to be done to avert catastrophic warming. You may not like them but, as they would argue, their tactics are doing just what they were intended to achieve. 

But others argue that the radical environmental activism of these groups is actually doing more harm than good. Their extreme demands to ‘stop oil’ or to ‘overthrow capitalism’ overshadow more moderate solutions to climate change that the public could get on board with. Constant doom-mongering about humanity’s imminent extinction just makes people feel depressed and powerless. And if these activists really wanted to change the world shouldn’t they be taking the democratic route of running for parliament? 

Who’s right and who’s wrong?