New climate change activism: before and after the Covid‐19 pandemic

Abstract

New climate change activism: before and after the Covid-19 pandemic The global climatic and ecological crisis becomes more apparent with every passing year. Shocking images of the burning Congo Basin, of bushfires devastating aboriginal land in Australia, of thawing permafrost in Siberia and mass coral bleaching have gone viral. Countless studies from independent scientists have linked these events to climate change and revealed their serious effects on human wellbeing (Oreskes 2004; Watts et al. 2018). These catastrophes killed tens of thousands of people and destroyed the livelihoods of millions. Yet, so far, linking them to climate change has not generated meaningful political action (Swyngedouw 2011; Hornborg 2017) to decrease consumption (Wilk 2009), stop fossil fuel extraction, reduce pollution or halt ecological destruction. Faced with this inaction, a new type of climate activism recently emerged in Europe. Since the first student strikes dating back to August 2018, millions of mainly young people have participated in climate protests, with the Global Climate Strike in September 2019 counting a staggering number of 7.6 million participants. Spurred by public celebrities, such as Swedish Greta Thunberg, various 'for future' movements organised peaceful mass protests and civil disobedient actions in the streets of cities all over the world, which have been regularly covered in media and noticed by politicians of all stripes. This new climate justice movement has accomplished exceptional things in a very short time: it created lasting international protest networks, managed to rally supporters through social media and public performances and, arguably, helped to raise the level of awareness of the climate crisis among youth and other generations.